Taking Care of Your Self as Teacher

The process of becoming a professional, highly effective teacher is not a sprint. Nor is it is a marathon. It is a cross country, long distance run over rugged terrain that lasts about a year.To weather the ups and downs of the sometimes daunting, often exhausting, but in the enda wonderful career, teachers need to find ways to take care of themselves, to rejuvenate and restore, and to find a balance between work life and home life.

Here are self care some tips from experts:

  • Find and maintain a support system. Friends can pick you up when you are glum, provide insights when you are feeling lost, and help you have fun when you need to blow off steam. Along with friends and family outside of school, find a colleague or two at your school site who can be a positive ally.
  • Monitor your own reactions, emotions and needs. Keeping your emotions bottled up is never healthy, and can often lead to a blowup later on. Try journaling or think aloud to a sympathetic friend to identify your feelings so you can better understand them.
  • Network, network, network. Find colleagues online, at conferences and meetings, and right

at your work site.

  • Use positive coping strategies to manage emotions and distress: Try a deep breathing

technique, muscle relaxation, yoga or simply taking a walk.

  • Get enough sleep. Sleep is very important for your emotional and physical well-being. Lack

of sleep can negatively impact your ability to handle stress, be productive and function

properly in the classroom.

  • Along with getting enough sleep, maintain a healthy lifestyle, including eating regular

healthy meals, getting some regular exercise and staying hydrated.

  • Maintain a structured classroom environment. This is a good thing for both you and your

students.

  • Make time for yourself, family and friends. This should be an expendable item. Those

personal bonds are the ones that keep us going.

  • Keep a list (real or mental) of the ah-ha moments that happen during the day. Write down

funny things students say, keep the notes they write to you, cherish the hard won successes

your students have. Keep those moments of success in mind.

  • Keep those lessons that worked really well. You’ll want them again.
  • Take at least part of every weekend to do something totally unrelated to school. Push all

thoughts of work from your mind.

  • Seek help if you feel overwhelmed. Symptoms such as increased irritability with students,

feeling numb or detached, or problems planning lessons or maintaining classroom routines

are all signs of serious distress requiring help. If your signs persist for longer than two to three weeks, it might be a good idea to seek assistance from a health care professional.