Stress Management – Happy Schools

Celebrate the Wins at Work

October 5, 2023

I don’t think we focus on the positives nearly enough. This is true in our personal lives, but also in workplaces, where around two-thirds of people say they do not feel their efforts and achievements are acknowledged or valued. To put it another way, there is not enough celebration of the wins. Celebrating the wins at work has several benefits: It makes you and others feel good: When we focus on making other people feel good by celebrating their wins, everyone wins. We get the feel-goods as well. It is also important to remember, we can celebrate people’s wins in their personal lives as well. It shows progress towards important goals: Yes, the big wins can be celebrated but even…

The Joy of Change (Part 2)

February 16, 2023

Stevef

Behaviour Management

In part 1, I talked about the neuroplasticity of the brain and the importance of the heart level emotional connection of the “what’s in it for me if I change” component. Learning If we want someone to do something different, we have to give them enough information, knowledge and training to feel supported and confident that they can do what is being asked of them. Learning makes a huge difference. It is also the way to keep our brains young and vital; and not just simple stuff – we have to learn things that are completely different or something we have never done before. Even before I learned about this, I had always had a dream to play the harp.…

Self Nourishing Activities

October 6, 2022

Stevef

Resilience

I hope that you have spent a week being on YOUR own side – this can simply be internally in terms of your self-talk and how long you stay with positive emotions and experiences but it might also be an external practice where you physically and spiritually nourish yourself. I’m urging you to try the practice of scheduling in Self-Nourishing Acts throughout your week (or even every day!) that nurture your physical, spiritual and emotional well-being. I first heard of this term many years ago in the book Positive Energy by Judith Orloff MD however, it is only this year that I have written a list of my own Self-Nourishing Acts and begun to schedule these into my week. Self-Nourishing…

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

September 29, 2022

Stevef

Resilience

As strange as it may seem….as a teacher I am often envious of tilers, painters and especially carpet layers! At the end of their day they can look back and clearly see what they have achieved THAT day. Whilst they often start early in the day (like staff in schools), by the end of their day they can see the immediate impact of their work (unlike staff in schools on many days). The bathroom is newly tiled, walls painted and bedrooms carpeted. All to the delight of their client! Whilst we have taught lessons, marked student work, assisted students, managed behaviour, applied consequences, bandaged scrapes, put ice on bruises and handled queries from parents, much of our work is not…

The R Word – Report Writing Stress

May 5, 2022

Stevef

Attitude

It’s that time of year for all teachers where the blood pressure and workload are rising, assessments are being marked, the students are tiring by the minute and I really need to make a start on my….(gasp) REPORTS! Here are some things you might like to try as you write your reports this year so that you do not need the first week of holidays to recover: 1) Create (and stick to) a simple timetable for completion so that the workload is spread out over a few weeks and you are not leaving them ALL until the last minute and have to pull an all-nighter (not mentioning any names here but you know who you are). I write mine down…