Still more tips on avoiding burnout

This is the third set of tips to avoid burning out in communicative teaching.  Check out “Burning out or burning bright?” and “More tips on avoiding burnout” for more help on how to stay sane and effective at the same time.

• Develop a strong personal learning community.
  I can’t handle too much social networking.  I’ve got a family and job to juggle, among other things.  I haven’t joined Pinterest yet, for example, because I simply don’t have more time to take away from my family and spend on the computer.  I’m a part of at least 4 online learning communities in which I am very inactive for the same reason.  But honestly, I don’t know what I would do without Twitter and the handful of blogs I follow.  The great folks at #langchat (many of whom are also great bloggers) are there for me whenever I need them.  Next time you’re looking for resources on a family unit, write a tweet asking what others are using and add the label (hashtag) #langchat.  Keep track of your mentions and see what others have to offer!  If you want to join this amazing online community but the lingo and the process are holding you back, please fill out my contact form and ask for a quick tutorial.
• Map out your activities.
  Something @mmehenderson said on #langchat once has really stuck with me – she gets to school a little early every morning and spends a few quality minutes (coffee, anyone?) looking for that day’s particular fun or informative video for authentic input.  Throw a few times like that in your schedule.  Perhaps Thursday evenings you could block off an hour to sketch the next week’s lesson plans and resources you need.  Saturday mornings you could get up a little early to spend a solid 30 minutes grading assessments.  You’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish in a small(ish) amount of time when you’ve dedicated it to that purpose.

What other tips are useful for you to keep from burning out?  Share them here, take what I’ve shared and please, make communicative learning work for you as well as your students.

Foto credit: Rubí Flórez