Hi Teachers!
This post is for all of you who spend a good portion of the day with our children, teaching them social skills, good nutrition, the dangers of drugs, alcohol and unprotected sex, road safety, financial literacy, listening skills and all about cyber safety. Ofcourse, you also teach them literacy and numeracy skills, and critical thinking, aswell as how to play soccer. Teaching is a demanding profession because it involves your heart, your head AND your hands. You guys are top-shelf material!
At this time of the year though, you’re probably preparing for all those lessons, getting your first aid certificate renewed and taking a refresher course on how to place a mandatory report if a student is being abused.
And, you’re probably feeling anxious. Teacher anxiety at this time of year is very common. There is a lot for teachers to learn; new curriculum, a new learning management system and how to provide the best learning environment for the child in your class who needs extra assistance. You might be sleeping poorly, ruminating on what might happen and finding it hard to turn your mind off.
If you set a goal/intention/made a wish at the beginning of January that you’d be more organised in 2024, or decided that you really have to get a handle on how to better cope with stress throughout the year, can I encourage you to act on your resolution before the school year begins? Once February is here, you’ll be busy with all the things that working in a school involves.
Get ahead of the game and take the first steps before you reach the point when it feels like ‘one more thing will tip you over the edge’. Overwhelm at work is not a situation that can be tolerated long term. Consider making counselling one of the tools you use to help you in 2024; external support can make all the difference.
In the interim, here are some things you can do yourself to help you prepare for the 2024 school year and decrease teacher anxiety:
1 Get into the habit of good sleep hygeine
2 Externalising your anxiety by using a journal
3 Develop a self-care plan
4 Ask for help from your Year Level Co-ordinator, another colleague or a counsellor (or all three!)
And mostly, thank you for all that you do for, and with our children. We love your work, and we care about your wellbeing. What would happen if 2024 was the year your mental health was prioritised to the same extent as your student’s mental wellbeing?
