The second half of the school year can be exhausting. Many upper elementary teachers experience burnout and run low on energy (and patience).
What to do to combat this burnout? Here are 12 tips.
1 – Leave at a set time.
Unfortunately, your teaching work is never done. The challenge is to get the most important tasks done, then leave for the day. Your teaching work is important, but so is your energy and your health.
Choose a reasonable time to leave (which might differ on different days), get your most important tasks done, then shut it down for the day.
Want some help with developing effective and efficient before and after-school routines? Take a look at my mini-course here!
2 – Develop a morning routine for yourself
Don’t roll your eyes when you read those words! I’m not talking about getting up at 4 a.m., running five miles, meditating for 30 minutes, then drinking a kale smoothie (unless that works for you).
Everyone has a morning routine. The trick is to add habits that work for you and set you up to have the best possible day. Get some tips for that here.
3 – Develop a morning routine for your students. Starting the day off right is important for both you and your students. Make this routine work for you as much as possible.
If you like to play quiet music in the morning, do that. If you enjoy starting the day reading aloud to your students, do that. If you want to spend a few minutes with students who need to make up work or just need some extra teaching time with you, make a plan for that.
4 – Set specific times of day when you will check and respond to email. Try NOT to check email after a particular time (after 3 p.m., after you leave school for the day, after 7 p.m. – whatever time works for you).
5 – Plan your planning time. Make a (reasonable) list of what you will do during this valuable and limited time. Here are some tips for that.
6 – Find some teacher friends. Hopefully, some of these will be on your grade level team, but having friends anywhere in the building will be helpful. Teacher friends are the best for knowing exactly what you might be dealing with. They can listen, offer advice, help you solve problems, or let you vent when necessary. This job is a lot more fun with friends. (If you struggle to make friends at your school, consider changing schools. It’s that important.)
7 – Plan healthy routines for after school. These could include walking, going to the gym, meditating, praying, journaling, reading, spending time outside, spending time with favorite people or pets, enjoying a hobby, or doing yoga—whatever helps relieve stress and is enjoyable.
8 – Try to fit in some walking, deep breathing, fresh air, and hydration DURING the school day.
9 – Get enough sleep, preferably seven hours or more. Your mom was right – everything is better after you’ve had a good night of sleep.
10 – Build weekly routines for yourself. This might include certain chores, tasks, or errands that you do on certain days of the week, but try to also include some of those healthy routines from tip #7.
Plan what you (or a family member) will make for dinner each night. You might plan a day for grocery shopping, and another day for other errands. You might make a plan for your daily workouts or activity time.
Having a weekly routine also helps you see when your days might be too “full” so that you can plan what to move or reschedule.
A weekly routine/plan eases stress because it gives you some predictability and a sense of being on top of your life’s personal and family routines.
11 – Plan some fun activities for your class. This might be reading a fun picture book daily (see one of my favorite routines here), doing a project, building something, incorporating more stations or hands-on activities, incorporating some different engagement strategies, taking some of your lessons outside, or going on a field trip in real life or virtually!
12 – If you need a day off, take a day off. Yes, sub plans are a pain. But plan for a day (or two days) for your class, plan what you will do for yourself on your days off, and turn in your leave request. Do not feel guilty.
Burnout is a real thing. Recognizing when your energy is running low and taking steps to manage your energy are essential. Let me know how these tips work for you!
All of my content is intended to save teachers time and energy. My goal is to make good teaching sustainable while having a life outside of teaching. Let me know how I can help YOU with this quick form!