So you’ve tried all of the teacher self-care trends.

You’ve tried to be consistent, you’ve heard your administration tell you to prioritize self-care.

But no matter how many professional development meetings you go to, training you to take, or how hard you try you can’t make any of the teacher self-care ideas work.

At the end of the day, you are still overwhelmed, overworked, and burned out.

So what’s the problem?

Hi, my name is Helena Hains and I am a self-care coach. I help teachers create a consistent authentic self-care plan that takes not a lot of time.

Today we are going to talk about:

• What is self-care?
• Why is self-care important?
• Why are none of these teacher self-care ideas working?

So let’s get right to it! 

(This post may contain affiliate or external links. Meaning I get a commision if you purchase anything through my links at no cost to you. Read full disclosure here.)

What is Teacher Self-Care

So if you are reading this article, then I am going to assume that you already know what teacher self-care is.

But let’s go ahead and define it anyways so that we are on the same page.

Essentially, teacher self-care is the act 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.

If you want to learn more about what self-care is, click here.

Why is Teacher Self-Care Important

Okay so now that we know what self-care is, let’s talk about why it is 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.

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 by clicking here.

Why These Teacher Self-Care Ideas Aren’t Working For You

Now that we have discussed what teacher self-care is and why it is important, let’s talk about why those teacher self-care ideas aren’t working for you.

Not a Habit

One reason why those teacher self-care ideas aren’t working for you is that you are not viewing self-care as a habit.

This is one of the biggest misconceptions I see when it comes to self-care. 

Many teachers will that treating yourself to Starbucks every once in a while is a form of self-care.

Or having a piece of chocolate on your bad days is self-care. 

But the reality is self-care is a habit you have to maintain your health.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love Starbucks and chocolate as much as the next person, but that is not self-care.

However, getting Starbucks every Saturday would be considered self-care if I consistently do it.

In other words, one of the biggest mistakes you are making when it comes to self-care is not viewing it as a habit. 

Instead you might be viewing it as self-indulgence. If you would like to learn more about self-indulgence vs. self-care click here. 

Don’t Think You Have the Time

Another reason why those teacher self-care ideas aren’t working for you is that you don’t think you have the time.

You work all day, come home, have children, and need to clean the house, cook dinner, and before you know it the day is over.

But I am here to tell you that you have more time than you think.

One exercise you can do to figure out what time you do have is to write down everything you do. 

From the moment you wake up to the moment you sleep, write down what your day looks like.

What you may find is little pockets of 5 minutes here or there where you don’t have anything scheduled.

Now I know what you’re thinking, 5 minutes isn’t enough time.

But you see, I have a whole list of things you can do in just 5 minutes. And you don’t have to do these alone.

Want to make a goal to read every day as self-care?

Have your family read their books at the same time as a quiet time.

Once you do this exercise you will realize that you have more time than you think and self-care doesn’t have to be as difficult as it seems. 

You’re Self-Care Goals Aren’t Measurable

The next reason why those teacher self-care ideas aren’t working for you is that you aren’t making measurable goals.

Much like when we tell our students to “write it down” or when we create lesson plans, we need to come up with a clear objective to be successful.

For example, you could make a goal to read more. 

But that goal isn’t measurable and doesn’t have a clear way to show if you reached it.

How much more? Once a day, a week, a month?

Get clear on your goals!

Another way to phrase this goal so it is measurable is “I will read 15 minutes every day for 365 days after school at 5 pm by December 31st.”

This goal is measurable, has a clear yes or no, you know when you are going to do it and how.

Also here is a pro tip!

Once you make your goals, keep them out in front of you where you can remember them. 

The worst thing you can do is to make goals in a notebook and never open that notebook again. 

Can’t Be Consistent

The fourth reason why those teacher self-care ideas aren’t working for you is that you can’t be consistent.

Once you make those goals, it can feel impossible to be consistent with them.

One way you can do this is to set alarms on your phone.

For example, if you wanted to use the reading goal, you could set an alarm to go off on your phone every day at 4:55 pm that says “Reading Time.”

This is a great reminder that you should be reading.

And if you have kids they can work as an accountability group.

If you want even more hacks to be consistent with your self-care goals click here. 

You Aren’t Prioritizing

Another reason why those teacher self-care ideas aren’t working for you is that you aren’t setting priorities. 

Before you even set self-care goals, you need to get clear on what your priorities are. 

One way to do this is to list out everything that matters to you.

After you make the list, start ranking things based on priority.

Having a list of priorities will help you keep aligned and prevent overwhelm and overwork.

I know when I did this my family came above my work. 

This was a great reminder for me and kept me honest or not on whether I was honoring my priorities.

When you make your list make sure your actions reflect your priorities.

Not Setting Boundaries

The sixth reason why those teacher self-care ideas aren’t working for you is that you are not setting boundaries. 

And if you are, you are not being consistent with them.

I like to think of boundaries as the fence to your house.

The fence protects things from entering your house that you don’t want to.

The same goes with boundaries.

Once you have your priorities set, make sure you have set boundaries and a way to be consistent with them.

Wrong Mindset

The final reason why those teacher self-care ideas aren’t working for you is you don’t have the right mindset.

Now mindset is huge and something many people miss.

Without the right mindset, you might find that these new trends will work for a little while.

But eventually, you go back to your old habits and continue to struggle with incorporating consistent self-care practices.  

And mindset is one of the first things we cover in the Teacher Self-Care Membership. You can find out more by clicking here.

Overview

Alright, Helena, I get that there are several reasons why those teacher self-care ideas weren’t working.

So now what?

Well you see, what I am getting at is self-care doesn’t have to take hours. And it’s not a one-size-fits-all.

It’s a plan that you create for yourself and your schedule that allows you to be your authentic self. It should be fun!

So if you want to create a consistent and authentic self-care plan that is tailored to you and doesn’t take a lot of time join us in the Teacher Self-Care Membership.

In this membership, you will find other educators who:

• Support one another in a like-minded community
• Create consistent self-care plans that require little to no time
• Helps each other be accountable with their self-care goals, priorities, and boundaries

So if this sounds like a community you want to be a part of, get on the waitlist by clicking here.

I am so excited to see you there and I know the Present Teacher Team is too!

Happy Teaching!

When you first start teaching, you might be wondering how to engage your students in learning. 

Student engagement can feel daunting because it can take a lot of time, and that all of your students like to do different things in the classroom. 

Or maybe you tried something you thought would be “fun” in class but your students didn’t find it as engaging as you had hoped.

If this sounds like you, then you are not alone.

Today we are going to uncover the Golden Rule on how to engage students in learning.

In this post we will cover:

• What Student Engagement is
• Why Student Engagement is Important
• The Golden Rule for How to Engage Students in Learning Using Choices

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

What is Student Engagement?

Student engagement is “The degree of attention, curiosity, interest, optimism, and passion that students show while learning,” according to Ed Glossary.

In other words, it’s how “into” the lesson students are. 

It’s the degree of how enthused and involved a student is during a lesson.

There are three different kinds of student engagement. They are:

• Behavioral Engagement
• Emotional Engagement
• Cognitive or Intellectual Engagement.

If you would like to learn more about what student engagement is, read this post called “The Ultimate Guide of Student Engagement Strategies in 5 Minutes or Less.”

In this post, I go into depth about what student engagement is, why it’s important, and how you can effectively incorporate it into your classroom in just 5 minutes. Click here to read it now. 

Why is Student Engagement Important?

There are several reasons why student engagement is important.

For instance, did you know that according to Brain Balance Centers “a reasonable attention span of a child is two to three minutes per year of their age?”

 So for instance:

2 years of age = 4 to 6 minutes 

4 years of age = 8 to 12 minutes

And so forth. 

This can be a frightening thought while considering student engagement, especially as a new teacher.

Students only have a couple of minutes where they are attentive due to their attention span. 

That’s why it is so important to make what time you do have their attention count. 

For more reasons why student engagement is so important, click here to read  “The Ultimate Guide of Student Engagement Strategies in 5 Minutes or Less.”

The Golden Rule for How to Engage Students in Learning

Now that you know what student engagement is, you might be wondering, what the secret to getting my students engaged?

And once I have them engaged, how do I keep them engaged?

The answer is choices.

All About Choices

You see, choices are the ability to freely pick something. 

This is important because it empowers students to take control and responsibility for their learning.

Choices also allow students to tailor learning to their way of thinking. This makes it possible for them to pick the choice that best represents their knowledge. 

For example, students might be able to choose between writing a story, making a play, or singing a song for their final project.

All of these choices allow students to creatively and authentically represent their learning in a meaningful way. Hence, enhancing their engagement in learning.

How to Engage Students in Learning With Choices

Now that we know what choices look like in the classroom, let’s talk about how to engage students in learning with choices.

Choice Boards

One way to engage students in learning with choices is something I alluded to earlier which is “Choice Boards.”

Choice Boards are a board from which a student picks. It’s a graphics organizer that allows students to choose different options.

For example, I created this one for my class. 

(Insert Choice Board)

Choice boards typically have 9 Squares and are 3 x 3.

However, for my primary students, I sometimes start them off with a 2 x 2 grid to start the year. 

These are great because students can pick the square that they want to work on and you can either write, place, or drag and drop their name to the square that they chose.

A choice board is a great way to keep things organized and a visual reminder of what students should be working on.

Some ways to use a choice board is:

• Which flexible seating choice students are sitting in for the day
• What students are working on when they are done with an activity
• Which assignment or activity students are working on.

Flexible Seating

Another great way to engage students with learning with choices is to incorporate flexible seating.

Flexible seating is providing a variety of ways to sit or stand to work throughout the day.

Some examples of flexible seating are:

• Bean Bags
• Rubber Bands
• Therapy Discs
• T Stools
• Yoga Balls

And there is so much more!

Here is a picture of what flexible seating looked like in my classroom. At the beginning of the day, students pick which seat they would like to use. 

This is a great way to accommodate different learning needs in an inclusive way!

What to Write With

This may seem simple, but another way to engage students in learning with choices is to let them choose with whom they write.

One year I had a student who was having a particularly hard time getting his work done in class. 

After talking to him I realized that he felt frustrated because he didn’t have a lot of say in which assignments we did in class during whole group instruction. 

So I gave him choices between two things. This helped pivot his mindset and gave him one more opportunity to freely choose how he completed an assignment.

I know it seems silly, but if you have a student who is having a hard time, give them two choices and see if that helps them refocus.

What to Do When Finished

You will inevitably have students finish at different times.

But what do you do with the students who finish early?

Well instead of assigning them more work, you can give them choices on what they want to complete next.

For example, using the choice board I mentioned previously, you can have students choose between working on a website that your district uses like Starfall. 

Or they could write a story, practice math facts, read a book, and so much more!

This will get your students excited to finish their work as well as help them feel in control and responsible for their learning. 

Summary of How to Engage Students in Learning

All in all, incorporating choices is the golden rule for how to engage students in learning. 

Whenever you can incorporate choices into your classroom, your students will feel more independent and grateful.

To wrap it up, in this post we covered:

• What Student Engagement is
• Why Student Engagement is Important
• The Golden Rule for How to Engage Students in Learning Using Choices

I hope you found this helpful and if you are looking for even more student engagement strategies for your primary classroom, click here to download “The Ultimate Student Engagement Guide.”

With over 30 engagement strategies, you can incorporate any of these student engagement strategies in your primary classroom in just 5 minutes or less.

That’s all for today, until next time!

Happy Teaching!

The Present Teacher

The last couple of years have been crazy, to say the least in the education world. Some teachers were online, in person, or both at the same time.

Now that things are starting to go back to normal, it can be hard to keep your students engaged during the school day. 

Student engagement can feel daunting because it can take a lot of time, and that all of your students like to do different things in the classroom. 

Or maybe you tried something you thought would be “fun” in class but your students didn’t find it as engaging as you had hoped.

If this sounds like you, then you are not alone.

Transitioning back to in-person learning after online learning was hard, especially while trying to figure out how to keep my students engaged. 

That’s why today we are going to talk about 5 Essential Student Engagement Strategies for In-Person Learning for the Primary Classroom. 

Today we are going to cover:

• What is student engagement?
• Why is student engagement important?
• 5 Essential Student Engagement Strategies for In Personal Learning For Primary Students.

So put your feet up, grab a cup of coffee and let’s get started! 

(This post may contain affiliate or external links. Meaning I get a commission if you purchase anything through my links at no cost to you. Read full disclosure here.)

Get the “Ultimate List of Student Engagement Strategies for the Primary Teacher”

Get 30 Student Engagement Strategies for Hybrid, Virtual or Distance Teaching.

Download Now!

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This includes:

• 10 Student Engagement Strategies for Hybrid Learning
• 10 Student Engagement Strategies for Virtual Learning
• 10 Student Engagement Strategies for Face To Face Learning

​

What is Student Engagement?

Alright, so the first thing you might be thinking is “what is student engagement?”

According to Ed Glossary, “student engagement is the degree of attention, curiosity, interest, optimism, and passion that students show while learning.”

In other words, it’s how “into” the lesson your students are. 

And I don’t just mean keeping their eyes on you. In fact, there are three kinds of student engagement.

They are:

• Behavioral Engagement
• Emotional Engagement
• Cognitive or Intellectual Engagement

All of these play a crucial role when it comes to your relationship with your students. 

If you have good student engagement in the classroom then you will most likely have a positive relationship with them. And vice versa. 

If you want to learn more about what student engagement is, check out this post called “The Ultimate Guide of Student Engagement Strategies.” You can find it by clicking here. 

Get the “Ultimate List of Student Engagement Strategies for the Primary Teacher”

Get 30 Engagement Strategies you can use whether you are teaching Hybrid, Face to Face, or Virtual Learning.
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Download the Ultimate List now by entering your name and email below!

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Why is Student Engagement Important?

There are several reasons why student engagement is so important. 

As I mentioned at the beginning, students only have a couple of minutes where they are attentive due to their attention span.

That’s why it is so important to make what time you do have their attention count. 

Student engagement is important because:

• It leads to higher grades
• Students perform better in school
• Their attendance might be better
• It might lead to students liking school
• Students will be more excited about your lesson.

5 Student Engagement Strategies for in Person Learning

Now that we know what student engagement is and why it’s important, let’s talk about some student engagement strategies for in-person learning. 

Morning Work

One of the best student engagement strategies for in-person learning that you can incorporate into the primary classroom is morning work.

As a first-year teacher, I often heard how I needed to have something for my students to do as soon as they entered the classroom.

After trying worksheets, and other activities I decided to incorporate the question of the day.

Question of the day is a great activity to have your students start their mornings with because they have an opportunity to give their opinion and explain it.

For those of you that may not know, the question of the day is an activity where you put a question on the board like “If you could have any superhero power, what would it be and why?” 

This is a great student engagement strategy for in-person learning because students are writing and explaining their answers.

Students can share their answers with their groups while you go around and check in with your students and take attendance. 

My students loved doing the question of the day because they felt like their opinions were validated and of value in the classroom.

Related:

• 
  Amazing Student Engagement Strategies for Hybrid Learning
• 
  3 Student Engagement Strategies to Transform Online Learning
• 
  The Ultimate Guide of Student Engagement Strategies In 5 Minutes or Less

Choice Board

In the classroom, it can feel like you have a diverse group of students who all learn differently. 

This can make incorporating student engagement feel impossible to implement in a way that all students will benefit. 

That’s why one of the best student engagement strategies for in-person learning that you can incorporate in the classroom is a choice board.

Choice Boards are amazing for several reasons.

First off, they are fantastic for allowing students to have a say in their education and how they want to show what they know.

They are also spectacular tools because it’s a great way to incorporate modifications or differentiate instruction.

Students can have several choices about how they learn something, or how they present mastery of a skill for a grade.

Book Based Activities

Book based activities are great student engagement strategies for in-person learning because it brings books to life.

If your class enjoys a specific book or character, you can always incorporate activities throughout your day that revolve around that character.

Primary students who particularly love read aloud are ecstatic when books are brought to life.

If you want to learn more about how to bring books to life, read this post called “How to Get Students Excited About Reading.” 

In this post, I take a deep dive into how to bring books to life in the classroom without extra work. You can read it by clicking here.

White Boards

White Boards are easily one of the most underrated student engagement strategies for in-person learning in the world of education.

There are so many fun and amazing games that you can play with a whiteboard that your students will love!

One game you can play is “One, Two, Three, Flip!” 

This activity is something I played with my online and in-person students. 

Basically, you give students a problem.

For example, “2 + 5 = ?”

Then you have students write the answer on their whiteboards without showing their peers.

Then you count to 3 and say “flip.” 

All students flip over their whiteboards to reveal their answer when you say “flip.”

If you want even more whiteboard activities, download the “Ultimate Student Engagement Guide For Primary Students.”

This guide is amazing because it has over 30 student engagement activities that you can do with your students in just 5 minutes or less. You can download it for free by clicking here. 

Share with a Friend

If you are a fan of Kagan or Cooperative Learning, then you have probably already used this strategy before.

Sharing with a friend is another great student engagement strategy for in-person learning because it allows your students to share their answers with a partner before sharing them with the class.

Sharing with a friend is also amazing because it helps students build relationships and work on their social communication skills. 

Simply have students turn to a partner or group to discuss the answer before sharing the answer out loud. 

Get the “Ultimate List of Student Engagement Strategies for the Primary Teacher”

Get 30 Engagement Strategies you can use whether you are teaching Hybrid, Face to Face, or Virtual Learning.
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Download the Ultimate List now by entering your name and email below!

Download!

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Overview

All in all, I hope you found this article helpful. 

In this post we talked about:

• What student engagement is
• Why student engagement is important
• 5 Essential Student Engagement Strategies for In Personal Learning For Primary Students.

Now that you have an idea of some engagement strategies for in-person learning, I want to give you this free download of even more student engagement strategies.

You see I have tons of ideas (30 to be exact) and couldn’t fit them all in a blog post. 

So if you are a busy teacher who needs a new strategy, download this “Ultimate Student Engagement Guide” for student engagement strategies that you can use in 5 minutes or less. 

You can download it by clicking here. 

That’s all for now, until next time!

Happy Teaching!