Teacher self-care in any regular year is essential to keep teachers from burning out. But during a pandemic? While teaching remotely or teaching in some kind of blended or hybrid model? Even more essential.
Since I am starting with hybrid learning this week, I’ve gathered 7 of my favorite tips. Please share your own suggestions!
1 – set some boundaries that work for you.
Here are some examples:
~decide when you will leave work each day (the only rule is that it has to be before 6 p.m.!)
~decide what work you will leave at school (the goal is to get to the point where you take very little work home)
~decide what you WILL work on (committees, extra responsibilities) and what you will NOT work on (which committees aren’t the right fit for you anymore? Which responsibilities can you give up or delegate?)
~decide that you will not do any school work over the weekend (at least most weekends) or over breaks like winter break and spring break
~decide when you will no longer respond to work emails (after what time in the afternoon or evening? will you respond over the weekend or not?)
~decide when you will fit in self-care routines like exercise, meditation, time for reading, healthy meals.
2 – set up when/then tasks. For example:
~when students are eating lunch (and watching a video or listening to a podcast so they don’t talk while they’re eating), then I will sit apart from them and read something for fun or do some deep breathing
~when the school day is over, then I will take a brief walk outside
~when I get home, then I will spend five minutes reconnecting with my family (by phone or text), walk my dog, or sit outside for a few minutes.
3 – check-in with yourself throughout the day and think about what you need. Acknowledge your feelings (frustration, anger, overwhelm) and ask yourself what you need right now to help yourself with that emotion.
Some suggestions:
~write (or vent) in a journal
~talk to a friend or family member
~sit outside
~take a walk
~exercise
~watch one episode of something you love on TV or Netflix
~hang out with your family doing something you enjoy doing together.
4 – think about your circle of concern and your circle of influence.
It helps to actually draw a big circle on paper and list all the things inside the circle that you’re concerned about. Don’t worry about organizing anything – just write down whatever comes to mind. That’s your circle of concern.
Now draw a smaller circle and look at all those things in your circle of concern. What can you control? List those things in the smaller circle. That is your circle of influence. Those are the things you can actually do something about. Focus on those things.
5 – be grateful and look for the joy. There are always so many good things in a day if we look for them. Take some time to jot down just five things for which you can be grateful and/or five things that made you feel joy during the day. It might be a compliment from a student, a break-through during a lesson, seeing a student’s math test grade improve from last time, something funny that was said during class. Focus on the good.
6 – develop some morning rituals that work for you. Here are some ideas:
~meditation
~just sitting in silence (no news, no music, no background noise of any type)
~listen to music while getting dressed
~exercise or workout of some sort (doesn’t have to be huge)
~connecting with a trusted teacher friend when you get to school
~quiet time with coffee or tea (either at home or if you get to school earlier than others)
~writing in a journal
~using a gratitude journal
7 – develop some during the school day self-care rituals that work for you.
Here are some ideas:
~play calming music (classical or instrumental are best) during independent work time
~use lamps as the lighting in your classroom (instead of harsh fluorescent lights)
~go outside for fresh air and a walk (even a brief bit of exercise makes a big difference, especially combined with fresh air and sunshine)
~spend time with your students doing something calming that you enjoy (my favorite is reading aloud)
~connecting with a trusted teacher friend
~focus on solutions instead of problems
~list positive things that happen during the day (I keep a running list on my clipboard)
~meditate (not always possible, but super valuable if you can do it, even for just one to three minutes)
~deep breathing
~focus on slowing down (your breathing, your talking, your movements)
~eat healthy foods and focus on eating mindfully
~reading motivational quotes or an inspirational book
~stretching or doing some yoga poses (if you have space)
~diffuse some essential oils
~enjoy a healthy snack or drink break (coffee, hot tea, fruit, carrots and hummus, nuts and raisins).
You are working harder than ever. Take some time to be good to yourself and take care of your own needs.