The Present Teacher

First Year Teacher Website

Categories: Classroom Management, First Year Teacher, New Teachers

5 Key Strategies to Setting Up Classroom Procedures As a First Year Teacher

Setting up classroom procedures as a first year teacher can be exhausting. You’re trying all the advice your coworkers are giving you. Even trying new strategies you found online. But no matter how many new things you try, your students are still relying on you for everything, and they are never moving around the classroom as you would like them to. 

As a first year teacher, you may be feeling overwhelmed with how to best manage your classroom. Establishing procedures and expectations that are clear, consistent, and easy to follow can help create a positive learning environment for all students. This guide will provide tips and techniques on how setting up classroom procedures as a first year teacher can have your classroom running smoothly without you.

Yes you heard me! So let’s grab that cup of coffee and get this classroom running like the classroom of your dreams!

Listen to the podcast:

5 Strategies to Setting Up Classroom Procedures as a First Year Teacher
Helena (00:00): Have you ever felt like you’ve tried everything but your students are still relying on you for everything? It feels like your classroom’s just not running how it’s supposed to and your students aren’t following the rules. If you feel this way, I wanna let you know you’re not alone. My student, Amanda, felt just like you. But what if I told you, if you could have the classroom where your procedures were so clear and defined that your students ran the classroom by themselves and you didn’t even have to say a word, I know you can do this because I helped my student, Amanda and other teachers around the world do the same. And that’s what we’re gonna cover in today’s episode. So make sure to stick around. You won’t wanna miss this. Hey teacher bestie. My name’s Helena and I’m the creator of the President Teacher podcast. I’m a first year teacher coach and in this podcast you are gonna learn everything from simple actual classroom management, social emotional learning, and teacher wellness strategies. You know that impact you wanna make in the classroom. We’re gonna make it happen here. (01:02) Step one to building procedures is actually building relationships within your classroom. I’ll never forget when someone told me a student won’t learn from a teacher they don’t like. And this couldn’t be any more true today. You see, building relationships is important because you need to get your students to know, like, and trust you so they learn from you and it’s also important that they learn to work and build relationships with each other. So how do we accomplish this? You’ve probably heard people say build relationships in the classroom, but you might be asking yourself, but what does that mean? What does that look like? So I’m gonna tell you right here, right now, the first thing you gotta do is model, model, model, model, model. What does positive behavior look like? What does lining up or sitting at the classroom look like? Model what this looks like and doesn’t look like. (01:53) What does it sound like and what does it not sound like? And you need to model what positive relationships look like. What do good friends do for each other? What do they not do? Take some time in your classroom and go over what do good friends do for each other? Do they share? Do they not share? What does that look like? What does that sound like? What about conflict? Conflict resolution? How can you make things a win-win when you come to a conflict with another teacher or with an adult? Also, you wanna model what building a relationship looks like. Students learn best by watching you. They will mimic you. And if you are actively incorporating these into your classroom, your kids will pick up on them and they’ll start actually conflict solutioning or solving problems the same way you do in the class. So maybe you can show them what asking someone to play with me looks like being nice when someone isn’t having a good day. (02:53) All of these you can show by modeling, but you can also model to your kids what that’s gonna look like. The next thing is icebreakers. You can build relationships within your class by actively participating in icebreakers. And I don’t mean just for your students, I mean for teachers too. I love to do icebreakers with my kids because, well, number one, it incorporates join my day, but two, okay, I’m a little competitive. Three is good because it helps me build relationships with my kids. So icebreakers are a great way to build relationships from student to teacher, from end student to student as well. The next thing is check-ins. Do a daily check-in with each other. And as a class, how are we doing? How is the individual doing and what can we work on? (03:44) You also wanna build a positive classroom community and talk about what does that look like? What does that sound like? What can, what are the expectations for students to do in order to create that? And what can you as a teacher do to make sure that you are creating a environment where students and teachers feel heard, seen, liked, and trusted and validated. So step number two to creating procedures is to actually have clear expectations. Once the relationship is there and you have that solid, solid between the teacher to student and the student to student, students will want to make you proud. It’s our job to show them how they can make us feel proud. Let’s talk about what it looks like. Sounds like in the classroom. Use a visual model and do right from wrong. So this is literally how I do a procedure. I will talk about a procedure or an expectation I have in class like raising our hand or responding to a class call. (04:49) Then I will make a visual, I will model it and then we can make a visual model and we can talk about what I did right, what I did wrong, what did it sound like, what did it not sound like? What did it look like? What did it not look like? And during this process, I typically have a very deep conversation with my kids about how there’s a such thing as making a wrong choice, but there’s no such thing as a bad kid. And that’s really important. And I preach this in my class that I will love you whether you make a good choice. I will love you whether you make a bad choice or a mistake, that does not change for me. But once you have that strong relationship with your students and they have it with each other, they’ll want to make each other happy, they’ll want to make each other proud. (05:38) So make sure you’re modeling what expectations are clearly to your class. That way they can make you proud because honestly, that’s what kids want. They want to thrive. They’re not doing it as a personal attack. Step number three is to have clear outcomes and consequences. So okay, we made a mistake, but what happens when they don’t follow the expectations? Well, I’m here to tell you that natural consequences are going to be your best consequence or the best thing you can hope for. When it comes to not following expectations, natural is always best. I highly, highly recommend you keep all behavior in your classroom when possible. However, there are some severe behaviors that if you do it in my class, it’s an immediate out, I don’t tolerate it at all. And that’s throwing something and then putting hands on another person, those two things will immediately get you outta my classroom. (06:40) Everything else with exceptions, I’m gonna as asterisk that times five, I try to solve everything else in my classroom. So let’s talk about consequences. So let’s say that so and so, um, made a mess while picking, you know, while doing an activity and there’s a mess all over the floor. Well, the natural consequence would be to pull that student aside and to ask them to pick it up. That’s just the natural consequence and that’s what I try to do in my class. But you wanna think about what is the latter of outcomes that happens when a student makes a mistake or purposefully makes a wrong choice. So the first time, what happens then the second time, then what? Third time then what? Fourth time, then what, I’ll give you an example of mine. The first time I like to, it depends on what it is. (07:37) Sometimes I can tell the kids aren’t sure or they made a mistake and or they’re doing it on purpose the first time. Maybe you try to ignore it. Maybe it’s something that isn’t that major. So you just move on and you ignore the behavior so it doesn’t become something the second time. Maybe you give a non-verbal cue The third time, maybe you wanna remind them ex of the expectation or maybe even better yet, the third time, instead of bringing attention to that student who made the mistake, you point out another student as an example. So for example, I love how so-and-so is sitting crisscross applesauce, apples in their basket eyes up here, tracking the speaker with still hands, that is showing the other kids that you are giving praise to those that are following your expectations. Maybe then the fourth time you give a non-verbal cue, the fifth time, maybe you pull that student on the sideline and you have a one-on-one conference with them and talk about their consequence. (08:38) Either way, having this all planned out beforehand is really gonna help you. And then at what point is it a behavior plan deciding for you how many steps, how many warnings you’re gonna give your kids is really important. And then staying consistent across the board is really gonna help you. Step number four is helping your kids have responsibility through self-management. Students that are responsible for their own learning really thrive. And in our classrooms we really wanna make sure that they’re being responsible for their behavior and they have time to self-reflect. So there’s a couple different ways you can do this. You can have independent behavior trackers, you can have super improver walls, maybe you have a classroom behavior tracker. So for example, I talked about an independent behavior tracker that could be like a super improver wall. That’s what I use. And so students get a sticker and they level up each time they do a positive thing or I, you know, I celebrate them in class for following my expectations or the class’s expectation. (09:49) Maybe for a classroom behavior you do beat the teacher and if they have more green than red tallies, however many green tallies is they have is how many minutes they get to leave early or how many minutes of free time they get at the end of the day. Either way, having a way for students and the class to be accountable of their own behavior is super important. The next step is to develop routines and proce procedures. Like I said, you’re going to want to model these and most of all, you want the class to help come up with these routines and procedures. Now here is by far, I admittedly say the biggest mistake I made for several years. And the other biggest mistake I see first year teachers make when it comes to procedures is they create the procedures around the space. You do not want to do that. (10:48) I repeat. You do not want to do that. You wanna create the space that supports your procedures. So let me explain. So, or kind of expand on this. When I first started teaching, I was so excited to set up my classroom that I would buy all this decor and I would set up my classroom to be super cute. But then by the time it came down to the flow of my classroom from students, from getting point A to point B, turning in papers, I hadn’t thought that through. So then when the first day came or even the first month came, it was a struggle where instead if you focus on how you want the flow of your classroom to be first and then decorating the space, it’s really going to help you think about, okay, where do I want students to go when they’re done? (11:45) Where do I want my students to grab their materials? Those are all things you wanna think of first before you set up up your classroom. Now if you already set up your classroom, it’s not too late, take notes down. But this is a huge mistake I’ve made and other teachers have made too and I have. So again, don’t create procedures around the space. Create the space that support your procedures. And I do have a checklist actually that I created with every single procedure that I teach in a school year. And it’s a checklist and I revisit it every year. I revamp it, I talk about, you know, where I have it in my space, in my classroom, how it ran, and then I revisit the same checklist every single year when it’s back to school and then I revamp it if I need to. What I love about this is it’s also a great way to refer back to the procedures I’ve gone over already in class. (12:46) So when Christmas break or winter break comes around or after spring break and I notice my kids need to kind of review what we’ve learned in class and our procedures, I can go through this checklist and review it. So it’s already there and it’s already created. And when I teach every year, it’s already set up ready to go and I love it is such a time saver. So if you wanna download this, check out the show notes, I’ll make sure to put it there. You can have it, keep it, share it with your friends because man, I wish I did this like my first year seriously. But anyways, in that checklist you’re gonna see a lot of different procedures I set up in my classroom and I think through. But here are some that you can think of right now as you’re listing in the car or when you’re walking your dog, whatever you’re doing, here are some procedures you should be thinking about and have already covered in class. (13:42) And if you haven’t, don’t worry. I definitely did not cover all these the first couple of years and then I wondered why my kids were having a hard time or I covered it for a day and then I never revisited it. So here are some examples. First thing, pencils. How do you want your kids to get your pencils? Second thing, bathroom. What’s the bathroom procedure? Turning in work. I have a Ms. Hayes I Nu Box lining up. Are they in line order? Do they just go? Do you have music that dismisses them walking in line? What does it look like? Sound like transitions look like, sound like. Um, do you use different songs? Which songs mean what? Will you change those songs, class calls? What’s the expectation after you do a class call? Morning jobs. What happens when they come in the morning? Do they just come in and put their backpack and sit down? (14:27) What are they expected to do? Packing up at the end of the day stations. These are just some examples that I came off up with. But like I said, there’s a lot of procedures and if you didn’t cover one, that’s okay. It is not too late. I come up with procedures in the middle of the year all the time when I feel like we need to. So make sure to grab that, that freebie cuz you can grab all these and more. Thank you so much for joining me and I am so excited because you are now. Once you incorporate all these, the Queen of Procedures teacher Vesty, I would love if you could DM me your favorite part of today’s episode. Remember that we are stronger together and I will see you in the next episode. Love the present teacher. A k a. Hold on. (15:19) Thank you so much for joining me on today’s episode. I hope that you were able to take away some value that will help you thrive inside and outta the classroom. It would mean the world to me. If you could take five seconds right now and leave a review on this podcast. And if you found this podcast especially helpful, make sure to take a screenshot of this episode right now and tag me on your socials. Let me know you’re listening. As always, remember that we are stronger together with all the love in the world. Helena a k a, the present teacher. See you next time. Teacher bestie.

Related Links:

Establish a Positive Classroom Environment- AKA Relationships 

The first step to setting up classroom procedures as a first year teacher is to establish a positive class environment. You might be surprised to hear that you actually achieve this by establishing positive classroom relationships! When your students have a good relationship with you and each other they are more likely to follow along and even be leaders in following those classroom procedures you have set. 

A positive classroom environment is essential for student success. Start by defining and communicating your expectations for student behavior. Encourage a sense of community in the classroom by introducing icebreaker activities and regularly checking in with students to build relationships. I personally love to do love calls, greet my students at the door, and love notes. 

Acknowledge students’ efforts and recognize that all students have unique strengths and weaknesses. Focus on building those positive relationships with your students and you will be on your way to setting up classroom procedures as a first year teacher. 

Set Clear Expectations for Students 

The second step to setting up classroom procedures as a first year teacher is to establish expectations for your students. Students thrive best when they know what’s expected of them. 90% of the time students want to make their teachers happy once that relationship is built. It is your job to model what that looks like and sounds like.

One way to do this is to establish firm but fair expectations for student conduct. Make sure that your rules are clear and understandable, so students will understand the reasons behind them. 

For example, you can set a rule that all students must raise their hand and be acknowledged to answer or ask a question. Post your classroom rules in an easy-to-see location and review them on a regular basis to help students remember them and hold each other accountable for following rules. Make sure to model what it sounds like and looks like when this procedure is done correctly.

All of these tips are a great way to setting up classroom procedures as a first year teacher. If you want help with this, check out my Ultimate Procedures Checklist that walks you through step by step what procedures you should be incorporating in the classroom.

Enforce Rules & Consequences

The third way to setting up classroom procedures as a first year teacher is to make sure to have clear rules and consequences when students do not follow your expectations and procedures.

As I mentioned before, students thrive the most when they know what is expected of them. 

This is also true when it comes to their consequences. If students know you are not going to give them a consequence for their action, then they are going to continue to do the unwanted behavior.

 Teaching students to follow rules is essential in maintaining an orderly classroom. In order to ensure that students understand the consequences for breaking rules, communicate your expectations from the start and make sure that all students are aware of the possible punishments for their actions. Each infraction should result in a consequence and be applied fairly, meaning the same consequence for each student who breaks a rule. Establish consistent outcomes – it will help you to maintain structure and provide consistency for all learners.

An example of what this could look like is:

  • 1st consequence- nonverbal warning
  • 2nd consequence- private verbal warning
  • 3rd consequence- think sheet
  • 4th consequence- note home

All of these ideas are a great way to setting up classroom procedures as a first year teacher.

Teach Responsibility Through Self-Management Techniques 

The fourth strategy to setting up classroom procedures as a first year teacher is to teach your students responsibility for their learning. 

Encouraging students to take charge of their learning can be challenging, but is an important step in developing self-management skills. Create a behavior chart that allows students to track their own progress and set classroom goals. I personally don’t believe in clip charts, but I prefer to provide a super improver wall. Which you can check out here. 

You can also provide incentives, such as earning extra playtime or treats, when they meet those goals. I personally like to play beat the teacher for a couple minutes of “free time” at the end of the day. Make sure that all students are involved in the process and are aware of the consequences if they fail to meet expectations.

These are great examples on how you can start setting up classroom procedures as a first year teacher. 

Develop Routines & Procedures

The final step to setting up classroom procedures as a first year teacher is to actually develop the routines and procedures. Ideally you want to do this before you even set up your classroom, but it’s never too late to incorporate new procedures.

Ask yourself:

  • How do I want my classroom to flow?
  • Where should students go if they need to find x, y, or z?
  • What centers do I need to set up in order for students to be successful?

By setting up your classroom to support your routines, you are ensuring your day runs smoothly and thought out. Routines help to provide consistency and structure, making it easier for students to know what is expected of them. This can include the timing of when the class should enter and exit the room, the materials they will need for lessons, and any other procedures necessary for smooth classroom management. Make sure that all students understand each routine thoroughly before proceeding with instruction.

And as always make sure to model what it looks like and sounds like for each routine with your students. All of these strategies are a great way to setting up classroom procedures as a first year teacher.

Overview

Overall, there are 5 different strategies to setting up classroom procedures in the classroom as a first year teacher. This includes:

  • Establishing a Positive Classroom Environment- AKA Relationships 
  • Setting Clear Expectations for Students 
  • Enforce Rules & Consequences
  • Teach Responsibility Through Self-Management Techniques 
  • Develop Routines & Procedures

All of these strategies are great ways to setting up classroom procedures as a first year teacher. If you need a routine on how to introduce a new strategy and what procedures you should incorporate download The Ultimate Procedures Guide where I provide you a list of the top procedures every classroom should incorporate as well as a video companion walking you through how I introduce a new routine.

What procedures are you incorporating this week? I would love to know!

[jetpack-related-posts]
Categories: Classroom Management, First Year Teacher, New Teachers

5 Strategies to Improve Classroom Management as a First Year Teacher

You finally step into your classroom for the first time only to realize you have no idea how to have effective classroom management as a first year teacher. Sure, you may have taken some courses, read a couple books, even saved a million strategies you saw on Tik Tok or Pinterest. But you may quickly realize that college didn’t really prepare you for the classroom. So you have started looking for different ways to improve classroom management as a first year teacher.

If this is how you are feeling right now, don’t worry! We’ve all been there. In fact I would say 98% of the teachers I’ve ever worked with or coached has said the same thing. But here’s the thing, it doesn’t have to be this way! You can have a well oiled machine of a classroom that is ran so smoothly that your students can run it without you… seriously! I have done it and I’ve helped hundreds of other teachers do it too! 

So if you want to have a self-ran classroom in your first year, grab a coffee and read or listen to these five 5 Strategies to Improve Classroom Management as a First Year Teacher. 

Listen to the podcast:

5 Strategies to Improve Classroom Management as a First Year Teacher
Helena (00:00):
Have you ever felt like your behaviors are just out of control and there’s nothing you can do? You’ve stalked all the free Facebook groups and you’ve even asked your teacher bestie and that mentor teacher down the hallway. You’ve tried the trends on TikTok but it’s still not working. And you might secretly be wondering if you’re cut out to teach. What if I told you that you could have a classroom that was so well ran that would blow your admin away and other teachers would be flocking to you asking how you did it? I’ve been there too and I used to struggle with classroom management after years of experience trying different things, learning from other teachers, I finally found what worked for me. And today I’m going to share the five tried and true strategies to make you tackle your classroom management like a veteran teacher. So stick around. You won’t wanna miss number five. It’s the one that everybody overlooks, guaranteed. Hey teacher Bestie. My name’s Helen and I’m the creator of the President Teacher podcast. I’m a first year teacher coach and in this podcast you are gonna learn everything from simple actual classroom management, socialist learning, and teacher wellness strategies. You know that impact you wanna make in the classroom. We’re gonna make it happen here.

(01:21)
The first strategy to tackling your classroom management like a pro is to have clear rules and expectations. Kids thrive when they know what’s expected of them. I remember when I was teaching, I thought I had good rules and expectations, but boy was I wrong. Students weren’t always doing what I wanted or what I thought I had taught them and I felt personally attacked like my students were out to get me or something because they never followed the rules. It wasn’t until admittedly years later that I found out it was me. Hi, I’m the problem, it’s me now. The problem was, is I was not setting my students up for success. You might be wondering, how do I get my kids to listen to me and follow expectations? If this is you, you’re not alone. Don’t worry, I got you covered. Teacher bestie. Here are a couple different things you can do.

(02:17)
The first one, create clear expectations on what they should do. Model it right away. Discuss it with your class. For example, if I need a clear expectation on how we get water, I’m going to introduce it to my class and say, today we’re gonna talk about how we get water and I’m gonna model it, what it looks like and what it should sound like. And then I’m, we’re gonna sit down and I’m gonna have my, my students turn and talk and talk about what did they notice about how it looked like and sound like the expectations were for water. After that, we’re going to share out loud what we thought and have a discussion about it. Then I’m gonna have a kid model it. They’re gonna model it what it looks like, sounds like then and your kids have fun with this. Especially if you’re primary.

(03:06)
Your kids will love this. Have someone model the wrong way and every once in a while I kind of like to model the wrong way. Not gonna lie anyways. Model the wrong way to do it. Have your students think, pair, share what they did that was the wrong way. And then have them discuss it and then model the right way. Again, praise, praise, praise. Make sure to stop your lesson and call out and praise a lot the people that are doing and following expectations the right way. Also, don’t be afraid to review. I am personally always happy to review if it is going to save me hours of heartache and headache at the end of the year, it is worth doing now. So after every break, after a weekend on one of those crazy Mondays, whenever I notice my kids are just totally forgot as a class what to do, I will make sure to take time outta my day to review that procedure.

(04:10)
Next thing rules. Now your rules should be made through a class discussion. So I used a chart and we came up with our rules together. Um, I had my kids, you know, think okay for each other, some rule ideas and then they shared out loud and then we kind of tallied and combined the rules that made sense in group together. And I combined them to make five main rules. And then after you have your kids vote on which rules they agree on, come up with the rules themselves. I had my students signed by the rules for a couple reasons. First off, yes, some admin make you do this, but the reason I do this is because I now have student buy-in. Now when they break a rule and they’re having a hard time agreeing with me on their consequence or what have you, I can remind them, remember as a class and your name is here, we agree that we would raise our hand for permission to speak whatever the rule is or be a bucket filler.

(05:16)
That way you have now student buy-in and they feel like they are part of a community instead of a dictatorship. The next thing is to have clear consequences. When you have a student who is purposefully making a bad choice, try to ignore the bad choices if possible, I like to give a nonverbal cue. After that maybe I praise another student who’s doing the right expectations and I will point out that they are following the expectations and what I like about it. So for example, I love how so and so his eyes are facing floor, their hands behind their back, their their voice has a bubble. And I will keep doing that until that student naturally fixes. And then I’ll praise, make sure to praise a student who fixed their behavior. I might pull them aside and give them a reminder. Remember we use walking feet when we are in the hallway.

(06:15)
I might have that one-on-one talk with them and then we might practice and model what it looks like. Sounds like I might give an isolated warning where we talk like an isolating. By that I mean with going on the sideline, I might give them a think sheet and then a parent contact. Remember, natural consequences are always the best. So always try to look for that natural consequence and try to give it as neutral as possible without emotion. Because you don’t want your kids to feel like you’re, they can get you upset. Just give it as neutral as you can and move on. So, and I also talked about this before, but I remind my students that there are no such thing as bad kids just mistakes. I love them for who they are. I love them for when they make good choices and I love them for when they make bad choices.

(07:07)
They are not defined by the mistakes they make. So that is my quick spiel on all that. So strategy two is positive reinforcement as a teacher and as teachers, you really wanna think about how am I going to let my kids know that I see them in my classroom? I try really hard to make sure my kids feel seen, heard and validated. So at the beginning of the year or at the beginning of every day even, how am I going to let my kids know that I see them today? Am I gonna view them through a good positive lens or a bad lens? I personally try to have a positive classroom. There is way too much negative out there in the world. I want a little piece of positivity. Harry Potter happiness. And so have you ever had a morning where students just made it worse?

(08:03)
You were having a really hard morning, you woke up late and then you came in and your kids were just feeding off of you. It’s the same thing when it’s positive. Have you ever had a positive morning? You got your morning workout in, you got your five minutes of silence, you, you journaled, you finally got to actually drink your coffee instead of microwaving it five times beside the point and you came in and your kids had an amazing day. Same thing. We wanna create a positive environment for our kids. So you might be wondering, how do I create a positive environment? Everyone is telling me to do this, but how do you actually do it? So if this is you, here’s some ways you can do that. I got you covered. First thing, love calls. Ugh, I love these love calls. Love calls are positive calls home.

(08:57)
Now I had shared this on my TikTok and some people said that they don’t like doing calls because it’s triggering to some families. So they do positive notes either way, positive calls, love calls, love notes, home are amazing. So what I do is in the middle of my day, maybe we’re doing small group or the kids are working independently. If I see a student who has just been on top of it all day, they are on top of their game, I will pause everything. And the first time I do it, I make it a big deal guys, huge, a huge deal. And I say, oh my goodness, look and so and so would you like to do a love call? And they’ll be like, what’s a love call? They’ll be like, oh a love call is where we call home and we talk about what an amazing day you have.

(09:44)
You guys, my families are raving about this. Do love calls. Trust me. First off, it’s a great way to communicate with your families. It shows them that you are a positive teacher and it makes your kids’ day. I wish my principal would, you know, call my family and give me a love call. I wish I got positive notes from my principal. I wanna do the same for my students. So love calls and positive notes in my class we do bucket filling notes and I even do love notes where I leave them. Um, and Thanksgiving and we did the gratitude notes where I did it. One reason why I was grateful for each student every day you can get Y expo marker and write on their desks. Either way, think about how you would wished admin would treat you and do the same for your kids.

(10:34)
It just makes their day. The next thing is the super improver wall. Okay, did you guys ever use those clip charts? I know I’m cringing just saying it. And if you use a clip chart, don’t come at me. It’s okay If you like your clip chart, you keep your clip chart. But I despised my clip chart and it seemed like all the veteran teachers even, you know, all the veteran teachers used them. I didn’t like them because I felt like those kids that had a hard time regulating their emotions and their choices, once they finally came back they would see what color they would at and I would look for any reason to bring ’em back up, clip their pen up and they just couldn’t cuz they would just shut down And I just don’t, I don’t like that at all. So I use a super improver wall.

(11:32)
What this does is it uses gamification or using behavior kind of like a game. And students have like a little game card or a level up card and they get stickers and once it’s full I like to send mine home and they level up to the next color. And so essentially students are, are leveling up for their good behavior. What I love about this is kids then do not need materialistic things to be happy. I don’t do treasure test. Now granted, I do give my kids, you know, sporadic prizes here and there, but I don’t do Friday treasure chest. I want my kids to be proud of themselves because once they leave my classroom and they go to other teachers, I want them to be proud of them once they’re adults, I want them to learn to be proud of themselves. And so I want them to learn to look at their behavior and be proud of themselves.

(12:32)
So that’s what the super improver wall is hard. I’m gonna be honest, positive reinforcement is hard. But you know what I ran into most if not most of these ideas from an amazing, amazing educator named Ms. May from one fab teacher. I found her on YouTube, had to be a couple years ago now. And you guys, if I can meet Ms. May, Ms. May, if you’re listening, I’m a huge fan. Sorry I had to put that in there. Go follow her because you just talk to her and she is one big bucket of sunshine. Like she just makes your date better. So go follower on YouTube, she is a beautiful person inside and out. She makes education beautiful. Okay, I’m done. Go follow her for some positivity because she’s the queen of it. And then there’s another book she had mentioned and some other teacher authors too out in the teacher space recommended it too.

(13:32)
And you guys, this book changed my life and I think most of what Ms. May learned, or at least I can say partial, is from this book it’s called Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids by Chris Biffle. It changed my life you guys, please, please, please go grab it. Seriously, it is so good. I can’t, I can’t even, I have it right here on my desk. I haven’t. I put it in my backpack, you guys, I read it two years ago, three years ago. I still keep it around because it is so good. I have read a lot of classroom management books. They don’t beat this one. This one actually works. I’ve tried all the different, you know things. This one works. So okay, I’m done. Just go, go get it. Trust me, you’re gonna want it. Strategy number three is to encourage good behavior with open discussion.

(14:25)
Imagine a world where we intentionally took time out of our day to encourage good behavior where your students would just flourish and they would just, you know, bask in this praise and proud and self-fulfillment when you do this. Now imagine how having a safe space to ask and answer questions while receiving the praise and talking about good behavior, imagine how that could impact students that would completely change their lives. So I wanted to have this discussion. You might be like me and you’re like, you know what? I wanna have these discussions. I wanna create a safe space where my students can talk about good behavior and how to make a choices. But I don’t know how or how to get started. Don’t worry, I got you covered. Here are some ways. First one being morning meaning and end of the day meeting I have taught Kenner and second and I even with my second graders, they love morning meaning I soon taught fourth graders and fifth graders and they loved morning meeting.

(15:32)
This isn’t just for K babies, I love my K babies, my kinder babies, but this is for every grade level. It’s important, trust me. So in my morning meeting I love to have students grade each other cuz it’s building that community and it’s showing them how to build those relationships and those skills. And during the morning meeting, you might take some time to model what making friends looks like. If you go on TikTok, you can see middle school teachers doing this talking about how do you create a friend in middle school? What do you say? What do good friends do? Do they ask about this? What do good friends not do? What do they not? Kids need to be explicitly taught how to interact with each other and they are so thankful when you do. I can’t tell you how proud I get when I see my ba, my little second grade babies that have moved on to third or fourth and they are using the win-win skills.

(16:32)
I taught them in second grade still in fifth grade. Like it is amazing. So also maybe talk about conflict resolution. If you are seeing your kids are, you know, arguing about a specific LI specific thing, how can they make that a win-win? Talk about skills and different strategies they can use a model, what it looks like, sounds like. And my final thing, see weapon, my kids love this and they get mad when I don’t do it. Okay, for your listening kids anyways, they love superstar shoutouts. So what superstar shoutouts are totally still is it is I ask for three superstar shoutouts and it’s the end of the day meeting and my kids raise their hand and I pick three kids to call out three of their friends and they say thank you so and so for blank. And then we do a class cheer again.

(17:27)
I’ve gone from kinder all the way to fifth with this. The next thing is three superstar aha moments. So three things they learned today and that’s a great way to kind of review and keep kids accountable of their learning cuz they know that I might call on them for a superstar aha moment. The third thing is superstar apologies. Oh you guys remember when we talked about how to intentionally take time outta your day to ask and answer questions? A safe space? That’s what this is. You’re creating a safe space where if kids did not have that opportunity to apologize, they can and they will use that time. And how cool is that? Now they don’t have to, but I can tell you almost every single day when I do this, I should do it every day. I try to do it every day. I’m almost every day.

(18:20)
But when I do this I always have three apologies and it could be demean to each other, to the class I’ve even apologized. It is game changer. Strategy number four is to be flexible with the needs of your kids. Now remember when you were a kid and you went to school, how did you feel when you went? Now if I’m gonna be completely transparent with you, I felt like I had no control. I felt like I was always a boss around. I was never allowed to talk. I always had to do what other people wanted and I never got to choose for me. Now here’s a secret. The more organized choices and freedom I have given my students, the better they performed. I’m gonna say that again, the more organ organized, it’s not chaotic, but organized choices and freedom I gave my students, the better they performed, the better they performed as a class, the better they performed at building community, the better they performed on assessments.

(19:31)
Now I’m not saying chaos, I personally like structure, chaos and me just do not drive. And but, and remember students do thrive when they have structure. But start asking yourself, how can I give them more choices in the classroom? How can I give them more organized choices in the classroom? This could look like how they work. Are they sitting? Are they standing? Are they laying on the ground? What kind of work do they need to do to show me mastering? Does it have to be doing a worksheet or could they write a poem about it, write a song about it. Um, make a fort or some kind of model. I mean, having your kids and how we rethink education is so important because our kids are brilliant and they have their own unique, amazingly beautiful ways to thrive. And giving kids a safe space to do that is so extremely important.

(20:31)
So I would encourage you to start thinking about how can I give my kids more choices? And again, model, model, model, have clear expectations. And I’m not saying, you know, go tomorrow, tell your kids, sit however you want. I like to bring it up slowly. This is how we set the carpet. If we choose to lay on the ground, like make sure you model, make sure you have expectations, but start thinking about these and how you kind of make education your own. It doesn’t have to be the strict thing, it’s always has been and it it’s not. It’s on its way out. When you start thinking about how we can revolutionize or evolutionize education strategy number five, clear communication. Alright guys, this is the part that I said a lot of adults miss a lot of adults, including me, my first couple of years, a lot of adults miss communication.

(21:28)
Now how I want you to ask yourself, how do I want my kids to communicate with me? Could it be raising their hands? Do you want ’em coming up to your face? I personally get extremely dysregulated when I have a bunch of students putting their hands, fingers, mouths, everything in between in my face. And I’ve taught my kids that I have come out and said, when at the beginning of the year, and if you haven’t done this yet, that’s okay. But I was realizing that I would lose my cool and feel like I had to do the teacher yell whenever I had a crowd of students looking at me and putting their extremities in my face. And I don’t do that. So I talked to them at the beginning of the year and I talked about when they do that, what it might look like when I regulate myself.

(22:17)
What techniques am I using? Am I using heart to home? Am I using, you know, counting four breathing, square breathing, rainbow breaths? Either way, having those boundaries and clearly communicating them with your kids is important because one, well it keeps you sane during the school day. I don’t know about you. Second, it shows kids how they can articulate their discomfort to adults. Remember our kids learn so much from watching us. So if you are there talking about regulating and keeping your boundaries and then they see you regulate yourself when you are upset or dysregulated, that is huge. And what I noticed as other students were coming in and my class and they were pretty triggered or dysregulated by things. And so as a class model what that looks like, what does it look like when I feel upset or these extreme or these feelings? And how do we overcome that?

(23:22)
How can I articulate when I’m thinking and feeling to an adult or to my friends so that way we can still be respectful. Let students feel like they have a control or they have a say on how they wanna be communicated with. And you are creating a space for your kids to be free and feel validated. Seeing heard, like no trusted. And it’s huge guys. It’s huge. All right, I know this one went pretty deep. I hope you found this helpful. I would love if you can share this podcast with another teacher bestie so we can share the love. If you found any of these tips helpful, send it over to them. Tell ’em which one you found the most helpful. If you incorporate every single step I mentioned, you are going to be blown away by these results guys. So you’re gonna have a self-run classroom and the classroom is going to be that one that everyone raves about. If you found this helpful, like I said, share it with your teacher bestie. Remember, we are stronger together. Take care. You know I love you. I’ll talk to you soon. Love Helen.

(24:37)
Thank you so much for joining me on today’s episode. I hope that you were able to take away some value that will help you thrive inside and out of the classroom. It would mean the world to me. If you could take five seconds right now and leave a review on this podcast. And if you found this podcast especially helpful, make sure to take a screenshot of this episode right now and tag me on your socials to let me know you’re listening. As always, remember that we are stronger together with all the love in the world. Sona, aka, the present teacher. See you next time. Teacher bestie.

Hey New Teachers!

Make this your best year yet with the Ultimate First Year Teacher Checklist!​
​
Download the guide that walks you through everything you get done this year a success. (Oh and it’s completely free!)

    We respect your privacy. You can unsubscribe at any time!

    Relevant Links:

    Establish Clear Rules and Expectations

    One of the first strategies to improve classroom management as a first year teacher is to establish clear rules and expectations. Establishing clear classroom rules and expectations from the beginning is one way to keep your classroom organized and reduce distractions.

    Communicate expectations clearly with your students, using positive language rather than focusing on the negative. Outline acceptable behavior for all learning activities, including how students should speak to one another and how work should be completed. Explain the consequences of breaking rules, such as spending time in time-out or the natural consequence, so that students know what to expect if they do not follow instructions.

    You want to ensure you are being consistent and fare. One way I like to introduce procedures is by introducing the procedure to my class. Next we talk about what it looks like and sounds like when you do it the right way. Then I have someone model the wrong way to do it. Afterwards I have my students practice the procedure until they model it nearly perfectly.

    A common consequence to students not following procedures is to have them practice it until they get it right. This is a great way to be fare with high expectations without being the grumpy stressed out teacher. Overall, this is a great way to improve Classroom Management as a First Year Teacher.

    Hey New Teachers!

    Make this your best year yet with the Ultimate First Year Teacher Checklist!​
    ​
    Download the guide that walks you through everything you get done this year a success. (Oh and it’s completely free!)

      We respect your privacy. You can unsubscribe at any time!

      Set Up Positive Reinforcement Systems

      Another way to improve Classroom Management as a First Year Teacher is to set up a positive reinforcement system. As I Jen Sincero (Author) says:

      “What you focus on you create more of.”

      Jen Sincero

      That couldn’t be any more true in the classroom. Encouraging positive behavior in your classroom through reinforcements is a great way to keep students engaged and motivated. When students see that you focus on the positive more than the negative, the less likely they are to draw negative attention.

      Rewards can be both physical, such as stickers or other small items, or verbal, such as praising the student for good work. I like to use scratch and sniff stickers on my super improver wall. Or another positive reward system are love calls (a positive call home) and love notes (positive notes). 

      Keep these rewards simple and attainable to encourage students to continue their good behavior. Flexible seating is another way of reinforcing positive behavioral choices, as it enables students to make independent decisions while learning.

      Encourage Good Behavior with Open Discussion

      Another way to improve classroom management as a first year teacher is to create an open dialogue between students and teachers. 

      This can be done in many ways. For example, utilizing your morning meeting as a time to review expected procedures is a great way to encourage good behavior. Stopping the class to point out when a student is doing an outstanding job, or even doing a love call are great ways to encourage good behavior in the classroom.

       I personally like to have my students model our expectations with me and even ask questions and make them better. All of these examples are a great way to improve classroom management as a first year teacher.

      Be Flexible with Student’s Learning Styles and Needs

      It’s important to remember that not every student learns the same way, just like no two teachers are the same. That’s why another way to improve classroom management as a first year teacher is to incorporate different learning styles in the classroom.

       When possible, be flexible with your students and be willing to try out different styles of learning. Incorporating a choice board on how your students show proficiency or master in a skill is a great way to attain this. Including choices that allow your students to draw, write, speak, act, or even create mastery are all great ways to incorporate different learning styles. Click here to read more about incorporating choices into the classroom. 

      Taking into account each student’s needs and preferences can greatly help manage disruptive behavior and power struggles while also helping to create a more productive learning environment.

      Provide Clear and Effective Communication Methods

      The final way to improve classroom management as a first year teacher is to have clear expectations when it comes to communication.

      • How do you want your students to communicate with you?
      • What does that look like?
      • What does that NOT look like?
      • What do students do if they feel stuck or need help?
      • How should students communicate with each other and other staff members?

      All of these are great questions to consider when it comes to effective communication in the classroom. 

      Overview

      Overall there are several ways to improve classroom management as a first year teacher. You can:

      • Establish clear rules and expectations
      • Celebrate positive behavior
      • Have open discussion on what good behavior looks like
      • And being flexible with learning by providing choices

      All of these are great ways you can start improving classroom management as a first year teacher.

      [jetpack-related-posts]
      Categories: First Year Teacher, New Teachers, Teacher Self-Care

      The Secret to Getting Out of Teacher Burnout With Brittany Blackwell

      Getting out of teacher burnout is no small task. Ever since the pandemic, teacher burnout has been on the rise. And you might be feeling like:

      • You’re not just burned out professionally but you feel burned out in your personal life too
      • You feel like you have a lack of boundaries and like you have lost your identity outside of teaching and even motherhood
      • You’re constantly tired and fatigue and may feel like you have a short fuse
      • Maybe you are tired of putting on the mask and want to find out who you are again

      If this sounds like you, you’re not alone. This week I spoke to Brittany Blackwell, the CEO of Teaching Mind Body and Soul and we discussed her journey on getting out of teacher burnout.

      So if you are ready to get out of teacher burnout once and for all, grab a coffee and let’s make it become reality!

      Download the Free Ultimate Self-Care Guide For Teachers

      Get this Ultimate Self-Care List for Teachers that includes 40 ideas of self-care that you can incorporate into your day in 5 minutes or less.

      ​

      Download now by hitting “Download” down below!

        You can unsubscribe at any time.

        Listen to the podcast:

        The Secret to Getting out of Teacher Burnout with Founder of Teaching Mind Body and Soul Brittany Blackwell, M.Ed
        Helena (00:02): Hey, there teacher besties. I have an amazing guest with me. Her name is Brittany, and I am so excited to get started. So, Brittany, welcome to the Present Teacher podcast. Go ahead and tell us a little bit about yourself. Brittany Blackwell (00:14): Well, I just wanna say thank you, Helena, for having me on the podcast, but my name is Brittany Blackwell. I am a classroom teacher. I am a special educator, and I have been in education for 11 years. Um, I am a previous special education coordinator, which I loved. But, um, I actually returned back to the classroom after my first daughter was born because I was working way too much and I needed to focus on my family. Um, a little bit about me, my husband and I have five kids together, so I am all about simplification, reducing overwhelm in any aspect, because if I didn’t I’d probably go crazy . (00:57): Um, but I, um, I dealt with a lot of heavy burnout, like personally, professionally. Um, I did extensive research about self-care, personal and professional growth, all of that stress management. Um, and I actually began teaching teachers how to reduce that overwhelm. Um, and as we entered the pandemic, um, I started sharing tips, tricks, all those sorts of things on, um, TikTok. And what I found was there were a lot of teachers that were leaving the profession, and it really kind of struck a nerve with me because they were a lot of really, really good teachers, like really passionate educators. And I could think I’ve been, I’ve been through that. I have totally lost myself to teaching before. And so I really started shifting my focus and started teaching educators everything that I researched from, um, stress, burnout, simplification boundaries, all that fun stuff that really isn’t discussed in teacher prep programs with my agency, teaching mind, body, and soul. And then I began my podcast, um, the Resilient Teacher Podcast in the summer of 2022 to reach and support more educators. So now that’s what I do. I am a teacher resilience and retention strategist, and I help encourage and inspire overwhelmed teachers, leaders, schools, districts to prioritize mental health and individualized resilience in burnout, recovery. Helena (02:29): All of that is so amazing. A little backstory. Brittany actually invited me to be in one of my first conferences. It was summer self-care conference. And you guys, the energy she has and the passion for creating or preventing burnout for other teachers is just so inspiring. I just had to have her on here. So thank you so much, Brittany, for being a part of this because yes, honestly, you’re one of the big reasons why the present teacher is here. So honored to have you. Oh, Brittany Blackwell (02:55): That’s so cool. . Helena (02:57): Um, so here on the present teacher, we like to talk about specifically our first years of teaching. I’ve kind of talked about my first year of teaching, but what was your experience like when you first walked into the classroom? Brittany Blackwell (03:09): When I first walked into the classroom, I actually started out as a kindergarten teacher. I quickly found out really fast that that was not my jam. Um, I was made for middle school and high school . That’s just what I was made for. And so that first year was really difficult for me. Um, it would probably be on a scale of one to 10, like 10 being the best, one being the worst, it was probably a three. Um, I felt very unprepared. I didn’t really know what I was in for. I actually subbed before I took my position, and I actually took my position mid-year. Um, so they added another class. I became the new kindergarten teacher and I was super overwhelmed. Um, I thought that I had to have everything in like a big binder. Like I thought I had to document everything. And then I was like, what do I do with these kids? (04:04): There’s kids with snot and, and poop and I don’t know what to do, . So I was just, I was really overwhelmed. Um, but that year was the year that I was like, Hmm, I don’t, I don’t think this age is right for me. Um, and so I actually went back and got my master’s degree in special education and I really wanted to just be able to reach all of the learners in my classroom. Like what I found was I only knew, you know, I only knew how to teach midway. I didn’t know how to teach my lower learners and I didn’t know how to, to reach those high achievers. And so I went back and got endorsed in gifted and talented and, um, got my special education certification and then I ended up doing something completely different, which was coordinating. Um, so that was more my speed. But yeah, that first year I was a doozy . Helena (05:02): It’s funny, I actually taught kinder my first year too. I think it’s a right of passage. . Yeah, Brittany Blackwell (05:07): , I think it might be. Helena (05:10): Um, so I noticed you said that you would rate the overall experience at three. What was the hardest thing you would say about that first year that made you feel overwhelmed? Brittany Blackwell (05:18): I think just not being prepared. I feel like teacher prep programs don’t, they, they give you this kind of like, very standardized way of this is how you’ve gotta run a classroom. These are the classroom management strategies, all of these different things that make sense in general, but may not work or make sense to you as an individual. And so for me, it was not being prepared to be authentically myself in the classroom. I felt like I was having to be another person in order to show up in my classroom and do what good teachers do. Um, so that was probably why the experience was not so great for me because I didn’t feel like I was prepared to be myself. Helena (06:10): Yeah. How would you say you overcame that? Like, at what point did you realize that you could be authentically yourself as a teacher? Brittany Blackwell (06:18): Um, I think that that happened probably, I would say about five years ago, . Um, I taught for about six years before I even started to realize that I didn’t even know who I was as a person anymore. Um, because I had gotten sucked into this idea of, well, good teachers, they look like this, they sound like this, they act like this. And so I didn’t wear my nose ring. I hid my tattoos. I used this very, I know this sounds weird, but I used this really cookie cutter voice that wasn’t me. Like, it just, it wasn’t me. And the kids knew that because I was not having those relationships with the kids that I have now, like it now that they know me and how I am, and I know me, um, I’m way, it’s way easier to make those connections, make those relationships. Not only with my students, but my colleagues. Um, really everybody in the school now knows. Okay. Like, that’s Brittany. But before that, it was just like this idea that I had to be a certain way and that just really didn’t work for me. Helena (07:36): Yeah. What do you feel like was a pressure or what caused you to feel like you couldn’t be authentically you in the classroom? Brittany Blackwell (07:44): I think just the outside pressure of, I just realized I didn’t answer your question before . No, Helena (07:54): You’re fine. I like where this is going. Keep going. No. Brittany Blackwell (07:57): Uh, like, I think that, what was your question? Sorry. Because I got stuck that I didn’t answer that one. Helena (08:03): , what makes you feel like you couldn’t be authentically you? Like what was the outside pressure causing you to feel like you couldn’t be authentically yourself in the classroom? Brittany Blackwell (08:13): I think it was just the outside pressure of people in general. Pe the way that people see teachers. Um, the way that even in my teacher prep program, um, they would say things like, well, you’ve gotta take your nose ring out. Like, I had my nose ring for since I was 16 years old. You know, it was just me. Um, and I, you have to dress a certain way. The things that they told me in the teacher prep program set me up to believe, oh, this is the way that it is. Even going through my student teaching, like what I think about it, I’m like, huh. All of the teachers that I worked with in my student teaching were a very particular type of teacher. Um, not to say that that’s bad, that’s them, you know, but I put on myself this belief from hearing it from my professors or hearing it from other people outside. (09:03): You know, teachers don’t do that. Teachers don’t do that. So when I saw this type of teacher, I thought, oh, that’s what I have to be, to be a good teacher. And the fact of the matter is that really did not, that wasn’t for me. But it’s also not for everyone else either. Like, you don’t have to be a specific type of teacher in order to be effective, in order to make growth in your classroom, in order to, you know, grow as an educator. You have to be yourself. You have to be who you are authentically. And I did that personally by just learning about myself, taking that time to really, okay, what do I like? I went to a therapist, um, when I was in like severe burnout. I went to a therapist and she was like, tell me about yourself. And I was like, okay, I’m a teacher and a mom. (09:57): Like, I literally had no other thing to say about myself because I didn’t know. I had no idea. I’m, she’s like, well, what hobbies do you have? Hobbies? Hmm. Um, , momming and teaching. Like, I don’t know. And I feel like that’s again, another piece that teachers and teacher prep programs, they don’t really focus on that they don’t focus on. Well figure out what you like, what do you like about teaching? What do you think you’re gonna like about teaching? What do you want to enjoy about teaching? What is your favorite thing to do when it comes to these classes where we have to do classroom management and making these lesson plans? Which one’s your favorite? Oh, you like making creative lesson plans? Well, that’s gonna be like what you wanna focus on. You wanna focus on getting your energy from that because you have to have something that’s going to energize you and such a very difficult, um, teaching profession, you know? Helena (10:58): Yes, absolutely. I a hundred percent agree with you about the authenticity. For example, I had my nose ring and I had bright red hair mm-hmm. . And as soon as I got my teaching, um, job, my first one, I dyed it to Brown because that’s what everyone does. And yeah, I agree that it feels like we can’t be authentically us when we first walk in mm-hmm. . It’s definitely a journey. Yeah. Why did you start teaching? I like asking this question and seeing if I am similar as to why you started teaching in the first place. Brittany Blackwell (11:28): That’s a really good question, , because what I started doing was I, for, from the time I was little until I got to college, I said I was gonna be a lawyer. I was gonna be an attorney. That’s what I was gonna do. I was gonna be a politician. I’m gonna do this. I’m gonna go to Harvard Law School. That is what I’m doing. I watched way too much legally, blonde and . Then I got to college and I realized, this is really boring, and this is really, I at the time was like, this is not me, you know? And what I did was I started working in a, um, an afterschool program, and I started working with kids, and I was like, wow. Like I really enjoy hanging out with kids and actually getting to help them, like to watch that little spark that they have. (12:20): Like when they get something, when they finally get something, it like lights me up. And really to this day, that still happens that way. Like, but it happens even more like than before because now I’m teaching teachers and I can see that happen with teachers too. You know, like, I can see that light bulb moment go off where they’re like, ding, ding, ding. Like, this is, this is what I’m supposed to be doing, or this is how you do it. And that feeling to me that I helped somebody to reach that point is amazing to me. Like, I, I love that feeling. Helena (12:58): Yeah. The teacher, that spark is everything that light in their eyes. Mm-hmm. , I feel the same way. Brittany Blackwell (13:03): Mm-hmm. . Helena (13:04): So can you name a time that you first felt burnout? Or do you remember, recall the first time that you realized, okay, Mamie, when I’m facing is burnout? Brittany Blackwell (13:15): Oh, well, probably about the time, see what happened with me was that I wasn’t just burned out professionally. I was, but I was also burned out personally. And I think that sometimes they can either be like comorbid where they’re happening together or one causes the other. And I can’t really tell you which one it was. Um, because I had lost my la I had a lack of boundaries. I didn’t, I had lost my identity. I was constantly tired, exhausted, fatigued, and anybody could have told me, you know, oh, well you feel that way because you’re a new mom. Like, I had my first daughter and then second daughter, my second daughter, that’s when it happened, um, where I was just at the end of my rope. Um, I was also going through a divorce. Um, and that year, as luck would have it, like I had the most challenging class that I’ve ever had. (14:16): They were amazing kids, but I, they were so challenging and I felt like I didn’t have the energy to give them, like, I could not come up with anything. I, I couldn’t, my fuse was short. Um, I wasn’t acting like myself. Like, I couldn’t put on that face. That was when I realized like, hey, I need to be a little bit more authentic because I couldn’t put on that face, I couldn’t put on that mask where I was like that teacher. And it was like this realization in that therapy appointment that I had that it was like, I really need to get to know who I am. Like what do I stand for? What do I like? What do I, what am I good at? What am I not really good at? And how can I use my strengths to kind of overcome that? And really just the knowledge or the self-awareness that I was dealing with all of these things all at one time. It was like, th something’s gotta change and it’s gotta be me because it can’t be everything else. Like everything else is going to crap. No, no, no, no . Something’s going on internally that I need to fix. Helena (15:31): Yeah, absolutely. So in the moment when you’re looking and realizing that it’s myself and I need to start falling in love with myself again, what were some of the boundaries, I heard you say boundaries, some of the boundaries that you felt like you weren’t honoring, and what did that feel like for you? Brittany Blackwell (15:48): So the boundaries that I didn’t have were, I felt like I, because I like that spark, I guess. Um, and that’s just a new realization that I just had right now. But I was very codependent on if I can’t fix this person’s problem. So for instance, I’m special ed teacher, so if my student is really struggling with something and I can’t help them, then I felt terrible about it. I felt like I was worthless. I wasn’t doing what I was put here to do. And so one of the boundaries that I had to put up was that all of these things about this is, this is an emotional boundary, but like all of these things about somebody else have nothing to do with me. And so if their feelings about themself or their struggles are starting to impact me, then I need to step away and come back when I’m cleared out. (16:47): Um, that’s just an emotional boundary that I had to set. Um, and that, that really, honestly, that also impacted my previous marriage. Like, I thought that I had to fix the problems when it wasn’t my problems to fix. Um, I could totally be a supporter in that moment, but I couldn’t fix those problems. Um, another boundary that I had to set was I was constantly, like, as a new mom, I was after school all the time. I had left my position as a, um, special education coordinator because I wanted more time with my family, yet I was still staying after school, coming in early, um, just to get the things done that I needed to get done, or I thought that I needed to get done. And so I had to set it up where, no, now it’s four o’clock every day I leave, whatever doesn’t get done, just doesn’t get done. (17:39): And later I actually came up with ways to automate and, and simplify what I was doing in the classroom so that they didn’t take up that much, much time that I did have the time that I needed to take in order to get some of those things done that I felt like I needed to. But just that time boundary was another one. Um, and then the other boundary that I set during that time period was, um, not letting people’s opinions of me get the best of me. Um, because I, again, like I’ve said it probably a hundred times during this podcast, but I, I lost myself. Like I didn’t know who I was because I was trying to be what everybody else wanted me to be or how I thought everybody wanted me to be. And so I had to put boundaries on what people’s opinions were and what I allowed them to say to me about me. Like, if you’re not going to say something positive or like a positive criticism, like I need to do A, B, or C, what do you think about that kind of thing, that’s okay, I’m okay with that, but when you’re telling me I need to do this, it’s like, hmm, no, I need to, I need to tell you. No, that’s just not for me. Thank you though. You know, like just not necessarily a negative or mean way of saying it. Just no , no. Helena (19:05): That’s such a hard skill to learn too, saying no. Mm-hmm. , I don’t know about you, but that one takes the longest. I feel that confidence. Brittany Blackwell (19:12): Yeah. Um, Helena (19:13): A lot of gold things here and I mean, oh, we could talk for hours. Um, I heard you say about a time boundary as far as leaving work on time. You had some tips. If I was a first year teacher or I was just walking into the classroom and I’m starting to realize like, look, I have my identity as a mom or a family member and I have my identity as a teacher, but I need to start creating this time boundary. What’s like the first step you would take if you were to go back? Brittany Blackwell (19:43): If I were to go back, the first step that I would take is I would figure out what I would time block first. I would see in my day what times I have. And so some people have, you know, like only one short little planning period, that sort of thing. And really cramming all of that really doesn’t make a lot of sense, but creating a system for that. So what works for me is I have specific days of the week that I do specific tasks. And that makes sense to me because that, the way that my day is set up now, it may not be set up like that for everybody, but for me it is. And I have two planning periods, which is like golden fabulous, amazing. And I’m so thankful for that. Um, but one of those is a lunch. And I typically don’t take a whole 45 minutes to eat lunch. (20:36): So 15 minutes, eat lunch, 30 minutes here, here’s what I’m doing right now. Um, and over time that every Monday I am, you know, checking for any out of date IEPs or when new IEP is due, um, or on Fridays, I lesson plan just makes sense to me because then I don’t have any time to sit there and Pinterest for hours. Um, cuz I would do that and . So really just time blocking and then figuring out a system that works best for trying to get all those things done. But realizing that you’re the to-do list is never going to end. It’s always gonna be there. There’s never going to be a moment where you’re like, I am completely done. No, that’s not gonna happen. , Helena (21:24): I agree with the Pinterest thing. I used to do the same thing. Brittany Blackwell (21:27): Yes. Hours, hours on Pinterest. Helena (21:29): Yes. And I think I, you know, I completely agree with you setting an intentional schedule. Mm-hmm. , it can be the difference between staying hours and being productive or maximizing your time a little more. Brittany Blackwell (21:41): Yeah. So Helena (21:42): In that moment when you realized that you didn’t know yourself and you wanted to start taking action, what was the first thing you started doing? What was the first step you took towards that journey? Brittany Blackwell (21:53): Going to therapy. Um, having somebody who was a non-biased person. I, I feel like sometimes people think that therapy is such a, like, it’s so, it’s so taboo in some, in some places and sometimes, and so it feels like a weakness that you’re going to a therapist. But in all reality it was like in those sessions that I would have with her, she wasn’t really doing anything. She was asking me questions and I was becoming aware. I was realizing these things about myself or about the situation and it was like little light bulb moment. She would just ask me questions. She was never telling me anything to do. , um, which I have now. I’ve had a therapist that’s told me what to do, but at that point in time she was just asking me questions and then I started journaling and really kind of getting to the root of why I felt the way that I did, like what was working and what wasn’t for me personally. (22:58): And just taking that journey and self-discovery for me really allowed me to see a lot of the strengths that I had, um, that I wasn’t really using. Um, which I think is another big part of why I was burned out too. Um, not just overextending myself or trying to people please and all of that, but not allowing myself to flow naturally what my gifts were, what my, what my strengths were. Um, and really recognizing those was pretty powerful for me. Um, but journaling for me was just a, a big thing that I did and it evolved over time. So originally it was like me asking myself questions about myself or writing things that were not working or were working and then it kind of like transformed into this, what’s my game plan? Like, what do I want this to look like? And then I started like vision casting or vision planning, um, which I talk a lot about like on my podcast and um, I have a whole freebie for it. But that was like one of the things, it was like, wow, what do I want this to look like? What, what am I doing this for? And really connecting with those pieces of myself changed the whole trajectory of me teaching. Helena (24:21): Wow. That’s powerful. So, um, make sure to give me that freebie and I will put it in the show notes. Brittany Blackwell (24:27): Yeah, absolutely. Helena (24:29): For those of us that don’t know in general what vision planning and vision casting is, could you give like a quick summary of what it is? Brittany Blackwell (24:38): Yeah. So vision planning is basically, so I don’t like the idea so much of setting goals. Um, I like to reframe them because our brain typically, um, sees them as a threat. Um, if, if we’ve said, oh, we’re gonna set this goal or we’re gonna set this New Year’s resolution, right? Our brain sees it as a threat and it sends off a stress response at our bodies and I don’t want that. So and, and kind of taking it a different direction. Vision planning is where you’re looking at what you want it to look like. What do you want out of a situation? What do you want your life to look like? Um, and really becoming hyper-focused and hyper aware of what it is that you are going for without making it sound so much like a goal, but more as a vision. So that when you, like I have my vision board on my phone, I also have a different vision board on my laptop and they’re like cues to my brain that really remind me why I’m doing the things that I’m doing on my phone. Like it’s my kids, my family. It also has like, don’t wait for an opportunity. Create it like different things like that that really remind me every time I pick it up or every time I open a laptop, these are the things that you’re working for. This is what you want to do or this is how you want to feel. Because feeling is a huge piece of actually getting out and doing that action. Right. Helena (26:11): Wow, that’s powerful. So what’s some results that you’ve seen? Has this changed your life in teaching or in your personal life? What are some of the transformations you’ve seen? Brittany Blackwell (26:20): Yeah, so in my personal life, this is a really weird story, but I’m gonna tell it anyways. Um, so when I began journaling and vision planning, I didn’t know my husband at the time. This is gonna sound really weird, um, but it’s also really true. So I, in July of 2020, I wrote a journal entry and it was basically saying everything that I wanted in a relationship. Um, I, I was divorced, I had two kids and I knew it didn’t work right, , I know exactly what didn’t work, but I didn’t wanna focus on all of the negative things. If you focus on all of the negative things, you’re just gonna stay stuck in a pattern of negativity. So I wrote it as if I’d already, I was already with the love of my life, I wrote down everything, literally everything that I could think of that I would want as it, as it if, as if it had already happened. (27:18): So my husband was going to be loving, caring, funny. Um, he was like, I’ve showed it to my husband now cuz now I have this husband and it’s that person. Um, but I did that in like all different aspects. It wasn’t just in relationships. I did it with like starting a business, um, changing my business. Cause actually I had a business, but I changed it into being more actionable content for teachers. Um, and, and with my teaching, like I now have like on my school laptop, I have a vision board that has all of the things that I’m working towards with teaching. What it’s reminding me of is I know I, everybody hates this phrase right now, but my why, why am I doing this? Why am I waking up every morning and going to school and teaching these kids? Why am I doing that? And so it’s different pictures, different quotes, different things like that that really remind me of why I’m doing what I’m doing. So even in those really tough moments, I have that to look at. Helena (28:25): That’s powerful. I’m really glad you shared that story about your husband. I actually did something similar. I shared a story or really with my dad what I wanted my future husband to be like. And I married Kyle, so here we are. Brittany Blackwell (28:38): . Yes. I love that. That just gave me go Helena (28:41): . Yep. So not weird at all. I’m right there with you. Um, so a lot of good things here. If I were a teacher who’s like, you know what, I think I’m right there with you, or how you used to feel, I’m feeling burned out. What would you recommend the first steps or some actionable tips they could do? Brittany Blackwell (29:01): Yeah, so one of the first things that I would recommend is I would say that I don’t believe that, you know, burnout prevention or burnout recovery is a one size fits all thing. Um, what works for one person may not really work for another person. And to be honest, that’s why I created my signature framework for burnout, recovery and resilience. And I call it the individualized ed care framework. Um, because I believe that every teacher is unique. We all have different strengths, different weaknesses, different preferences. So giving these one size fits all strategies and things like that really aren’t going to help support educators. So inside the framework, um, there’s six stages and steps that we go over to really help and find what works for us as individuals so that we’re not overextending ourselves so that we are not getting completely stressed out. So the first step, um, is really evaluation. (29:56): And I’m not gonna go into every step here, but the first thing I would recommend is discover our why or the triggers for our current stress or our unique burnout cycle. Um, so this means taking like 15 minutes, making a list of all the things this year, the semester, or even like just the last month or week that really stressed us out and really getting clear about that, thinking about the things that you’re really stressed considering for the upcoming year. Even don’t limit these things though to like school situations because as you heard from my story, , like oftentimes our out of work experiences can impact our burnout at work as well. Um, so you can add any specific emotions to the list, you can categorize them into similar situations, but really the purpose of this exercise is just to make yourself aware of all the things that may have previously or you anticipate caused you to not in your stress cycle or perpetuate that stress cycle. (31:01): And once we kind of have those root causes, which I’m gonna be honest, like there can be a whole lot, um, we can then begin to kind of look deeper and take action that can mitigate that stress from those specific causes. The second thing that I would recommend is to develop healthy coping mechanisms. And I go way more in depth like in my actual framework, but to kind of give something actionable you can do today, the most important development that you can make is just to develop a healthy coping mechanism to manage that stress and prevent that burnout. Um, this can include exercise, meditation, deep breathing, other exercises that really help you to relax, activate that parasympathetic nervous system and really reduce your stress levels. So all of those things that set us, set our bodies up for appropriately processing that stress that is negatively impacting us. (31:57): Um, and then the third thing is to look back from that evaluation, that recognition of your stressors and start setting those boundaries. Boundaries are super important for preventing burnout and maintaining a healthy work-life balance. And this can include just setting those limits on work hours, delegating tasks, saying no to unnecessary commitments. Um, all of those types of things. I can tell you this though, the absolute number one thing that is not going to get somebody outta burnout is telling themselves that it’s just gonna be okay. That’s really not gonna cut it. And I’ve always hated it when people would say, well, just don’t think think that or just remind yourself it’s gonna be okay. You know, there’s a reason that that doesn’t work. The fact is that really completing the stress cycle is not a, it’s not an intellectual decision. Um, it’s really a physiological shift. Like we don’t have to tell our lungs to keep breathing. We don’t have to tell our stomach to digest food. You know, our body’s gonna do what it wants to do. So you can’t really get out of burnout or complete the stress cycle through deliberate choice. You have to give your body what it needs to complete it in order to do what it’s designed to do. Helena (33:16): Yeah. That I feel like when you just tell yourself everything’s gonna be okay, it’s almost like invalidating how you’re feeling. Yes. Not honoring it. And then you wonder why later it comes back up for you. Yes. But he is charged of this actually. So Brittany Blackwell (33:30): Yes. Helena (33:31): Going back to the awareness phase, what, what are some questions we can ask ourselves to kind of, you know, get ourselves thinking what’s causing us stress? So if I were to like journal, what are some prompts I could think about or start journaling on? Brittany Blackwell (33:46): So there’s three main prompts that I recommend everybody to do first starting out. Um, the first one is to think about what exactly your stressors are. Like what is stressing you out? Like label all of them. Is it your family? That’s okay. I mean, honestly, things like that can stress you out. Um, really just making a list of everything that’s stressing you out and then what you’re doing about it. Like what are you doing about it right now? Are you just hoping that it’ll go away? Are you Netflix and chilling because you’re like, oh this is, this is gonna just all go away on its own. That’s called disassociating and that’s not gonna work. Um, and then the third thing is to like, ask yourself what you could do to help with your family situation. Like for me lately, um, I’m just being honest, my family is kind of stressing me out. (34:40): We have a lot of kids and a lot of kids doing a whole bunch of different things and it’s the holidays. And so even yesterday I took out my notebook. I’m like, okay, what is not working right now? What is not working well, it’s not working is these kids . These kids are constantly pulling out toys and they’re never putting them away. So what can I do? Like, what am I doing right now? Well, I’m just hoping that they’ll figure it out that all these toys are all over the floor, right? And that’s not working. So what can I do going forward? Well, I’m actually gonna create a system in my, like how I do with teaching now in my house. And every day at a certain time, my kids are gonna know this is the time that we’re cleaning up our toys. We’re getting all of these things up so that they have that they have that routine ready for them, right? (35:32): We do this in our classrooms all the time, but it’s hard to do at home. Um, and then they’ll know that, I’ll know that I’ll feel better about it. There won’t be minute toys on the floor and eventually it may be difficult at first, but eventually it’ll just become part of the routine and then that won’t be a problem anymore. You could do the same thing with like journaling. If you’re not really a journaler and you’re like, okay, well she’s talking about journaling, she’s talking about doing these things. What can you, what can I do differently? Well create just a 10 minute time every day. Block it out in your calendar, 10 minutes today, this is what I’m doing, and try it for two weeks. It may not do anything, but then again it might change everything. You know, Helena (36:17): I love that it may not do anything, but it may change everything. Mm-hmm. , I feel like there’s this, I don’t wanna say stigma, but people feel like self-care and wellness is all like a, you try something and it works, but I feel like a lot of people don’t talk about how it’s kind of just one big experiment. Brittany Blackwell (36:37): It is, it is one big experiment. Like, and you know, there’s this negative connotation around self-care lately. Like somebody I, I’ve even said it too, like you can’t self-care your way outta burnout. No you can’t. But you can regulate your nervous system and regulating your nervous system is half the battle and actually making progress towards burnout recovery. Um, and like for me, I tried 512 different things and different things worked at different times for me. But when I created a system that actually would allow me to evaluate, okay, what’s gonna work for me right now? Like that, this kind of, the whole purpose of my, my framework was I was like, you know what, nobody knows what they’re supposed to do. You get this self-care menu at a, at a professional development and they’re like, yeah, go do some self-care. You know, and you do ’em and you don’t feel any better. (37:32): You know, cuz you’re adding more to your plate. You’re not really taking things off of your plate in order to make room for yourself. Um, number two, you don’t really know until you know, your personality type, your values, your vision, all of those different things. You don’t really know what’s gonna work for you in that moment. And so what worked for you 10 years ago or five years ago or one year ago, may not be what you need in this current moment. And that’s okay. It’s okay to change things up. It’s okay to, you know, try something new even if it sounds kind of kooky or weird, you know, just to see, you know, over two weeks, over a month, does this work for me? Oh crap, it does. Look at that. You know? Helena (38:15): Yeah. I feel like it’s definitely a journey, not a destination. It’s not like one day your life is magically fixed and everything’s rainbows and butterflies. It’s very Brittany Blackwell (38:22): Absolutely Helena (38:23): Like a journey of falling in love with yourself again. At least that’s how Brittany Blackwell (38:26): I see it. Yeah, I agree. Like that you can’t, it’s not a destination. It’s like that. Um, it’s like that Buddhist quote about happiness. Like happiness is not like a de it’s not what you will have. You won’t have this special moment where everything from that point on is happy. You’re gonna have these s and flows and you kind of have to just recognize, hey, this is, this is the season that we’re in. Next season will be better or I’m gonna change things up and this is how I’m gonna change for next season to be Helena (39:00): Better. Yeah. So if I was a teacher who is contemplating going to therapy, what would you tell me if I was on the fence about it? Maybe I’m a little nervous about therapy and how the whole process is. Brittany Blackwell (39:14): Well, nowadays it is super easy to get therapy, um, because now they have online therapists. And while that seems weird, it’s let, especially for us in our generation or new teachers coming in, they’ve done this. They, they did classes on Zoom. They’ve, they are, they’re aware of technology and how it works. Um, there’s this website called Headspace, and I actually have like a, a code for that that I can send to you that you can give to your, um, your subscribers. But it’s amazing because you don’t ever have to worry about when it’s gonna fit into your schedule. You don’t have to worry about, you know, well there’s gonna be this commute time to and from my therapist office. Or even if you have therapists near you nowadays, it is kind of difficult to get in to a therapist, like in person. And so sometimes it’s just easier to have that person that’s online. (40:10): Um, but going to a therapist is not as scary as it sounds. It, it’s not a, it’s not somebody judging you about what you’re doing or what you’re not doing. Like the whole idea of that profession. Think about it. Like if that teacher, or if that therapist is a teacher, like they got into that profession because they wanted to help people. They wanted to help people change their mental health, fix their issues, or, you know, really come up with a plan that’s gonna work for them. And when you change your mindset about what a therapist is to like, how you see yourself as a teacher, a teacher may have gotten a teaching because they wanted to help kids, right? Like, I don’t know any teacher that would’ve gotten into teaching for any other reason. Uh, but really changing your mindset about going and seeing a therapist is kind of crucial in doing that. But nowadays it’s so easy to get into a therapist because there ha they, there are online therapists. Helena (41:14): Yeah, I agree with you. And I know when I first started going to therapy too, there was, like you said, the stigma or it’s taboo and it’s this bad thing. It’s not, it’s so eye-opening. Yes. And a lot of the times it’s just them saying exactly what, you know, it’s just bringing it to that surface. Mm-hmm. . So I agree, if you are thinking of it, definitely highly recommend. Um, and if you have had bad experiences, I don’t know if you’ve had a bad experience, but there may have been, you know, people you didn’t click with, try to find someone else because yeah, there’s definitely someone out there for you that’s gonna help you change your life. Yes. So, um, if I were a first year teacher, um, or I, yeah. If I were a first year teacher, what would you recommend I focus on in 2023? Brittany Blackwell (42:02): Um, the number one thing that I would recommend focusing on in 2023 is getting clear about your boundaries. Like really, like, just going hard on the boundaries. Like really just being aware of your energy boundaries, your time boundaries, all of these different things so that you can kind of boundary work not only kind of helps you get out of burnout, but it also prevents burnout. You know, like if you’re really focused on okay, this one section of your life and you set a boundary there, it’s like it can’t get past it, right? And really learning to just say no when somebody asks you to do something or to say, Hmm, let me think about that and I’ll get back with you if you’re really not sure. Give it that, um, that 24 hour period where you’re allowing yourself to kind of assess are you available for that? Do you have the capacity for that? Do you, you know, if somebody’s asking you to do something, you don’t wanna just immediately say, yes, yes, I can do that. Sure, I can do that. Um, you wanna give yourself that time to be like, Hmm, do I have the time? Do I have the energy? And then kind of respond accordingly. You know what I mean? Helena (43:19): Yeah, absolutely. If I wanted to learn more about your six step framework, where would I go? Brittany Blackwell (43:26): So, um, you can find me. I love connecting with other educators, especially those who are like overwhelmed looking for ways to kind of break the cycle of burnout, really reignite their passion for teaching. So if the listeners wanna learn more from me, you can find me on Instagram. I am at Teaching Mind, body and Soul or TikTok at Miss Princess Teach. Um, but I also have my podcast, the Resilient Teacher Podcast. And, um, my individualized educa program, if you catch it, it’s i e p, like how we do for our students . But that is also on my website, the te um, at teaching Mind body and soul.com. Um, my podcast, the Resilient Teacher Podcast, I really wanted to change the narrative around resiliency because I felt like that was getting like a really bad rap. Um, and it was using, it was being used to like gaslight teachers into not recognizing what’s kind of wrong with our system. (44:18): So I, you know, I can’t tell you how many times I heard, well, you need to be more resilient in some like, really crappy situations. So the goal of my podcast is really to remind teachers that they are already resilient and lead them into making the change that we need to see in the system of education because it’s kind of broken. And the podcast is also for overwhelmed educators who wanna get the support, the tools, the mindset to reduce teacher burnout and keep teaching sustainable. Um, and I have a new episode go live every Tuesday, and I go in between with like how-to types and burnout, recovery expert interviews. I talk all about the six step framework all on there. Um, so yeah, if there’s any teachers out there who are struggling with stress burnout, just overall sustaining their career, um, DM me, come hang out with me seriously. Like, I like to chat with other teachers about burnout, their journey, all that good stuff Helena (45:15): We do here too. Awesome. Well I’ll get all those links from you and I will put ’em in the show notes as well. So go ahead and look down below with you, our listener, and you wanna connect with Brittany. Brittany, thank you so much for joining us. It was a pleasure to have you and I definitely learned a lot. Yes. And I know the listeners did too. Brittany Blackwell (45:32): Yes. Thank you so much for having me. Helena (45:35): Of course.
        Find out the secret to getting out of teacher burnout with Brittany Blackwell!

        Connect with Brittany Blackwell:

        Recognize that Getting Out of Teacher Burnout Isn’t a One Size Fits All

        One of the first things we might be tempted to do, is google strategies on how to get out of teacher burnout. While yes, you can find helpful strategies on the internet, not all strategies work for each person.

        That’s why it’s so important to find a framework that’s unique to you. All teachers are just as unique as our students. That’s why following a framework and implementing the strategies that works for you is a sure way of getting out of teacher burnout.

        Download the Free Ultimate Self-Care Guide For Teachers

        Download 40 Self-Care Ideas For Teachers that you can do in 5 minutes or less now by hitting “Download.”

          You can unsubscribe at any time.

          ​

          This includes:

          • 40 Self-Care Ideas for Teachers that take 5 minutes or less
          • Habit checker to check off how many days in a row you complete a task.
          • A reflective page for notes.

          ​

          Evaluating Your Situation

          After you recognize that getting out of burnout isn’t going to be a cookie cutter process, you will want to evaluate your specific situation. Brittany Blackwell recommends discovering your “why” in order to keep your priorities in line. One way you can accomplish this is through vision planning (grab Brittany’s free guide by clicking here!).

          Another strategy she recommends is uncovering your current triggers that are leading you to feel stressed. You can uncover this through journaling or speaking to a counselor. Another important thing to point out is you want to pinpoint your specific teacher burnout cycle.

          How does burnout come up for you and what phase of that cycle are you in. All of these are important aspects to building that awareness phase of getting out of teacher burnout.

          This quote is from this week's podcast episode where Brittany Blackwell shares the secret to getting out of teacher burnout as a first year teacher.

          Develop Healthy Coping Mechanisms 

          Now that you have identified different triggers, it’s important to take action so that getting out of teacher burnout becomes that much easier. One way to do this is to develop healthy coping mechanisms.

          Brittany recommends coming up with a habit that will help minimize stress. This could be exercise, deep breathing, journaling, meditating. All of these are great coping mechanisms that are a huge asset to getting out of teacher burnout.

          Look Back at Your Stressors and Create Boundaries

          In order to stay out of burnout, you need to put systems in place to prevent it from happening again. One way to accomplish this is to incorporate boundaries. Some examples of these boundaries include setting work hours, delegating or saying “no” to doing certain tasks, or agreeing to unnecessary commitments. 

          Overview

          Overall, it is vital to take intentional steps to completing the stress cycle if you are looking at getting out of teacher burnout. 

          As Brittany says:

          “The absolute number one thing that is NOT going to get somebody out of burnout is telling themselves ‘it will all just be okay.’”

          Brittany Blackwell

          She continues to say that the Stress Cycle isn’t a psychological choice but a physiological one. And if you are looking at getting out of teacher burnout once and for all, recognizing your pattern, and creating boundaries to support you is going to be your best chance.

          So, I want to ask you, what steps are you going to take to get out of burnout? 

          [jetpack-related-posts]
          Categories: First Year Teacher, New Teachers, Teacher Self-Care

          First Year Teaching: 7 Strategies to Avoid Teacher Burnout

          As a first-year teacher, it can be hard to avoid teacher burnout.

          Have you ever spaced out and then realized you were spacing out so you snapped yourself out of it? What about driving? Have you ever gotten in the car, started driving, and then before you know it, you’re at your destination crossing your fingers, hope you obeyed all the laws because you’re suddenly at your destination and you don’t remember how you got there. 

          This is a lot like what burnout can feel like. And as a new teacher with a demanding workload, it can be easy to become overwhelmed and burned out. Learning coping strategies early on can help you manage your feelings of burnout and start your year off with enthusiasm and energy.

          Here are 7 tips that will help you avoid teacher burnout once and for all.

          So grab that cup of coffee, and let’s get to it!

          Hey New Teachers!

          Make this your best year yet with the Ultimate First Year Teacher Checklist!​
          ​
          Download the guide that walks you through everything you get done this year a success. (Oh and it’s completely free!)

            We respect your privacy. You can unsubscribe at any time!

            Listen to the podcast:

            First Year Teaching: 7 Strategies to Avoid Teacher Burnout
            (00:00): And by the end of the day, you go to bed and you have no idea what you did that day because like I said, you are on autopilot. If this sounds like you, then I wanna let you know the whole reason I started the present teacher was because this was me too. Hey, teacher bestie. My name’s Helena and I’m the creator of the President Teacher podcast. I’m a first year teacher coach, and in this podcast you are gonna learn everything from simple actual classroom management, socialist learning, and teacher wellness strategies. You know that impact you wanna make in the classroom. Well, we’re gonna make it happen here. (00:40): Have you ever spaced out and then realized you were spacing out so you snapped yourself out of it? What about driving? Have you ever gotten in the car, started driving, and then before you know it, you’re at your destination crossing your fingers, hope you obeyed all the laws because you’re suddenly at your destination and you don’t remember how you got there. What about literally going through the emotions on a day-to-day basis because you’re so emotionally and mentally exhausted that you just go on autopilot, you wake up and you start your day and you are just not there. So you check out mentally and by the end of the day you go to bed and you have no idea what you did that day because like I said, you are on autopilot. If this sounds like you, then I wanna let you know the whole reason I started the present teacher was because this was me too. (01:31): You see, my first year of teaching, I found myself so emotionally exhausted by the end of the day that I would go on autopilot and I would scroll social media when I’d get home, and by the end of the day I would wonder where my life was going. I desired to be present and mindful in the moment, but I didn’t know how. I didn’t know how to get out of that exhaustion so that I could show up mindfully and actually enjoy life. And after years of research counseling and talking to other teachers around the world, I realized what I was actually dealing with was burnout. In this episode, I’m gonna talk about the seven steps to avoid and get out of burnout. So myself, I’ve helped myself and thousands of educators around the world avoid and get out of burnout, and you can do the same for you too. (02:21): So stick around and listen to each step because they will build off each other and you can definitely feel when you are missing one of those steps. So don’t forget to do each step as we talk about them. The first step to preventing or getting out of burnout is to figure out where you are at. So this is called the awareness phase and building that awareness. So you can do this by reflecting in your journal or out loud or with a trained professional, but let’s figure out where you are at in the world. So I’m gonna give you a scenario. So imagine I put you in a helicopter and I drop you off in the middle of nowhere and I don’t tell you you what country you’re in, where the nearest civilization is, and I tell you to meet me there in a week. Could you figure it out? (03:07): All right, now let’s do a different scenario where I put you in a helicopter, I drop you in the middle of nowhere, but this time I give you a map and your location. Can you meet me in the nearest destination of the nearest town? Now, probably a lot easier with the second scenario, right? Well, that’s exactly what awareness is. It’s figuring out where you are at in your journey or figuring out where you are on the map. We can’t figure out how we wanna get better without figuring out first where we’re starting, right? The same goes with our kids. We wouldn’t try to figure out where we wanna take them by the end of the school year without first assessing them at the beginning of the year. It’s the same thing. So here’s some questions you can think about when it comes to building that awareness and figuring out where you’re at in your journey right now. (03:57): The first one being, how is life going right now? I know that’s a loaded question, but you don’t have to answer this out loud to me. Take some time to reflect that on your journal and then what is going well for me? What are some things that I can improve on? What are some things I can keep or adjust? All of these are super important for getting a clear picture of where you are at in your awareness phase. Step number two, transform your mindset. Have you ever had a student who performed really, really well in person? They always did the activities, like got a hundred percent on their assignments, but as soon as they started a test, they would get inside their own head and tell them that they’re gonna fail and then they bomb the test. It’s the same thing with our mindset here. (04:43): We need to talk about the difference between abundance and scarcity mindset. So abundance mindset is that growth mindset. It’s that mindset where there’s enough of everything to go around where scarcity mindset is the idea that there’s not enough to go around. So for example, maybe a thought could be, I don’t have enough time. Um, I’m not good enough, I’m not a good teacher. I need to do this to be a good teacher. All of these are examples of a scarcity mindset. What we need to do once we’ve built that awareness phase is we now need to transform our mindset from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset. So let’s use the scenario where the student bombs the test because they’re telling themselves during the test that I’m really bad at math. Let’s reframe that into an affirmation and transform their mindset every time they wanna self-talk and tell themselves that they are bad at math. (05:36): Instead, they tell themselves, I am amazing at math. I’m gonna ace this test. Their performance is gonna be a lot different based on how they’re talking to themselves. And the same goes for teachers. Whenever you catch yourself saying something negative to yourself, try to reframe that into an affirmation. This might have a lot to do with imposter syndrome and this might be something that you have to constantly work at, but this is something that’s a journey, not a destin or is a journey not a destination. So don’t focus too much on always having to reprogram your mindset. I still do, and many experts are still constantly reworking this. Another way to transform your mindset is to focus on gratitude. Every morning I like to write down three things I am grateful for and that transforms my life from a scarcity mindset to abundance mindset. Instead of focusing on the things I don’t have yet and the things I don’t have or am not doing yet I am focusing and putting my energy towards the things that are in my life that I’m grateful for. (06:42): Therefore, more positive things are coming my way. So focusing on gratitude is another great way to transform or reset your mindset. The third thing you can do is to prioritize your life. Step number three, prioritize your life. So I think we’ve all heard the experiment with the cup and the sand by Steven Covey. If not, I’ll kind of give you a rundown right now. But imagine that you have this jar and inside of it you fill it with sand, and then after the sand you fill it with pebbles and then after with big boulders. Well, what happens when you do it in that order is that the jar will overflow and you can’t put the lid on. But let’s say on the other side, you start with the big boulders first and then you start putting in the smaller pebbles and then you put in the sand and then the water, then you close the lid. (07:36): You’re gonna be able to fill in more into your life by doing that. The same thing goes for our priorities, and Steven Covey does a great job talking about this in seven habits of highly effective people. I’ll make sure to put a link in the show notes as well. But you wanna prioritize your life and focus on the big boulders first. So take some time and think about what are the major things that I wanna prioritize in my life? Go ahead and list them and then ask yourself, is my life right now reflecting that? And if it is, great, if it’s not, what can I do to change my life to show that what I’m prioritizing in my life is important to me and it is how I want my life to be prioritized and make sure to keep that in front of you. I literally have a list of priorities I set in my life and I keep it on my desk that way whenever there’s a time when my priorities are being questioned. (08:31): So if I’m asked, can I stay two hours late after work, I can look at that priority list and be remind myself, you know what? My family comes before my job. I apologize. I am not able to. I have a previous arrangement or a different priority at this time. That’s a great way to keep yourself um, accountable and to keep your priorities in your life in front of you. Step number four is to establish routines and systems. So your routines and systems should really help your priorities in life and it should help support your priorities and goals in your life. So some routines and systems you can start creating is a morning routine. When you start off your day having an amazing morning, you’re really setting yourself up to have an amazing day. Let me know if you can relate to this, but have you ever had one of the hardest mornings of your life and then you walk into your classroom and then it seems like the kids can just sense the negativity from that morning and they just exploded all day. (09:31): The same goes for having a great morning routine. I can’t tell you how life changing it’s been as a teacher to have a morning routine. That’s cha, that’s started my day on the right foot and therefore my kids have a better day. So creating a morning routine is one example on a system or routine you can start for yourself and that’s a great way to take care of you. The next one being leaving work on time. I know a lot of teachers struggle with this and I have some resources to help you, but leaving work on time can be such a hard thing because you have priorities, your boundaries and all mixing in to that you need to be accountable with. But when you have these priorities and systems in place, you wanna have them working so well that they’re on autopilot because when things are on autopilot, they don’t take energy from you. (10:23): They’re just a habit like brushing your teeth. It doesn’t take energy anymore for me to brush my teeth because I just naturally do it. The same goes for our systems and routines and here on the present teacher, I love talking about creating these I am. I could go on and on about creating systems and routines. So if you need more help with that, I will put some resources down below. But like I said, creating those routines and systems really make it so it’s a habit and you don’t have to think about it. And at the end of the day, the last thing we wanna think about are these things. So create ’em in two days. So they’re natural, so you don’t have to think about ’em will save you energy in the long run. Step number five is to be a friend. An honor with five. (11:07): Part of the awareness phase that we talked about in step one is to check in with yourself weekly, if not daily or several times a day, and ask yourself what you need right now and how you are feeling. So how can you take better care of yourself or how you take care of yourself is going to reflect how you care for others. I learned this the hard way because I thought that if I would focus on myself as a first year teacher, I was going to be selfish. I thought time spent on me was wasted, that I could have spent on others. And I thought, you know what? I will just be great at taking care of others and I will put myself on the back burner. But what I realized was how I was truly helping others when I wasn’t in my prime health, when I wasn’t taking care of myself, I wasn’t able to help others as I impactfully or as deeply as when I was being a friend to myself. (12:01): So make sure to ask yourself throughout the day, this is an important practice to incorporate. Ask yourself what you need, uh, throughout the day and then honor that and take the five minutes to follow through. So for example, if right now I feel like what I need is to just journal for five minutes, I’m gonna make sure to prioritize those five minutes and do be a good friend to myself and take those five minutes. Maybe it’s to sit five minutes in silence or blaring your favorite music before you walk in and you switch from teacher, teacher hat to parent hat. Take those five minutes that you need in order to be a friend to yourself and to help you take care of others even more deeply and impactfully throughout your day. You won’t regret it if you need ideas on how you can start taking care of yourself in those five minute increments. (12:54): I do have the 40 self-care ideas that take five minutes or less, and I will make sure to put that in the show notes as well or the link down below so you can grab that. Step number six is to practice being mindful in the moment. So remember when I talked about how it can feel like you’re on autopilot and you suddenly wake up and then you realize that where has my life gone? Everything’s just passed and I wasn’t here for a single moment of it. I learned this the hard way. My whole day was like that. And the thing about mindfulness is it’s like a muscle. I get stronger with practice. So I didn’t know how to be in the moment anymore after spending so much time on autopilot because I was just trying to survive. So what my counselor told me and what other resources and researchers and other teachers and just experience in general, the first thing you wanna do is to start a little at a time and eventually you’re gonna build up to each day. (13:51): So pick one thing that you can do and do it mindfully instead of autopilot. And this could be walking from class to class, maybe it’s eating or breakfast, drinking or coffee. Um, doing chores for some reason that really works. For mine, it was vacuuming when I first started. If I would just mindfully focus on vacuuming on the weekend, I was able to reprogram my brain to go from autopilot to mindfully in the moment. What this does and why this is so important, and this is the whole reason for the present teacher, is to allow, sorry, it allows you to live your life to the fullest and it makes life sweet. I don’t know about you, but when you’re on autopilot, you’re just not living to the same extent and it’s just not as fulfilling. So learning to be back in the moment is so important. (14:42): Step number seven is to get ahead. I know a lot of teachers struggle with this and it’s really hard to figure out how to mainstream your systems and processes to get ahead, but when you’re able to do this, what you’re actually doing is able to get more done and less time. And one way to do this is to batch your days. So I know I’ve talked about this before, but for example, batching is doing like-minded tasks within the same group. That way you’re not task with task switching. So on average it takes seven or 21 minutes to refocus on a task once you get distracted. That’s why it’s so important to keep your like-minded task together and to do the same thing over and over again per day. So think of Henry Ford and the factory line. It’s the same thing. So what how I incorporate this into my days is I actually theme my days. (15:37): So on Mondays I’m writing lesson plans, I’m writing lesson plans, not only for the upcoming week, but I like to go two, three weeks out. So I’m doing lesson plans for two or three weeks. That way I’m two or three weeks ahead and I’m not feeling like I’m on this hamster wheel of, you know, lesson planning, creating content or creating resources and parent letters and communication. I am two or three weeks out so I don’t have to feel like I’m drowning and just trying to get above water each time. So on Monday I like to work on lesson plans. Tuesdays I like to print out all my materials. Wednesdays I work on parent communication. Thursday is grades and data. And then Friday I like to make a makeup day in case I miss anything. But by doing two or three weeks at a time and batching your days and themeing them, so you’re doing one thing consistently all day makes it so you get more done and less time and it gets you ahead. (16:36): If you follow these seven steps, you’re gonna be able to transform your life from being spaced out to mindfully thriving in and outside of the classroom. And my question to you for this episode is what do you do to get out of teacher burnout? I have a teacher friend who is gonna be on the next podcast episode. You guys are going to love her, who is gonna share her thoughts on this question, but make sure if you are on my email list to respond to my email and let me know so I can feature you on the next email. Make sure to subscribe and give this podcast a review. I would love to hear your thoughts on this podcast, what you love about it, what I could do to make it better. Remember teacher bestie, we are stronger together and I am always here for you. I will talk to you in the next episode. And with all the love, Helena, a k a, the present teacher. Bye teacher bestie. (17:30): Thank you so much for joining me on today’s episode. I hope that you were able to take away some value that will help you thrive inside and outta the classroom. It would mean the world to me. If you could take five seconds right now and leave a review on this podcast. And if you found this podcast especially helpful, make sure to take a screenshot of this episode right now and tag me on your socials to let me know you’re listening. As always, remember that we are stronger together with all the love in the world. Helena a k a, the present teacher. See you next time. Teacher bestie.

            Subscribe to the Podcast:

            Take time for yourself

            The first way to avoid teacher burnout as a first year teacher is to take time for yourself. It’s important to remember that taking care of yourself is a top priority as a teacher. You can do this by scheduling down time into your day, whether that’s grabbing lunch with a colleague or sitting in silence during your prep period. Make sure you get adequate sleep and physical activity – all of these things can help reduce stress and fatigue. 

            If you need some ideas on how to take time for yourself, checkout these 40 Self-Care Ideas that take 5 Minutes or less!

            Set clear boundaries

            One of the best things any first-year teacher can do is set clear boundaries between work and home. Your job can be all-consuming, especially with the start of a new school year. Give yourself time off that’s unconnected to lesson preparation and grading so you can maintain proper balance. This may mean taking time each day or week to devote to your family, hobbies, or anything that brings you joy outside of teaching. With clear boundaries, it’s a lot easier to avoid teacher burnout.

            As a first year teacher, it can be hard to avoid burnout. Check out these 7 strategies to avoid teacher burnout.

            Establish routines

            Maintaining certain routines throughout the school year can be a great way to avoid teacher burnout. Establish routines for yourself during the day and prioritize tasks that need to be done, as well as leave time for rest. This will help you stay on top of things and keep from feeling overwhelmed with more tasks than you have time for. Additionally, maintain regular office hours so you have time to connect with students without feeling like your job follows you home every night. If you want to learn more about leaving work on time, click here!

            Leaving work on time as a first year teacher is no small task. Check out this leaving work on time for busy first year teachers program.

            Prepare Ahead of Time

            As a first year teacher, it can be easy to get overwhelmed and burnt out by the amount of lesson planning that is required. To avoid this, try to plan ahead and create as many lessons as you can during the summer months before school starts. This will help reduce stress when the school year begins and give you more free time during the year to relax or pursue other projects or hobbies.

            Nourish Your Body and Soul

            Don’t neglect your mental and physical health in the pursuit of an effective classroom experience. Make sure to take breaks throughout the day to recharge, get some fresh air, and step away from your desk. Eating healthy, nutritious meals can also help reduce stress and give you the energy you need to make it through every day with a smile on your face. Taking time out for yourself is important—be sure to treat yourself occasionally so that you don’t experience burnout!

            Take 5 minutes for yourself

            It’s extremely to be a friend to yourself if you’re looking to avoid teacher burnout. One great way to do this is to take 5 minutes for yourself each day. One thing about life is it’s one great experiment. You don’t have to have it all figured out yet. Just pick one thing and try it for 5 minutes. If you need ideas check out the Ultimate Self-Care Guide!

            Overall

            Overall there are several different ways you can avoid teacher burnout. Just remember that:

            [jetpack-related-posts]
            Categories: Uncategorized

            How Teacher Self-Care Can Benefit Students

            “Children learn and imitate behaviors by watching and listening to others.” –Kylie Rymanowicz

            It’s no surprise then that your students are learning how to love themselves by watching how you love yourself.

            In my first year of teaching, I shied away from self-love and self-care because I feared that it was selfish. 

            I felt like self-care meant that you were cocky, narcissistic, and selfish. 

            Little did I know, however, that by not prioritizing self-care my students suffered.

            If this sounds like something you have experienced then you are not alone.

            In an industry where we are expected to serve, it is easy for teachers to prioritize others over themselves. 

            But today we are going to cover how incorporating self-care can benefit your students.

            In this article we will discuss:

            • What is teacher self-care?
            • Why is teacher self-care important?
            • How teacher self-care can benefit your students

            So grab that cup of coffee and let’s get started!

            What is Self-Care?

            Before we talk about teacher self-care ideas for back to school, we need to get super clear on what self-care is. 

            Self-Care is the action of preserving or improving one’s health. 

            In other words, it is prioritizing your health first so that you can better preserve your energy and perform better as a teacher. 

            It’s the ability to make habits that make sure all the different aspects of your health are taken care of. 

            However, what many people don’t know is that there are four different kinds of self-care. These include physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual self-care.

            I talk all about the different kinds of self-care in the article “The Ultimate Guide of Self-Care for Teachers.” So if you want to learn more, click here to read it now. 

            Self-care is a healthy habit that helps you maintain an optimal state of health.

            Now that we have discussed what self-care is, let’s talk about why it is important.

            Why is Self-Care Important?

            There are many reasons why teacher self-care is so important!

            For instance, did you know that 45% of teachers claim to work more than 50 hours a week?

            With that in mind, it’s no wonder that 4 in 10 teachers are leaving the profession in the first 5 years. 

            Hence why self-care is so important!

            To have a fulfilling life as a teacher, you need to prioritize your health first.

            Otherwise, you will continue to feel exhausted, overwhelmed, and ready to quit the profession you so desperately love. 

            Prioritizing your self-care will also help you:

            • Keep burnout at bay.
            • Stay energized throughout the day with clarity.
            • Model to other teachers that prioritizing your self-care is okay and should be done.
            • Help create a movement where teachers take back control of their lives in a way that helps better serve education.

            And this is just the tip of the iceberg. If you want to learn more click here to read more about the importance of self-care in my last article. 

            How Teacher Self-Care Can Benefit Students

            Now that you know what self-care is and why it is important let’s talk about how teacher self-care can benefit students. 

            Show Up Energized

            One of the ways teacher self-care can benefit students is that it allows you to show up to work energized and ready to go.

            If you have ever neglected your self-care, you might recall feeling frazzled, burned out, and exhausted.

            However, after maintaining your self-care habits, teachers feel energized and refreshed at the beginning of the day.

            This is extremely important when it comes to teaching because students can sense when they feel overwhelmed.

            Plus if you have ever had a “bad day” and that same day your students had a “bad day,” then you might note how students feed off of your emotions.

            No matter how great you are at faking it, oftentimes students can sense when something is wrong.

            Hence the importance of self-care and showing up each day energized and renewed. 

            Trust me, this is a benefit for both you, and your students!

            Be the Teacher You Knew You Could Be

            At the end of my first year of teaching, it felt like I had blinked and the year was over.

            That summer after some much-needed rest I reflected on my teaching the previous year. This is when I realized that I hadn’t been the teacher I always knew I could be because I was constantly overwhelmed.

            With inconsistent boundaries and priorities, it’s no wonder that many teachers end the year defeated and just trying to survive.

            By incorporating consistent and effective self-care, however, you are cutting down on the overwhelm and burnout.

            This means you can show up each day enthused and be the authentic engaging teacher you always knew you could be. 

            Students benefit when we show up as our authentic selves as opposed to a burned-out teacher on autopilot. 

            This is why showing up as our authentic self is one of the ways students can benefit from teacher self-care.

            Model Boundaries and Priorities for Students

            Another way that teacher self-care benefits students is it is an opportunity for teachers to model healthy boundaries and priorities.

            As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, students learn about themselves by watching how others interact with them.

            It’s no surprise then that students will learn how to set boundaries and priorities by watching other adults and their priorities and boundaries.

            As a teacher, we cannot control the home-life of our students.

            Some students will have amazing parents who model exceptional boundaries and priorities.

            While others may have families who struggle with setting consistent boundaries and priorities.

            Either way, by modeling consistent boundaries and priorities, you are ensuring that your students have an adult in their life who advocates for healthy well-being.

            This provides students with some tools they will need to prioritize for the rest of their lives.

            Model Self-Love for Students

            The next way how teacher self-care can benefit students is by modeling self-love to students. 

            It’s no secret that self-care is an act of self-love.

            You are prioritizing yourself, being in intune with your needs, and advocating for your boundaries.

            That’s why it is so important to incorporate self-care in the classroom for your students to see.

            When you are open with your students on how you love yourself in and out of the classroom, you are showing them that self-love is needed and accepted.

            Students might then implement self-love in their daily lives by watching how they love themselves. 

            Mindfulness

            The final way that teacher self-care can benefit students is the idea of mindfulness.

            When you are taking the time to love yourself and prioritize yourself, then you are cutting through the noise and preventing overwhelm.

            When you are less overwhelmed you can show up mindfully.

            Mindful as in the present and the moment.

            Students need us to be mindful in the classroom so that we can listen to them. 

            When we are mindful, we are opening a safe space in our hearts for our students.

            A place where they will feel seen and heard.

            And that is one of the best gifts a teacher can give to their students. 

            Overview

            Thank you so much for reading to the end!

            As a review, in this post we discussed:

            • What self-care is
            • Why self-care is important
            • How Teacher self-care can benefit students

            I hope this post was the message you needed to hear and reminded you that self-care is not selfish. 

            It is so beneficial to our students in so many ways. By incorporating self-care, you are influencing a future generation full of self-love.

            Thank you so much for reading, and before you go I want to invite you to join our community.

            Here at the Present Teacher, we strive to help educators who:

            • Are tired of getting burned out
            • Can’t be consistent with their self-care plan
            • Don’t have the time for their self-care
            • Have a hard time making boundaries and priorities during the school year
            • Want to impact future generations by prioritizing their self-care by modeling it to our students

            So if this sounds like you, then I want to invite you to get on the waitlist for our Self-Care Membership.

            In this membership, you will join a community of educators that strive for consistency in their self-care habits while also holding each other accountable.

            Click here if you are interested, and I can’t wait to see you there.

            Happy Teaching!

            The Present Teacher

            [jetpack-related-posts]
            Categories: Uncategorized

            How to Be Consistent with Self-Care During Back To School

            So you incorporated self-care over the summer and got consistent with incorporating it into your summer schedule.

            But now with back to school right around the corner, you can’t seem to find the time or be consistent with your self-care goals.

            Hi, my name is Helena Hains and I am a Self-Care Coach. I help teachers create an authentic self-care plan that doesn’t take a lot of time.

            I believe teachers need to prioritize their self-care before serving their students. 

            Today we are going to discuss how teachers can be consistent with self-care during the back-to-school season. 

            We are also going to cover:

            • What being consistent with self-care during back to school looks like
            • How to be consistent with self-care during back to school

            So if this sounds like something you are interested in grab that cup of coffee and let’s get started!

            What Being Consistent with Self-Care During Back to School Looks Like

            Before we talk about how to be consistent with self-care during back-to-school, we need to figure out what this might look like.

            Starting with what is consistency?

            Consistency is taking small, incremental steps to make a certain action a habit.

            In other words, it’s the little steps you do to make something easier.

            For example, one way to be consistent with journaling every morning could be:

            • Buying a journal
            • Having it open every day for you to write in
            • Setting an alarm on your phone

            According to Healthline, it takes an average of 66 days to create a new habit. 

            It can be easy to understand then why so many teachers struggle to make a self-care goal a habit.

            Being consistent with self-care looks like doing the same thing for a while to the point where it becomes automatic.

            For instance, a consistent physical self-care habit someone might have is to go walking every morning before work.

            Now that we know what consistency is and how it relates to self-care, let’s talk about how you can become consistent with self-care this back-to-school season.

            How to Be Consistent with Self-Care During Back to School

            Being consistent with self-care during back-to-school can be one of the hardest things for teachers when it comes to self-care. 

            Especially during back-to-school season.

            You’re busy planning, decorating, prepping, welcoming students, communicating with parents, etc. It’s no wonder that teachers throw self-care out the window during back-to-school.

            But that doesn’t have to be the case. Here are 5 strategies to be consistent with self-care this back-to-school season.

            Measurable Goals

            The first way to be consistent with self-care during back to school is to get super clear on your goals.

            Much like writing objectives at the end of the lesson, you need to write yourself measurable goals that help align you to your outcome.

            Inspired by Michael Hyatt’s book “Your Best Year Ever,” you want to make these goals measurable.

            For instance, creating the goal “to drink more water” is not measurable and there is no clear way to figure out if you reached that goal.

            You could drink more water for one day or week, but would that mean you reached your goal?

            Instead, try creating the goal:

            “I will drink 12 cups of water every day by 8 pm consistently for 365 days before December 31st.”

            This goal is measurable, tells you how often, how much and when you wish to reach that goal.

            By creating clear, measurable goals you can be more consistent with them because you are clear on the actions needed to reach those goals. 

            Write it Down

            Another way to be consistent with self-care this school year is to write your self-care goals down.

            An article by CNBC stated that “Participants who wrote down their goals achieved those desires at a significantly higher level than those who didn’t. She found that you become 42% more likely to achieve your goals and dreams, simply by writing them down daily.”

            Hence why writing things down is so important.

            So if you want to be more consistent with self-care during back school write down your goals. 

            Alarms

            It can be easy for teachers to neglect their self-care when they are overwhelmed with work.

            Oftentimes teachers may find themselves working long past contract hours into the night. 

            That’s why one way you can ensure that you are consistent with your self-care goals is to set an alarm on your phone. 

            For example, every day after school I have an alarm that goes off that reminds me to read. 

            This reminds me that I should stop working and start reading my book. 

            When you give yourself visual reminders, you are ensuring that you won’t forget to do something. 

            This is also a great reminder to leave work every day or to start prioritizing your family if that is one of your goals. 

            Gamification

            Another way to be consistent with self-care during back-to-school is to make a game out of it. 

            Gamification is the action of applying typical actions of game playing to something.

            Also mentioned in “Your Best Year Ever” you can use a tracker to track the progress of how often you reached your goal.

            For instance, I can put an X on a box after every day that I drank 12 cups of water. 

            The longer I am consistent with this the longer my streak will be. Hence the less likely I will want to break it.

            Much like the tracking used by Fit Bit’s or Apple Watches, gamification is a great way to track your progress and be consistent. 

            Accountability

            The final way to be consistent with self-care during back-to-school is to find some form of accountability.

            One example of this would be if you wanted to leave work every day by 4 pm.

            Find a teacher friend that has the same goal and keep each other accountable.

            That way you can remind them to leave on time and vise versa. 

            Habits are easier to be consistent with together that’s why accountability is a great way to be consistent with self-care during back to school.

            Overview

            You made it through all the ways to be consistent with self-care during back to school. 

            As a recap, in this article we talked about:

            • What being consistent with self-care during back to school looks like
            • How to be consistent with self-care during back to school

            If you want to learn more about how to be consistent with your self-care goals join the Teacher Self-Care Membership!

            This membership is perfect for you if:

            • You are a teacher who feels exhausted, emotionally drained, or experiencing burnout.
            • You want to prioritize your self-care.
            • You want to set goals, priorities, or boundaries in the workplace.

            If this sounds like something you are interested in joining the waitlist to get notified when the doors open by clicking here.

            Happy Teaching!

            The Present Teacher

            [jetpack-related-posts]