Over the years, I’ve gathered some tips and strategies for managing stress and wellbeing as a I navigate the incredibly exciting yet demanding (and sometimes chaotic) world of teaching. It is important to keep in mind that this is a personal collection and is not intended to substitute advice from a mental health professional.
Tip 1: Find the Humour
There are plenty of individuals and organizations who embrace our perspectives and experiences as educators by transforming them into humours and entertaining memes, videos, and images that so many of us can relate to. This guilty pleasure is a great way to decompress from a exhausting day of teaching! Check out these posts from Bored Teachers , primary school teacher Lee Parkinson, Eddiebcomedy and even Buzzfeed. |
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Tip 2: Connect with Others
This is not a profession you can do alone and it is okay to ask for and accept help from others. Connecting with others emotionally and personally is one way we build resilience. From my experience, connecting with colleagues provides the benefits of shared experience because few others outside of the profession can truly understand what it's like. In this podcast, Dr. Kathy Hibbert and Dr. Peter Bates emphasize the importance of building mentor relationships, especially for new teachers, as more experienced teachers have the benefit of hindsight. This collaboration can result in mutual support and new ideas for managing the hurdles of everyday teaching. Outside of work, our relationships with friends and family help to us re-charge and re-energize. |
Tip 3: Set Boundaries
This might mean having some honest and maybe difficult conversations about your wants and needs and your own thoughts and actions that are holding you back from that. Truthfully, there is always more work than can be done as a teacher (i.e. create that extra resource, perfect that power point) or another extracurricular that can be started or a new initiative to be tried. Many teachers have expressed that it's hard to "turn it off". In this digital age, it's even harder to unplug from our work. Perhaps a sense of guilt arises when we don't manage to get done what we intended to in a given amount of time, which may be rooted in unrealistic expectations placed on ourselves. Joanna Krop urges educators to be honest about the outcomes we want out of our lives and to plan accordingly and realistically. Check in frequently and what doesn't fit, doesn't fit (i.e. creating rules for yourself like "no responding to emails after 4pm"). |
It’s not that we shouldn’t put heart, soul and effort into our jobs – it’s that we have to look at the outcome of what we want and see if what we’re “putting into it” is congruent. In a year, or 2 or 5 – what do you want out of your teaching life and non-teaching life? How do you want to feel emotionally, physically, spiritually, mentally? ...You might do it all with passion – but what you are putting in is work without boundaries, limitations or an understanding of what your body and spirit needs for recuperation – so what you’ll get out of it is passion running on empty –otherwise known as burnout." |
Tip 4: Prioritize Personal Wellness
In his Educational Leadership article, Rick Wormeli explains that "the best teachers remain dynamic" and must take the time to invest in all aspects of their lives- mentally, physically and otherwise. Good sleep, nutrition, exercise, mindfulness practices, taking breaks, pursuing skills outside of work, enjoying hobbies, and engaging in fulfilling social lives and relationships enable teachers to be their best selves in the classroom, which in turn sparks new perspectives, creativity, and healthier relationships with students and colleagues. With our busy everyday lives, it is easy to neglect self-care. Two resources to help create a personalized self-care plan include Reachout.com and MyCompass. And once in a while, we may need to take a mental health day to recharge, just as this one employee did. |
Tip 5: Streamline the Workload Where Possible
I strongly believe that there are aspects of our roles as educators that can and should be streamlined and reduced guilt-free. In the past year, my professional goal of integrating technology in the classroom to reach learners evolved into experimentation with some time-saving strategies, particularly with the more administrative aspect of teaching. In fact, earlier this summer I reflected on how electronic submissions of assignments and maximizing Google Drive for planning and collaboration this past school year has significantly improved my workload compared to just two years ago when I didn't have access to these tools. As a result, I have been able to put more energy into other aspects of my job and life that needed attention. There are many other ways to streamline the workload. For example, collaborating with colleagues on planning may be more efficient and effective that trying to re-invent the wheel. I think that there are also many resources available to teachers that we often aren't aware of. Taking the time to plan, experiment with, and commit to time-saving strategies seems like extra work, but can lead to practical long-term changes. It begins with the question, "What aspects of my work right now would I like to streamline?". I highly recommend that you select the image to the right to access the podcast "5 Powerful Ways to Save Time as a Teacher" hosted by Jennifer Gonzalez, Editor-in-chief of Cult of Pedagogy, with Angela Watson, founder of the 40 Hour Teacher Workweek Club. |
What strategies or practices have worked for you for maintaining long-term wellbeing? Any advice for other educators? Contact me and I would love to share your thoughts.