I’m a teacher with anxiety.
Not just the everyday stress and uncertainty that come with the job. I mean clinical, chemical anxiety—GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder) and depression, to be exact. And yes, it’s about as miserable as it sounds. In hindsight, teaching high school may not have been the best career choice for someone like me. The chaotic nature of the job, adolescent hormones, and pre-graduation angst create a perfect storm of unpredictability. It’s no wonder I’d leave school every day feeling like a tangled mess of exhaustion and stress.
All aboard!
And for YEARS, that’s exactly what I did. Even when I didn’t open my work laptop at home, school was always in the back of my mind, swirling around like a bad storm cloud. Weekends and breaks? Same story. By year 14, I hit a breaking point. Total burnout meltdown. I couldn’t function at school or at home. I wanted to quit, but it wasn’t financially feasible. I was 40, too far into my career to start over with a reduced salary, and, let’s face it—ageism is real. Quitting wasn’t an option, but neither was panicking myself into an early grave.
So what was I supposed to do?
A New Approach to Teaching
I had to reevaluate everything—how I structured my classes, taught my students, and managed my workload. Before my breakdown, I was already a solid planner, but just having a plan wasn’t enough anymore. I needed student procedures that were streamlined, assignments that were easy for everyone to follow, and lessons that provided ongoing practice of essential skills like reading, collecting evidence, and writing paragraphs. Most importantly, I needed a planning system that allowed me to “set it and forget it,” like a crockpot dinner but made out of Google Docs.
And the materials? They had to engage students. I couldn’t handle reading time turning into nap time…or worse, a fistfight.
I started with our ELA textbook. Spoiler alert: it failed spectacularly on every single front. Poor design, terrible scaffolding, uninspiring reading selections—sorry, school districts, but your secondary ELA textbook market is a scam.
Next, I turned to Teachers Pay Teachers. Surely, my fellow educators had what I needed! Nope. While I found a few solid lessons here and there, I couldn’t find a consistent, year-long structure that worked across multiple grades.
So, I rolled up my sleeves and got to work.
Building a System That Works
I didn’t have a choice. Cobbling together random resources unit by unit wasn’t sustainable for my mental health. It was hard, time-consuming, and sometimes frustrating work, but I locked in. I knew that if I could create a system of interchangeable, well-designed units with consistent features, my life would change for the better.
It took about three years to nail it, but now I’ve got a system that (mostly) works. My days are less stressful, my students are engaged, and I’m not stuck lesson planning every waking moment. I can load up my Canvas modules, map out my student agendas, and then forget about planning until it’s time to teach.
If You’re an Anxious Teacher, Read This
I can’t hand you a bottle of Prozac (though I do recommend looking into it), but I can show you exactly how I structure my classes and plan my units. It’s the easiest way to show you how I’ve built a system that lets me “set it and forget it.”
Need a whole-year plan? Keep reading. Yes, this links to my TpT products, but I’m not here just to make a sale. This is what I’m actually teaching in my ELA classroom this year. If you’re drowning after a rough first semester and just need someone to tell you what to do and when to do it, I’ve got you covered.
What’s Inside
Everything I’ve built is designed to keep materials simple and clear. Each lesson is linked in one document—no juggling five different files. Accommodations like organizers and read-aloud features are built in from the start. Directions are so clear that even a sub can walk in and run your class without a hitch.
Start with my ELA3 and ELA4 Weekly Agenda documents. It’ll show you how many days I spent on my first semester units in real time. These are the ACTUAL WIP documents I’m using in my own classes right now. You can see when and where I used our textbook with my juniors; it went okay, but I think I’ll go a different direction moving forward. Is it always pretty? No. Will it help you know how long things took with actual children in an actual school with actual schedules? Yes.
Senior ELA (ELA4)
EVERY MONDAY
Story Shorts Analysis Practice Series B
*I also pull a story from this resource for the writing portion of their final exam both semesters.
Weekly-Themed GREEK & LATIN Root Word Curriculum for the Whole Year by Patricia Rendon Cardenas. But I use these quizzes that I wrote. I give my weekly quiz at the end of each week. There is also a Google form vocabulary section on the final.
Quarter 1 Units (Narrative Reading and Writing Focus)
Seasons of Self Short Story Unit
Great 8 Personal Narrative Writing Unit
Quarter 2 Units (Informational Reading and Writing Focus)
Real-Life Dystopias Informational Unit
Quarter 3 Units (Informational and Argumentative Reading and Writing)
Client-Connected Project Unit: Improving Freshman Onboarding
Infamous Unsolved Crimes Research Presentation Unit
Not An Ordinary Love Story Short Story Unit
Quarter 4 Units (Informational and Argumentative Reading and Writing)
*TENTATIVE. I’ll have to see how checked out they’re looking in the week leading up to Spring Break. I may have to do something else. We’ll see.
Inventions That Changed the World Research Essay Unit OR Diseases That Changed the World Research Essay Unit
Secret Societies Informational Unit
Junior ELA (ELA3)
EVERY MONDAY
Story Shorts Analysis Practice Series A
*I also pull a story from this resource for the writing portion of their final exam both semesters.
Weekly-Themed GREEK & LATIN Root Word Curriculum for the Whole Year by Patricia Rendon Cardenas. But I use these quizzes that I wrote. I give my weekly quiz at the end of each week. There is also a Google form vocabulary section on the final.
Quarter 1 Units (Narrative Reading and Writing Focus)
The Things They Carried Reflective Groups Unit
Things They Carried Practice ACT Unit
Magnificent 7 Personal Narrative Writing Unit
Quarter 2 Units (Informational Reading and Writing Focus)
Selections from MyPerspectives Grade 11…but these were a MASSIVE FLOP with my students. I’m going to try something different next year!
Cults and Mind Control Informational Reading and Writing Unit
Quarter 3 Units (Informational and Argumentative Reading and Writing)
Client-Connected Project Unit: Improving Freshman Onboarding
Gatsby Interactive Groups Unit OR
Quarter 4 Units (Informational and Argumentative Reading and Writing)
*TENTATIVE. I’ll have to see how checked out they’re looking in the week leading up to Spring Break. I may have to do something else. We’ll see.
Crash Course in Shakespeare Informational and Argumentative Unit
Conspiracy Theories Informational and Argumentative Essay Unit
Game of Life Short Stories Unit
If you’ve been drowning, I hope you’ll check out the plan and the resources and they can give you a lifeline. I can’t make it easy…but I can make it EASIER.
Keywords: Teacher burnout, anxiety management in teaching, GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder) in education, depression and teaching, classroom procedures and structure, secondary ELA curriculum planning, high school ELA resources, “set it and forget it” teaching, Canvas classroom setup, weekly agendas for teachers, TpT (Teachers Pay Teachers) ELA resources, Greek and Latin roots curriculum, high-engagement lesson planning, streamlined lesson planning, scaffolding for student success, narrative, informational, and argumentative writing, high school English scope and sequence, ELA project-based learning, sub-ready lesson plans, short story analysis, personal narrative units, research and essay writing units, teacher self-care strategies
