Some school years (and some times of the school year) are more stressful than others.
When the stress gets overwhelming, try to get back to basics and simplify as much as you can.
Here are 15 tips to help you simplify.
1 – Greet your students at the door. This starts your day and your students’ day off on a positive note and ensures that you connect with every student at least once.
2 – Review your rules and/or your procedures for any part of the school day that is stressing you out. If it’s lunchtime, review lunch procedures. If it’s your end-of-day time that is raising your blood pressure, review those procedures. Then follow through on any consequences if the procedures or rules are not followed. Show them you mean business.
3 – Do something fun with your class every day. Make sure that you smile and laugh with your students as much as possible. Maybe you’ll watch a funny video or share some good news or enjoy a read-aloud together. Whatever brings you joy will bring them joy as well.
4 – Focus on the positive. Ask your students to share good news or compliments for each other or gratitude for something. Thank them for following your rules and procedures when they do that. Tell them you appreciate their attention to doing the right thing and making the school day better for everyone.
5 – Slow down. If something isn’t going well or if you see that your class just isn’t getting a concept, don’t feel compelled to push through. Slow down. Take a deep breath. Reteach. Ask a student to explain what they think the concept means or explain how to do a math problem. Or allow student partnerships to discuss. Give them time to absorb what you’re teaching.
6 – Have as many one-on-one check-ins or conferences with students as possible in a day. Don’t stress yourself out about doing any certain amount, as some days will be better than others.
7 – Keep photos of people or animals that are important to you at school. These could be framed pictures or the screensaver on your phone or your computer. But let yourself be reminded of all the love in your life as often as possible.
8 – Set boundaries for yourself when it comes to school responsibilities. See my post HERE about setting boundaries for yourself at school and my post HERE about setting boundaries for yourself in your personal life.
9 – Take deep breaths.
10 – Go outside, even for just a few minutes. (By the way – this is a great place to take those deep breaths.)
11 – I know you have a million things to do, but try to take a real break at lunch. Enjoy eating your lunch and reading or doing something just for you instead of grading papers or catching up on email.
12 – Stand up and stretch or do some kind of movement, especially if you’ve been sitting for a while. This is also a great thing to do WITH your students.
13 – Plan something you will do for yourself after school or in the evening. It might be cooking a favorite meal, grabbing a latte on your way home from school, buying yourself flowers, taking a long bath. Give yourself something to look forward to doing.
14 – Make a list of everything in your day that is going well. You might be surprised to see that more is going well than is not going well. Focus on what you CAN control and try very hard to let go of that which you CANNOT control.
15 – Try a stress log. I got this idea from Marie Forleo in her awesome book Everything is Figureoutable. Open a new page in a notebook. List all the things that stress you out, no matter how big or how small. Next to each thing that stresses you out, write ONE thing you could do that would make it better in some way. Then choose ONE stressor and try your solution. When that is done, choose another. Make your way down the list.
Stress is a part of life. By incorporating small habits into our routines, we can help relieve the effects of stress and not let it get too overwhelming. Let me know what habits work for you!
Teachers are under more stress than ever right now.
Teaching is a difficult enough job — planning, endless meetings, paperwork, email, reaching out to or responding to parents, not to mention actually teaching students and assessing their progress. Add all the beginning of the year assessments and analyzing data and wondering how you are going to address all the learning needs. Then add all the COVID protocols and constant monitoring of health and safety routines. Then – in our district – it has been raining for the past three days, which means indoor lunch, indoor recess, and even less of a break for teachers.
So how can we deal with teacher stress and take care of ourselves when the demands just never stop?
Here are 10 tips.
1 – take a mental health day. I hate using the term “sick leave”. It’s more like “take care of myself so I WON’T get sick” leave. I know it’s a pain to create sub plans. I know you feel like your class will fall apart without you. I know you hate creating potential stress on your grade-level team if you’re out. But take a day anyway. The world will not end.
Spend the day doing whatever makes you feel refreshed. Maybe you need more sleep. Maybe you need to read or watch Netflix or do something creative. Plan your mental health day around what will make you feel better.
2 – take a break during the day. Ask someone to cover your class for just a few minutes. Can you leave your classroom and go someplace else in your school for a change of scenery while your kids are at specials? Can you take a walk around the school (indoors or outdoors)? Can you give your students some quiet independent work to do while you take a break at your desk?
3 – do some mindful breathing, either alone or with your class. Here are two great options. This video teaches a mindful breathing technique and this video has relaxing music to play during independent reading or quiet work time.
4 – go outside. This can be combined with taking a break and/or with mindful breathing. Just getting some fresh air and a change of scenery can restore some calm.
5 – do a one-minute meditation. My favorite app for meditation is Headspace. They have tons of different meditation sessions to use, including sessions that are only one minute long. But you don’t have to use an app to meditate. It’s all about closing your eyes (or gazing at a focal point) and focusing on your breath. When thoughts come to mind (and they will), just return your focus to your breath. Escape to the restroom if you have to, close your eyes, and focus on your breath.
6 – while your students are writing or doing some other independent activity, write in a journal. It doesn’t have to be a real journal. Just writing on any random piece of paper or in your planner will work just as well.
7 – stop and do a read-aloud with your class. Whether it’s a chapter book that you’re currently reading together or a picture book that you can finish in one session, reading aloud to your students will calm everyone down. Read more about this activity in my post about #classroombookaday.
8 – do a brain dump of all the things that are racing through your mind. While this sounds like it will stress you out more, getting all the stuff out of your head and onto paper keeps you from having to obsess about it all.
What to do with all the stuff once it is written down? These tips are from a post I wrote about a teacher to-do list system.
Here are two ways to organize your brain dump:
1 – use colored pens (like Flair pens) and label your tasks by priority, using ABC or 123 labels.
An A or 1 label = anything that is urgent (in terms of time frame) and important for you to do.
A B or 2 label = anything that is important, but not quite as urgent.
A C or 3 label = anything that isn’t urgent and might matter to you, but isn’t immediately important to do.
(A brain dump list is especially great for these items since they are written down and will probably eventually get done so they don’t keep coming to mind when you’re thinking about more urgent/important tasks. You can relax because they’re “on the list”.)
2 – use highlighters. You could prioritize your tasks the same way, but just use highlighters to indicate the different priorities.
9 – one of the best tips I can offer is to talk to someone about your stress. It might be a teacher on your grade level, an instructional coach, a guidance counselor. Find someone you can trust and talk to them about what is causing you stress at school. They can often help brainstorm ideas for how to counteract the stress and the isolation it can cause.
10 – Finally – guard your time after school. Be as efficient as possible and leave as soon as you can. Go do something that brings you joy: hug your kids, take a walk in a park, go shopping, read a book, go work out, make something you love for dinner, get together with friends. Put as much effort into your own life and self-care and health as you are putting into your teaching and planning.
You are never alone. I hope these tips help you in some small way. Please reach out to me if you need to talk!
Back to school is one of the most exciting times of the year, but also one of the most exhausting.
I am all about making teaching sustainable so that you can be the best teacher you can be while also taking care of yourself and the other important parts of your life.
With that in mind, here are five posts about taking care of YOU during this exhausting time of year.
Once you get your energy back, if you’re interested in some great activities to begin during the first few weeks of school, here are three suggestions!
Are you ready for the busy back-to-school season? I’ve got some great resources for you today!
This is a collection of posts that will help you get your school year started with minimum stress. Sound good? Let’s get started.
Set-up & Organization
Every teacher knows that classroom setup is one of the most important things to get done on those busy teacher workdays. Just having furniture in place is not enough. How we structure the learning environment supports the teaching and learning that will take place in our classrooms.
Jenni from Pencils & Planners has seven great ideas HERE for classroom set-up.
Setting up the classroom library is one of the big jobs in classroom set-up. April at Teach Travel Read gives some tips for organizing the library along with some reminders of routines and procedures to teach your students so that the library will stay organized!
Speaking of staying organized . . . Alexandra at Messy Buns & Markers shares five daily habits that will help you stay on top of your organization. Her habits are simple to implement but will make a huge difference in your organization, productivity, and mental health!
If you’re one of the lucky teachers to have a Cricut, check out these tips from Maureen at Teacher Baker Maker. If you’re trying to use Alexandra’s organization habits, making a teacher toolbox as Maureen describes will save you a lot of time. (Even if you don’t have a Cricut, you can make this genius toolbox!)
Are you a paper planner or a digital planner person? I’ve always been a paper planner, but Kimberly at Learning More with Mrs. Morrison is convincing me to try a digital planner this year. Check out her post and see what you think!
Setting boundaries is an important part of self-care for all of us. I recently wrote a post about setting boundaries in your personal life, but how do you set boundaries for yourself when you’re back in school?
A great quote I heard somewhere:
“Teachers are told to take care of themselves, but then told why they can’t.”
It’s up to you to set the boundaries for yourself because your school or district will probably not do it for you. (Side note: there are exceptional principals out there who do help set boundaries for their teachers. I am blessed to work with one myself. My point is that you can’t just count on “the powers that be” to do this for you.)
A key thing to remember is that boundaries are not just a limit and a way to say no. Think about a fence around a playground or around a backyard. Yes, it’s intended to keep critters or other things OUT, but it’s also intended to keep children or pets safe by keeping them INSIDE a safe place.
Think about setting your boundaries in terms of what you are trying to keep “safe” in your own life, whether that’s time for yourself, time for your family, or both.
Here are 8 tips for setting boundaries for yourself at school.
1 – Set a “stop-time”. This stop time should apply to most of your days at school. Days with late meetings or family-teacher conferences are different, of course, but choose a time that you can “stop” most days of the week.
The good thing about doing this is that you will tend to be more productive when you know you have to leave by a certain time. Have you ever noticed that if you have all day to get something done, it will take you all day but that if you only have 20 minutes, you will get it done in 20 minutes? This is the same idea. Get everything done that you can possibly get done in the time when you are at school and then leave at your “stop-time”.
Some tips for doing this:
~Give yourself a five-minute warning before your stop time so that you can wrap up whatever you are working on, clear off your work surface, and pack up to leave school. Set a reminder on your phone if you need to.
~Some teachers like to stick to an early-ish stop time most days but then stay later on one day of the week. This allows them to spend some extra time on tasks that they need to do in their classroom and they save those tasks specifically for that one day. Try it and see if it works for you.
An alternative to this for parents with young children: some teachers like to leave school as soon as possible so that they have more time at home with their own family. But they often spend time working on schoolwork after their children are in bed. Another option is that they may use some weekend time to catch up on schoolwork. Again – try it and see if that works for you.
~Set your specific “work hours” every day (knowing they can be different from day to day). But also set your days/times when you will NOT work.
Some teachers do whatever they need to do during the week, leaving their weekends absolutely free of any school work. Others prefer to work fewer hours during the week but take a little time during the weekend to finish up projects. You may have to experiment and find what works best for you. But here’s the thing: whatever schedule you set for yourself is fine. Ignore what other people are doing, thinking that they must be “better” than you. If you prefer to do school work during the weekend, try not to compare yourself to teachers who do like to use the weekend time. They are not better or harder-working than you. They just prefer a different schedule. Set up a schedule that works best for you. Do not feel guilty!
2 – Try not to check your school email once you leave school. Delete it from your phone if necessary. If your administrative team and your teaching team have your cell phone number, they will contact you if there is some emergency. Otherwise, it can wait until you are at school the next day.
An alternative to this: check school email while at home during the week, but refuse to check it over the weekend. Or set certain weekend hours when you will not check email (4 p.m. on Friday until 4 p.m. on Sunday, for example).
3 – Try to get all (or most) of your assessment work done at school. This can be difficult, but try it out. Here are some tips:
~See if you can do more formative assessments of student work while you are in the classroom with students.
~Have check-in points for pieces of writing or for bigger projects so that you don’t have to grade the whole thing when the student is finished.
~Use online tools like Google forms and Edulastic to do some or most of the grading for you.
4 – Decide what you will do and what you will NOT do. Some things are worth doing and they are worth doing by you. And some things can be done by other people. (And some things don’t really need to be done at all.)
If it’s something you need to or want to create for your class or your team – that is worth doing and it’s worth doing by you.
Changing your wall displays or bulletin boards every two weeks? Maybe that is not worth doing or not worth doing by you. Can you create displays that don’t have to be changed as frequently? Or could you make them easy enough so that your students can help? Could you use assistants or volunteers to do something like that for you?
6 – When it comes to any task you are being asked to do, pay attention to your gut feeling. If something makes you feel angry or resentful or stressed, that is information for you. What can you change about this request or this task to make it work better for you?
Here are some examples:
~If you’re being asked to upload grades to an online platform or a database or spreadsheet and it makes you feel stressed and overwhelmed – can you break it down into smaller chunks to get it done? If you need more time, can you ask for an extension? Is there someone else that could help you do the uploading? (A teacher assistant, a mentor, an instructional coach) Are you feeling overwhelmed because you don’t yet feel comfortable with the technology you’re being asked to use? If so, see if someone (a mentor, a trusted teacher friend) can walk you through how to use the technology.
~If your team is being asked to communicate with parents weekly (or even more frequently) and it makes you feel resentful or stressed – can you take turns creating the communication and sharing it with the team to distribute? Can you break down the task somehow and have everyone do only a part of it?
~If you’re hearing about yet another new initiative your district wants to implement, you are looking at all the dates for all the professional development that will be involved, and it makes you feel angry or resentful – stop and take a deep breath. This is a very common issue in every district and every state, so it’s not just happening at your school or district.
Try to think about what’s good here.
~Is it something that the district is hoping will address an ongoing problem or issue? (Maybe the initiative involves equity or diversity training, which is an area where more learning is always a good thing. Maybe it’s a new literacy initiative, which is intended to help increase reading achievement.)
If that’s the case, focus on these questions:
~What will be good for you to learn from this?
~What are the good things that could result from this training?
These questions may not totally make you feel all Zen about yet another initiative and even more professional development, but they will hopefully help you to look for some positives in the situation.
What about the requests to supervise an after-school event or club, to do small-group tutoring after school, to teach summer school, or other such requests? Pay attention to how you feel. If you’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed, then you need to say NO. This is a hard one for many teachers. But guess what? They will move on and find someone else who can take on the job. It is absolutely fine for you to say no.
Here are some responses you could say:
“I’m sorry, but I can’t add one more thing right now.”
“I have another meeting/appointment at that time.” (It could be a meeting/appointment with yourself. They don’t have to know that.)
“I won’t have time to do my best work on that right now.”
“I would be interested at another time, but I can’t do that right now.”
“This will take away from my limited family time, so I can’t do that right now.”
7 – This works the other way too. If something makes you feel happy or excited, that is also information for you. Say yes to this request or task!
If your principal asking you to be part of a committee or leadership role and you cannot wait to get started, that is a YES!
If a teacher friend asks you to be part of a small group that meets for Bible study or some kind of socializing and you really want to, that is a YES!
The point is: think about whether this brings you joy or not.
There is an old quote (not sure who to attribute it to) that says: “If it’s not a ‘heck, yes!’, then it’s a NO.” You get to decide whether or not it’s a “heck, yes.”
8 – And finally: remember that self-care is a priority, not a luxury. You are no good for anyone else if you are exhausted, burned out, or if you get sick. Develop some self-care routines that work for you and make them a habit. These do not have to be huge or time-consuming or even cost anything. They just have to fit you and what makes you feel refreshed and energized. Five to ten minutes is all it takes (but feel free to take longer if you can do it!).
Here are a couple of self-care tips to incorporate first:
~Set up a morning routine & evening routine. Again — these do not have to have 15 steps and take hours. Here is my post about setting up a morning routine and my post about evening routines. LINKS & MAYBE REVISE THEM FIRST??
~Even the biggest extroverts need some quiet time every day. Don’t feel guilty for taking that time. For me, it’s when I first get home from school. I don’t want to talk, listen, or take in any kind of verbal input where I have to think or pay attention. Even when I had young children, I found that we all wanted some quiet downtime when we got home every day. This often involved some kind of play (Lego, play-dough, or playing outside) and I was right there to play with them or watch them, but it was still a welcome break.
Set boundaries for yourself. Remember that you are trying to keep the good stuff IN. Let go of the guilt. You are no good for anyone else if you’re not being good to yourself.
At this time of year when going back to school is on the horizon, many teachers are thinking about all the things they need to do to prepare.
But maybe it’s a good idea to spend some of the precious summer time thinking about how we need to be as a teacher. How we want to BE will guide much of what we DO.
1 – Be yourself. Be authentic. Kids can tell if you are not being “real” with them. This doesn’t mean you need to tell them everything about yourself (be selective about that!), but it is okay to admit your mistakes, to acknowledge your emotions, and to ask for their forgiveness or for their help. This helps your students see you as someone they can trust and it allows them the freedom to be themselves as well.
2 – Take a genuine interest in your students and show you care. As you get to know them, look past the demographic info, the academic data, and the test scores. Look at who the child really is. What is going on in their life? What do they care about? What are their interests outside of school? Make an effort to get to know these things about each of your students and to ask about those things on a frequent basis.
“How did your soccer game go?”
“How is your baby brother doing?”
“Is your mom feeling better?”
One great way to do this is to make home visits to your students (your school may have guidelines for doing this) or to attend some of their events outside of school. These might include sporting events, music or dance recitals, concerts, whatever they’re involved in. You don’t even have to stay the whole time! But making that effort to show up goes a long way toward showing your students and their families that you truly care about them.
3 – Give your students a voice. Give them choices when possible. Ask for their opinions and feedback. Listen to what they say. This communicates respect for your students and will build their respect for you.
4 – You can ease a lot of stress (both your own and your students’ stress) with humor. Look for ways to bring laughter and joy into your classroom on a daily basis. Read something funny. Show a funny video. So many funny things happen in a classroom on any given day. Look for those moments and allow yourself and your students to enjoy them. Laughter relaxes the entire body, releases endorphins (the body’s feel-good chemicals), and diffuses tension and conflict. Make your classroom a joyful place to be.
5 – Tell stories. Be selective but allow yourself to be vulnerable. Tell stories about what you struggled with when you were their age. Tell stories about what you struggle with doing now. Tell funny stories about yourself or about your own kids. This helps you to form connections with your students, to use humor, and to let them see you as someone who makes mistakes and learns from them.
6 – Do things to make your students feel special. Some teachers share special greetings with each student at the door each morning. Some teachers ask students to do favors for them (bring a book or your phone or your coffee to you). Spend time with them, ask them questions about themselves, and let them know that you care about them.
It helps to remember this quote from Dr. Maya Angelou: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”