Practical strategies for supporting yourself while supporting every student: Teaching an inclusive classroom with a mix of special needs and neurodiverse learners is challenging and it can stretch your energy, patience and emotional reserves. Looking after your own well-being isn’t selfish—it’s essential. When you are balanced, rested and supported, you can show up fully for your students.
Working in schools can easily become overwhelming. There is always more you could do — one more email, one more task, one more idea to prepare for tomorrow. The challenge is knowing when to stop. Without boundaries, school work can slowly take over your evenings, weekends and even your holidays.
The final term of the school year is a crazy, busy time in schools. End of year events, final assessments, reporting and planning for next year, swamp us at a time when we are nearing exhaustion. Many of us are running low on reserves at the end of the year. Events that wouldn’t normally irritate us can become blown out of proportion. It is inevitable that the photocopier will jam when we are rushing to make copies, that difficult parent will arrive when we are feeling frazzled and the boss will want ‘just a minute’ when we are running late. The following five strategies can help at this difficult time of year:-