Every year, around this exact time, there are teachers going out sick, feeling worn down, exhausted and still managing to plan great activities and coordinating memorable and meaningful celebrations for their learners. This is part of the job and we do it to the best of our ability because of the kids. Over the years, I have found three things that work for me and keep me somewhat healthy and mostly stress free; this does not mean that these three things will work for you too, but it is at least a starting point! So, before you go to Target to fill your shopping carts with Theraflu, Cold-EEZE, Airborne and all of the essential oils, try a few things to prevent yourself from getting sick and from feeling worn down.
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Finding Your Calm
- What is it that makes you feel stress free and appreciated? How can you accomplish this on a sustainable and daily basis? These answers will be different for everyone, but that does not mean that we should keep them to ourselves! I love hearing how other people find calm because that is how I learn about new things to try out myself.
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Making Self Care a Regular Routine
- This one requires a daily commitment but not one that should seem overbearing or impossible on most days. Self care works best when it is something that you actually look forward to!
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Communicating with Others
- Sometimes, we just need to sit and talk with someone who will listen. During one of our PDs, the speaker asked us to share how we feel heard. He asked if we would rather be given a solution to our problem or if we would rather just be listened to. It is important that whoever you go to knows which one you need in that moment – do you want to be heard or do you want ideas? Take some time to tell them at the beginning of the conversation what you need in that moment.
I would love to hear more about how you all plan to take care of yourselves! I think talking about this helps us build stronger relationships and it may even give us ideas for how to better care for ourselves!
Further Reading and Viewing
I recently read a blog post from one of the Keynote speakers that CVESD brought in over the summer to speak with a group of educators. It was called Because of a Teacher and it explained how hard it is to be sick around this time of year. In this blog post, there was also a video – A Thank You Letter to Teachers. Both this blog post and this video reminded me how important it is to take some time for self-care and really make that into a routine. My hope is that you too will take some time to take care of you; our educators at Feaster do so much for everyone else, so it is important to take some time and do something for you as well!
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