Reaching Out To Parents
Some parents can be time consuming and add to our stress. In most schools, five percent of parents consume 95 percent of your time. However, reaching out to have them onboard can make our lives easier. Try these proactive approaches. Avoid Doing Battle Logging and taking notes on parent phone calls is a good practice in case you need to recall the details of a conversation (or if one took place). If parents get overly angry, emotional or offensive, I end the conversation quickly but diplomatically: “I hear you’re upset but I no longer feel comfortable speaking with you on the phone. We should meet face to face, but with an administrator also present.” I then report to my line…
Eight Steps to Happiness
The following tips for living a more meaningful and fulfilling life are from ‘Eight Steps to Happiness’ by Dr Anthony Grant and Alison Leigh. Practise random acts of kindness- Random acts of kindness has been scientifically shown to increase the happiness and wellbeing of both the giver and the recipient. Do something nice for a different colleague every day this week. Be mindful – We’re enticed to want more, buy more, use more, consume more. Our heads become so full of this chatter that we take for granted the good things in the here and now. To become more mindful try: Connection: Connecting with the present, engaging fully through all senses. Diffusion: Letting thoughts come and go without getting caught up with…
Strategies to Reduce Your Frustration
Teaching can be demanding and at times frustrating. As an experienced teacher, I have made a conscious effort to develop strategies that I can deploy when I feel frustrated at school. Here are some of the techniques that work for me. Don’t rant endlessly, but do seek support from your colleagues. Everyone needs friends at school. One of the best things about working with teachers is that we are experienced in offering encouragement and advice. If you have a stressed-out moment during class, smile and act as if you have things under control. Your students do not need to know that you are having a bad day. Give up those heavy loads of teacher-guilt that we all carry around. We…
Coping With Change
Change can be hard. Often change is for the good. Occasionally change brings about worse outcomes. The one predictable aspect of change is its inevitability. Coping with change is one of the biggest challenges in schools – the sheer volume, let alone the rate of change, can be overwhelming. Avoiding change fatigue can be critical to preventing change-related stress and burnout. Tips: Make small changes or break big changes into small increments. It’s like running up a huge hill – don’t look at the top, just keep your eyes a metre or so in front of you. Remember to turn around and look back at your progress every so often… that will help buoy you on and spur you up…
Reclaiming Your Mojo
Working in schools can be both rewarding and challenging. In stressful times we can forget why we work in schools, we can lose our mojo! The following strategies are intended to help you reclaim your mojo and look after your well-being. Schedule stop times – Identify your work curfew: a set time when you have to put the laptop down and take a break. Call it quits. Break up with the iPad. Schedule a date with someone else … even if it’s just yourself. (Can you tell I’m recently divorced?) Set goals for yourself that don’t involve work – Staff who work in schools tend to be goal-minded individuals. A novel concept for me: working toward a purpose that doesn’t…
Overcoming the Challenges of Working From Home
Staff in many schools are currently working remotely. Whilst many people will initially be happy to be ‘working from home’ (teaching in your pyjamas sounds great), it does come with its challenges and demands. Everyone who works remotely has to figure out when to work, where to work and how to create boundaries between their work and personal lives. For example, traveling to school has usually been part of our routine. Whilst you gain the travel time, you lose the opportunity to make a clear transition from home to work. Here are some tips for working well from home. Create a New Morning Routine Your morning routine helps you focus and engage in a productive time. Whilst it can be…
Two Words to Start the Day With in Challenging Times
Sad but true – we all have a Use By Date. Whilst we don’t like to think about it, it is inevitable. At some stage we are all going to die. In “The Comfort Crisis” author Michael Easter quotes researchers from the University of Kentucky who had people think about death and the result was…they got happier. The scientists concluded, “Death is a psychologically threatening fact but when people contemplate it, apparently the automatic system begins to search for happy thoughts.” Easter notes that it is similar to being on holiday. If you obsessively dwell on your holiday ending (yes we will be able to travel again in the future), it is depressing and isn’t helpful. However, acknowledging that the…
Managing Student Anxiety Before It Becomes A Problem
Research shows that childhood anxiety left unmanaged will almost certainly re-emerge, highlighting the importance of early detection and management. Teachers, as first responders, play an important role by minimising the impact of stressful moments before they lead to full-blown anxiety. Recognise anxiety triggers Recognising the events that trigger anxiety is the first step to helping students to manage their stress. Rapid or unpredictable change, new social situations, unfamiliar events and difficult experiences are the most common anxiety stressors for students. Know how anxiety shows Stress and anxiety show in many ways however, most students display anxiety behaviours that are specific to them. Typically, anxiety shows through physical signs such as chest pains, nausea and headaches. Anxiety can be observed through…
Effort vs Achievement
Pretty much anyone working in schools can talk extensively about the difference between effort and achievement – particularly in the scenario when some students seem to cruise through their school life with very little effort whilst achieving high grades whereas others continuously ‘bust their gut’ trying, but only ever achieve average academic outcomes. While situations like this can be frustrating for teachers to watch, it can be downright disheartening for those students in the latter group. But when we fast-forward and look at the individuals in their later lives, evidence shows that the kids who learn the value of effort are the ones that are more satisfied and successful in work and life. They are the resilient ones. Often, schools…
Interruptions Are Inevitable
Working in a school environment or teaching in a classroom is challenging in a myriad of ways. One of the causes for stress and work dissatisfaction is the number and severity of interruptions experienced by staff. We’ve all felt the frustration of getting stuck into a work task or classroom lesson, gaining momentum and starting to see great results, when… BAM – there’s a knock on the door; the phone rings; a student arrives late or must leave early; and so on. Rarely does it matter WHAT the interruption is, the focus is lost and it can be difficult, sometimes impossible, to regain momentum in the available timeframe. Whilst it’s tempting to throw your hands in the air and bemoan…
Good Intentions Aren’t Enough
Most of us have good intentions about looking after our own well-being. We also have a pretty clear idea about what we SHOULD be doing. We SHOULD do the most important things FIRST! We SHOULD get some exercise, even when we are busy! We SHOULD stop and eat a healthy lunch! We SHOULD drink more water! We SHOULD be more positive and optimistic in the staffroom! At times we ‘SHOULD’ all over ourselves! However, having good intentions isn’t enough – it’s your actual behaviour that counts! To reduce our stress levels and improve our well-being, we need to have the discipline to stick to the things we KNOW we SHOULD do. Our own thought processes and self-talk have a significant…
Setting goals that aren’t SMART
Rare is the person who hasn’t heard about SMART goals – most of us have learnt the theory and many of us have probably experienced some success with them! To revise, the acronym stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely. The intent of using the acronym is to help you focus your efforts and increase your chance at success. For example, “I will complete my weekly plan every Friday afternoon,” is in the format of a SMART goal. It is intended to help us keep focused and to achieve. However, at times (probably more often than we care to admit), life doesn’t go to plan and your ability to commit, be persistent and achieve your goal is negatively impacted.…