The Present Teacher

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9 Astonishing Teacher Self-Care Ideas for Back to School

So it’s that overwhelming time of year that many teachers know as… Back to School.

It’s that time of year where teachers come back from summer break and start decorating, organizing, planning, and eventually welcoming their new students for the year.

In the midst of all that chaos it can be hard to remember about incorporating self-care.

So that’s why today we are going to tackle some teacher self-care ideas for back to school.

In this post we are going to cover:

  • What is self-care?
  • Why is self-care important?
  • 9 teacher self-care ideas for back to school

So grab that coffee and let’s get started!

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Categories: Teacher Self-Care

Do You Know Why Teachers Struggle With Making Boundaries?

As a teacher, it can be a struggle to make boundaries.

For instance, during my first year of teaching, I had such a hard time making boundaries with my work hours.

So much so that my families would call me at 10 p.m. with questions. 

For those of you who have done this, I’m sure you can understand how exhausted I was by the end of the school year.

That’s why it is so important to set boundaries as a teacher. 

But a question you might have is: Why do teachers struggle with making boundaries?

If this sounds like you, then you are in the right place. 

Today we are going to cover:

  • What are boundaries?
  • Why are making boundaries important as a teacher?
  • Why do teachers struggle with making boundaries?

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

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    What are Boundaries?

    According to PositivePsychology.com “Healthy boundaries can serve to establish one’s identity. Specifically, healthy boundaries can help people define their individuality and can help people indicate what they will and will not hold themselves responsible for.”

    In other words, boundaries are like the walls surrounding the perimeter of a castle. They are the security that protects the inner castle, or in this case your overall health.

    Recently I read a book called “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen R. Covey. And in the first chapter, Covey mentions the differences between a ‘Reactive’ person and a ‘Proactive’ person.

    A ‘Reactive’ person is someone who reacts to the environment around them. For instance, if a student were to be disruptive, a ‘reactive’ teacher might become frustrated and take the disruption personally.

    However, a ‘Proactive’ teacher would realize that this student might have environmental factors impacting their behavior. 

    This teacher might wait to talk to the student individually to see what is going on. Rather than becoming frustrated and internalizing the behavior.

    This is where boundaries can help. When you realize and acknowledge what you can and cannot control, you are setting boundaries for what you take responsibility for.

    Boundaries allow you to accept the things you can control and what you cannot control. 

    That’s why it is important to create boundaries as an educator and think about what you will and will not be able to control.

    As an educator, this could be 

    • How late you are working
    • How early you come to work
    • What time you come to work

    The important distinction between boundaries and decisions is that you set your boundaries ahead of time.

    By deciding ahead of time how late you are going to work, for example, you are ensuring consistency to what time you are leaving every day.

    If you would like to learn more about how to leave work on time, check out this post about “How to Leave Work On Time as a Teacher.”

    Why is Making Boundaries Important?

    I recently read an article from Edutopia.org that talks about the importance of boundaries for teachers.

    In the article “The Necessity of Boundaries,” Eduptopia.org states “You need to set professional limits that will support long-term engagement with your students and with teaching. This is about protecting your energy and attention to maximize their effects.”

    In other words, boundaries allow you to protect your energy so that you can be more effective long term. You can only give a certain amount of energy before your cup runs empty. 

    Hence the importance of boundaries and self-care.

    To summarize, it’s important to set Boundaries as a Teacher because:

    • It prevents burnout.
    • Setting Boundaries allows you to reserve the energy to do this long term.
    • It allows your inner peace.
    • Boundaries allow you to show up for your students in a Present and Mindful way.

    Now that we have discussed why making boundaries as a teacher is important, let’s discuss why teachers struggle with making boundaries.

    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.

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      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.

      ​

      Why Teachers Struggle With Making Boundaries

      Overall there are several reasons why teachers struggle with making boundaries, including the following:

      Teachers Feel Guilty

      The number one reason why teachers struggle with making boundaries is that they feel guilty for doing so.

      As an educator, it can be easy to feel passionate about your profession and helping others. 

      But sometimes that can get in the way of your ability to set boundaries.

      Teachers may feel guilty for putting up boundaries on where their limits are. This is because they feel like they cannot make healthy boundaries and be a successful teacher.

      However, I would like to challenge this belief with this scenario.

      Teacher A stays up late all night grading papers, prepping for the next day, and communicating with families. 

      When she arrives at school the next day, she is exhausted and maybe even grouchy.

      Teacher B leaves her work at the time she has designated for herself and spends the rest of the night being with her family and incorporating self-care. 

      When she arrives at school the next day she is eager to see her students and build connections with them.

      Which teacher is going to make the most impact the next day?

      Now I am not saying that you can’t be tired and a good teacher.

      However, it’s hard to show up every day as your full and brightest self when you feel stressed and overwhelmed.

      Boundaries help protect that inner light and passion for teaching so that you can show up as your authentic self every day. 

      Teachers May Think Boundaries are Selfish

      Another reason why teachers struggle with making boundaries is that they think that boundaries make them selfish. 

      Society has often relied on the fact that teachers do what’s right for their students.

      While this is true, that doesn’t mean that you always have to put the students first to be an amazing teacher.

      For instance, in our above scenario, Teacher A stayed up late because she was doing it for her “Students.” 

      But when she showed up the next day, she was so exhausted from the night before that she wasn’t able to show up mindfully. 

      Teacher B, however, wasn’t “selfish” for leaving her work at school and not staying up late. 

      She decided to do what was best for her students and herself by calling it a day.

      The reality is, you will hardly ever complete your to-do list as a teacher. No matter how organized or how hard you work. 

      That’s why it is so important to not only set boundaries but priorities as well on what you need to accomplish.

      RELATED:

      Can’t Help Students and Have Boundaries

      Many teachers struggle with making boundaries because they feel like they cannot have both.

      Teachers can not make impactful relationships and be effective teachers while setting boundaries. 

      This is just completely inaccurate. 

      If anything by setting boundaries, you are even more effective and impactful because you are conscious of your limits as an educator. 

      You help more students by making boundaries because you can show up as the educator you always dreamed of.

      Boundaries are Too Hard to Maintain

      Another reason why teachers struggle with making boundaries is that they feel like it’s too hard to stick with your boundaries.

      While making boundaries may be hard at first, it does get easier over time.

      Essentially when you make new boundaries you are breaking old habits.

      As you may know, breaking habits is no easy feat hence why it may be difficult to make those boundaries.

      However, deciding your boundaries ahead of time and deciding how you will be consistent with those boundaries leads to better consistency.

      For instance, an example of a boundary you may make is that you will only respond to families between 7 am to 4 pm during the weekdays.

      Apart from emergencies of course.

      To make sure that you are successful you might create a plan to turn off notifications when it’s not office hours.

      Or you could always respond right away but schedule your response out for your office hours.

      This is a great way to ensure consistency when it comes to setting boundaries. 

      Mixing up Boundaries with Priorities

      The final reason why most teachers struggle with making boundaries is that they are mixing up priorities with boundaries.

      Boundaries are the limits to which you hold yourself accountable.

      Priorities on the other hand are in what order you consider your duties important.

      For instance, you may decide that you will always prioritize your home life before being a teacher.

      This can help you set boundaries such as:

      • Leaving work on time.
      • Only working so many hours at home.
      • Setting certain hours to respond to emails.

      Your priorities help drive your boundaries as an educator.

      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.

        ​

        Overview

        Thank you so much for reading, I hope you found this useful!

        Today we talked about:

        • What boundaries are
        • Why boundaries are important to make as a teacher
        • Why teachers struggle with making boundaries

        In all reality, boundaries are extremely important and can help you become the educator you always dreamed of. 

        And as a thank you for reading to the end, I want to invite you to join my Waitlist for my Self-Care Membership.

        In this membership, you will learn not only how to set priorities and boundaries healthily, but to maintain them in a way that prevents burnout. So if you are interested or want to learn more click here to get on the waiting list and join like-minded educators like yourself.

        Because together we are stronger. 

        Happy Teaching!

        The Present Teacher

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        Categories: Distance Learning, New Teachers

        Top 10 Amazing Teacher Hacks For Teaching Virtually in 2021

        “Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.” -Alexander Graham Bell

        It’s the new year of 2021 and many schools are still Hybrid or Distance Learning. 

        While many teachers enjoyed their Winter Break, many of us created New Year Resolutions for the upcoming year.

        One of the top Resolutions for 2021 is to be prepared for Distance or Virtual Learning. 

        While we do not have a certainty of what the future may look like, we can be as prepared for the future as we can.

        As someone who has been Teaching Virtually since March 2020, I am eager to share some teacher hacks that I have learned.

        So if you are someone who is just now teaching virtually, or you want some new hacks and resources to “up your game,” here are the top Teacher Hacks you need for Virtual Teaching in 2021.

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        Categories: New Teachers, Teacher Self-Care

        How to Set Boundaries as a Teacher in a Virtual Classroom

        “Setting Boundaries as a teacher does not make you selfish. It gives you the balance to be the best teacher you can be.” -The Present Teacher

        It wasn’t that long ago when I struggled with this. When I first became a teacher, I was so worried about putting myself first. The idea seemed selfish.

        Instead, I would try to help as many people as I could. And when that wasn’t enough I would try harder. I would get frustrated at myself for feeling burnt out because I expected more from myself. 

        But what I didn’t realize was that I was trying to fill cups when mine was empty. Instead of refilling my cup so I could help more people, I would try to help others when I had no more water (or help) to give.

        That’s when I decided to go to counseling. Yep, I said it. I’m not terrified of the “stigma” around mental health anymore. 

        And after I went and worked on myself for a couple of months I realized that because I was trying to help from an empty cup, I was being a ‘bad’ helper.

        You see, instead of helping and showing up for my students as I should have, I was tired of helping others and I wasn’t being very Present. 

        When you help others with an empty cup, you’re not helping at all. You may have the best intentions, but how can you help others when you have nothing else to give?

        Through this process, I learned to Set Boundaries. I realized just how important Boundaries truly are. And the more I worked on it, the more water I had in my cup to give and serve others.

        Especially during Distance Learning and teaching virtually. I feel like teachers are expected to give more now than ever. That’s why Boundaries are so important.

        So in this post, I want to break the Stigma around Teacher Mental Health and talk about the hard questions. Today we are going to cover:

        • What are Boundaries?
        • Why are Boundaries Important for Teachers? (Especially for Distance Learning)
        • Good Examples of Boundaries For Teachers (Especially in a Virtual Classroom)
        • And How to Set Boundaries in a Respectful Way WITHOUT Being Selfish.

        I am super excited, so let’s go ahead and get started!

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        Categories: Distance Learning, New Teachers

        Distance Learning As A New Teacher

        Distance Learning can be hard, especially as a New Teacher. I still remember the day I found out we were going to start the year Distance Learning: 

        I was scared.

        Back then, I was scared that I was going to fail. That my students would learn nothing. Or that I would not be enough. I feared Failure. Eventually, I realized something that made me change my mind. And it gave me the drive to do better.

        We are all scared.

        I started to think of the Veteran teachers who had been teaching for years. And how they were now terrified because they didn’t know about Google Drive. 

        I also thought about those New Teachers who came into this year with high hopes of their first year. Only to find out that what they had learned in College would not apply this year.

        So I prepared.

        I stayed up late and made as many resources as I could that would help other teachers. And I researched ClassDojo and came up with ways to use it for Distance Learning. After that, I set up a training for my school to better prepare them for the months to come.

        That was 4 weeks ago. 

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        Categories: New Teachers, Sight Words

        6 Mistakes I Made Teaching Sight Words

        Are you teaching Sight Words this year and have NO idea how to start? Sight words can be scary, especially as a new teacher. You may not have a curriculum, activities, worksheets, a plan to what order or how you will teach them.

        That was me the last couple years. I still remember when my District handed me 120 words (Yes, 120!) to teach to my Kindergarten Class. Naturally, I assumed that when I got my curriculum it would tell me EXACTLY how to teach them.

        To my dismay, no such luck! I began to panic because I realized I had no idea how to teach my students their sight words. No clue on what order to teach the words in or how many to teach at one time. I also had no idea how often we should practice them or where to find worksheets or activities that would be fun or engaging.

        It took me YEARS of experimenting and researching to finally perfect the way I teach sight words. And A LOT of mistakes! When I started teaching Sight Words there were not a lot of resources out there on how to teach them. I felt like it was such a “taboo” topic that almost every teacher knew how to teach them but me!

        But after talking to some fellow Primary Teachers, I realized that I wasn’t alone! That’s why I created this blog to share with you 6 mistakes I made while teaching sight words. That way you don’t have to learn the hard way.

        But first, let’s talk about ‘What are Sight Words?’

        [social_warfare ]
        It can be hard teaching Sight Words. Especially as a new teacher. Here are 6 mistakes I made teaching Sight Words as a new teacher. @thepresentteacher
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