Managing the madness

Every day at school starts with a sharp piercing call. Somebody is running, pushing, hooligans misbehave, the head teacher makes unfair remarks. It seems madness is coming. Anyway, you must be calm, collected and well-organized. It is hard, but not impossible.

Rare acute stress provides us with helpful motivation and enhanced productivity. It appears when you meet something sudden or unexpected and needs fast reacting. Teachers undergo stresses every day and often get chronic stress. Thus they have no energy for being positive, start solving all the problems by orders and shouting.

In this article we touch upon the main strategies of managing chronic stress and think over how to defend our well-being.

Quiet relaxation

Teachers strive for being examples for their students, they got used to demanding and being perfect in everything. Leave this mask of perfectionism at work, fully relax in the evenings and on the weekends. Yoga, swimming, dancing, walking in the forest or reading a book will help you to rest and return to yourself. Choose what suits you and include it in your daily routine.

Some 5-minute techniques will save you in hard times during weekdays:

Excellent planning

Planning in advance can help organize your time better and leave space for important things — family and rest. Some teachers prepare lesson plans or check works up to late hours. The next day they feel exhausted, not able to conduct well-planned lessons. Good sleep and morning exercises should be included in the plan.
Making a list, divide items into more and less urgent, sub-items and write down the stages of realisation. This will make work more efficient and less time-consuming.
Analyze your schedule and decide whether all the activities are important or not, maybe you are doing somebody else’s task. We are often too hard on ourselves, treat yourself as a good friend.

Strategical thinking

Mentally role-play possible accidents on your lessons and prepare your strategy. Make lesson plans in advance, collect a bank of assignments for various contingencies (for example, you need to go out and leave the children with another teacher or a group of students starts a conflict during the lesson). This «ace in the hole» will make you feel more confident in the classroom because you got ready for any turn.

Finding support

Stress often appears because of the discipline issues with students or close deadlines. The support of colleagues and administration, in this case, would be priceless. Ask for help, share your load. Sometimes we just need to talk to someone and to hear encouraging words. It is considered a good friend is better than a psychologist. In case your friends are busy or far from you, professional help can put everything in place. Anyway, you deserve reliable support.

Find the motivation

Motivation is a kind of inspiration. We forget about the reasons we have chosen our profession and it turns into a torment. Write down the pros and cons of being a teacher underlining those which you can change for the better. Focus on advantages, meditate to find your real beliefs and follow them.

Think positively, plan, communicate and relax! Teaching work is precious, keep inspired and you knock the world flat!