October/November
Newsletter
Autumn is here!
While this can be an exciting time, it is also a time to care for yourself as you care for others. As you read, view, and listen to the resources below, consider how you can assist students in their own self-care.
Here is our contact information:
Ms. Lisa Sonricker, Program Director, sonrickerl@ccresa.net; Johnston Cohort
Ms. Dana Stutzman, Office & Communications Manager, officemanager@ccresa.net
Ms. Kathy Saunders, Program Developer & Instructor, saunderskr@ccresa.net; Wake Cohort
Dr. Morghan Bosch, EC Program Developer & Instructor, boschm@ccresa.net;EC Program
Mr. Ryan Logelin, Program Instructor, logelinr@ccresa.net; Durham Cohort
Please let us know if you need support!
Self-Care for Teachers
7 Self-Care Strategies
7 Self-Care Strategies For Teachers
December 21, 2014
This is a sampling of ideas for self-care taken from the Edutopia community. Thanks to all those who contributed on Facebook, Twitter and on the Edutopia discussion!
During the day - small ways to stay grounded:
Here are a few items folks keep in their desks for that little pick-me-up during a busy day:
- Tea
- Chocolate
- Protein boost (nuts, granola bar)
- Floss
- Healthy snacks
- Thank you notes
- Stress ball
Got a few minutes during passing time or prep time? Some two-minute strategies to take care of yourself:
- Do a few yoga poses or stretches to get your blood moving
- Get out of the building for some fresh air and a change of scenery
- Take a mindful moment and pay attention to your breathing to center yourself
How to Fill Your Own Cup
Read more here
Reflect
Channel Disappointments into Reflections
Here’s a simple strategy for this: Each time you find yourself disappointed about something--from a lesson plan or a class’s behavior--take a couple minutes to sit and reflect.
I like to make a 3-column chart with disappointments or problems on the left, possible causes in the middle, and proposed solutions on the right.
Doing this exercise helped me to reframe my disappointments from “proof of failure” to a game plan for the future, and helped me feel competent and energized at the potential for tomorrow. From Teacher Vision
Nurture Your Mindset
Adopt a growth mindset for yourself. While growth mindset is hot concept in the education world right now, many teachers (do you see my hand raised?) forget to adopt it for themselves.
So some reminders for you:
- You are allowed to grow.
- You are allowed to make mistakes.
- You are already improving.
Take time regularly to check in and celebrate how far you’ve come in planning, grading, relationship-building, classroom management, and every other skill this profession requires of us. From Teacher Vision
October can be a challenging month for teachers
3 reasons why October can be a challenging month for teachers by Angela Watson
1) The optimism that comes from having a fresh start at back to school has faded.
Hopes ran high over the summer when you were dreaming about your classroom and new group of students, but reality has come crashing down on you now. October is the period of disillusionment: The beautiful supplies you spent your own money on are broken or lost or disorganized. The community and rapport-building exercises you planned got pushed back so many times due to lack of time that you’re not even sure if they’re worth implementing now, even if the class isn’t getting along the way you like. You’re at a place where you’re afraid to try something new and throw the kids off, but it’s becoming glaringly obvious that the way things are going now isn’t great.
2) There are a lot of full workweeks between now and the holidays.
There are several 3 and 4-day weeks at the beginning of the school year which help us ease into the back-to-school routine, but by mid-October, we’ve got a grueling 5-day week schedule ahead of us until Thanksgiving, and no other breaks after that until Christmas and winter break.
People who aren’t teachers may think we’re whining if we complain about this, but what they don’t realize is that teachers depend on those days off to catch up on grading and lesson planning. A bunch of 5 day weeks in a row is good because we can really establish routines with kids and get into a flow, but it also produces a tremendous backlog of paperwork and planning and assessment with too little time to handle any of it.
Keep reading here