5 teacher boundaries that gave me my life back:

1. I don’t discuss school in public.

2. I’m picky about what work I do after hours.

“Don’t take work home” and “don’t work outside of contract hours” sounds like great advice. However, it’s not feasible for many of us. Let’s face it, most of us wouldn’t be able to do our jobs, which is to effectively teach our students, without bringing work home sometimes.

3. Lunchtime is for me.

4. Students and parents don’t get my personal contact info.

They have my school email address and school phone number. That’s it. My social media is on lockdown and I don’t give out my personal phone number. I learned this the hard way after parents and students were constantly calling, texting, and messaging on Facebook at all hours of the day and night, seven days a week.

5. “No” is a complete sentence.

“No” isn’t a bad word, and, in fact, it’s a complete sentence all alone. I’ve learned to use it – and let me tell you it was hard and scary at first! But it gets easier. You can say no when:

• An admin asks you to head the planning committee for the spring fling
• The PTA president wants you to be a speaker at the next meeting
• Students ask for a slime day and you’re not up for the mess
• Parents ask for just “five minutes” right then instead of scheduling a conference
• The new teacher asks you to drop what you’re doing and help her with yet another paper jam

Extend it to, “No, thanks” if that makes you feel more polite.

Setting teacher boundaries takes time. Keeping them takes lots of practice. But I’m so glad I’ve put in the work! Start with just one at a time like I did if the idea of boundaries overwhelms you. I’m a better teacher, parent, partner, and individual person because of it.

As a teacher, I think these tips are important for teacher’s wellbeing and have a higher quality of teaching. I am especially am picky about what work I do after hours. I hate working overtime! It makes my life inbalance. As to lunchtime is for me, I usually hid in the staff lounge eating my lunch although people know where to find me. Then, students and parents don’t get my personal contact info. It is a school policy, so I am lucky that I have no problem with this. Last but not least, “No” is a complete sentence. It is super difficult! I will need to try this with “No, thanks” I have other commitments…..

What do languages have in common?

Language is endlessly variable. Each of us can come up with an infinite number of sentences in our native language, and we’re able to do so from an early age— almost as soon as we start to communicate in sentences. How is this possible? In the early 1950s, Noam Chomsky proposed a theory that the key to this versatility was grammar. Cameron Morin details Chomsky’s theory of universal grammar. How do the scholars’ views nowadays?

Here’s an interesting video.

How do our brains process language?

The average 20-year-old knows between 27,000 and 52,000 different words. Spoken out loud, most of these words last less than a second. With every word, the brain has a quick decision to make: which of those thousands of options matches the signal? And about 98% of the time, the brain chooses the correct word. How is this possible? Gareth Gaskell digs into the complexities of speech comprehension.

Now, let’s watch this video!