It is mid-semester, and, though we are all living and
learning in our classrooms, we are also making sacrifices in our personal
lives. Our home and social lives are suffering under the stress of classes,
lesson planning, licensure requirements, and many other factors which bog every
student teacher down. Yes, we know this is the way it goes. The long hill
leading to graduation must—by tradition, by its very nature—be an arduous trek
(uphill, both ways, through knee-high snow and scorching heat). It is written
in stone somewhere, I’m sure, that we must suffer to graduate. Unfortunately,
some of the first sacrifices we make involve leisure activities. Suck it up,
you might think. It’s for the greater good, you might think. But there are
consequences in losing the activities that bring us joy and relaxation. I know
that my leisure activities are how I cope with, and rid myself of, stress. Yes.
I said the big S-word…..STRESS!
Judging by the conversations in our college classes and in
the halls of our various placement schools, we are all suffering the effects of
stress. Immune systems are weak; nerves are frayed; tempers are shorter than
usual. It comes with the territory, yes, but it is our duty to leave it at the
door of our classrooms. Easier. Said. Than. Done.
This week opened my eyes to that reality. Teaching my first
extended unit to five classes a day (compounded by grading and my own school
work) has taken its toll on my mental health. I try to leave it at the door,
and, usually, my students help me to forget my overwhelming pile of obligations…..until
they become challenging and start testing my patience. I am a big enough person
to admit my mistakes and this week I snapped back at a student in a petty,
non-productive manner. It was one small moment. It did not impact the class
period. It was a minor transgression brought on my over-wrought nerves and
simple human nature, but it affected me greatly. The moment I realized how rude
I had been, I felt horrible. I fretted about it all night and into the next
day. Was I really that easy to provoke? Why did I not act more like my CT and
the other professionals I strive to learn from daily? After a night and day of
internal chastisement, I decided to consult the wealth of knowledge about all
things education related…..the internet.
I realize the interwebs is not always the paragon of
pedagogical theory, but sometimes you need advice you can read without a manual
or a thesaurus. I got lucky and found an amazing article on my first search. I
found the article, “10 Ways to Reduce a Teachers' Classroom Stress,” (http://www.worksheetlibrary.com/teachingtips/teacherstress.html)
on a nifty little website called Worksheet Library. The article specifically
targets reducing stress in the classroom, not just for the teacher, but for the
student as well. Every suggestion offered looked inviting, easy to implement,
and sensible. From adding laughter to the classroom to using hand signals to
cut down on distractions, this article covered many factors that can lead to
stress. Not every suggestion might me practical in every classroom, but every
suggestion serves as a reminder to face the challenge of stress management in
creative, practical ways. More than anything, reading this article made me sigh
with relief that I am not the only one who apparently needs advice on this. It
also helped re-focus my attention on how my actions affect my students.
I know there must be infinitely more websites out there with
advice on this subject and others related to it, but for now I’m keeping it
simple. Simple is good. Simple is effective. And that is why, my colleagues, I
am resorting to the very simple technique of asking for your response. Do you have
a stress story to share? What tips or tricks are tried and true for you? Have your
CTs offered any of their particular wisdom on this subject? Please post if you
have a contribution as I would love to hear from you on this subject. Together
we can all get up this hill and conquer, or at least subdue, our stress
monsters.
As my yoga instructor says,
Namaste and Peace Be with You,
Ms. Iseminger
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ReplyDeleteKrystal,
ReplyDeletePlease let me first say that your post was fabulously and artfully written. I really enjoyed reading it. The resource that you recommend seems easy to navigate and just what you said: simple. It also offers a lot of helpful tips that I think we could all use. I love the “Add Creative Movement” idea. I recently had an experience where one of my classes had not been very responsive during the last instruction. While the other class seemed to respond well, this class was very hard to motivate. So, today we tried something new. I used a Thinking Map idea that I found on-line to facilitate student lead authentic discussion and IT WORKED!
What I did:
1. I drew two circles on the board (a small one inside of a large one).
2. I have each person a sticky note and asked them to respond to my essential question in writing and then “post” their sticky note to the Thinking Map.
3. I started the “chat” by calling on the first person to go to the Thinking Map and select a response (other than his/her own), read it, take a second to think about it and then verbally pose his/her response to the class by saying that they agreed or disagreed with the post and then explaining why. If someone needed a little help (most did not), I would use one word questions to get them going: Why? How? (Trust? Value? These two specifically pertained to my EQ)
4. Then, the “audience” would have a chance to respond to the student. When I could tell that it was time to switch to a new topic, I would ask the student “commenting” to pick another student to comment on another post.
This activity go them up and moving (not an easy thing to do for 10th graders at 8:00 in the morning), they had a great discussion, no behavior problems, and the whole class was involved. The best part was that all I did was facilitate! I also like that I am able to integrate the process of technology use in my classroom without even having to use electric technology! Here is a link to several different types of Thinking Maps that you could use for this activity:
http://www.lifestreamcenter.net/DrB/Lessons/thinking_maps.htm
Coping with personal stress as a student teacher is a whole other ball game though. I struggle with this myself. I think the best thing that we can do is to vent when needed to our support system (about both the bad and the GOOD things we are experiencing), to step back and realize that every single aspect of this process is a learning experience for us and our students, and to remind ourselves to take things personally.
That last one is a pretty difficult thing to accomplish when the feedback we receive, the performance of our students, and even the relationships we create and maintain at work and school are a direct reflection of who we are. It’s hard not to feel discouraged when a lesson we worked so hard on bombs, our CT looks at us like we are crazy because we forgot to mention the most obvious part of our lesson, or we begin to realize that we spend more time with our work friends than we do with our home friends. Just know that you don’t have to “suck it up” and that it is okay to feel stressed. You are human first and you are learning how to do a super-human job
I can relate to every bit of this post. The abominable stress man has been stalking my movements for as long as I can remember (this school year.) I too have struggled to keep the stress from popping up in my classroom. I have lost more sleep this semester due to stress than I ever imagined that I would. No matter how well the lesson is going, the stress monster is always just one sassy remark from a student away. I can handle nearly every adversity that has arisen throughout the process of student teaching, but the stress... is brutal. I loved your inference about the internet as the "paragon of pedagogical theory" which I have also searched for stress reducing techniques this semester. I can only pass on what has worked for me, remember that your students are still children. Children tend to like fun better than stress. It is not ever fair (though it is bound to happen) to bring our personal stress into our interactions with our students and colleagues. We are human. We are allowed to make mistakes. Those of us who are smart try to learn from mistakes and improve as a result of them. You are smart. You learn from your errors. You have the best interest of your students at heart. Most of all, you are fun! Use that in your classroom. Stage a funny discrepant event. Ask the sassy student "Who peed in your Cheerios this morning?" Tell them a joke, play a prank on them, encourage them to suggest fun ways to learn. Keep learning from mistakes. Embrace mistakes and laugh. You are a great person and will be an even greater teacher. Namaste, Peace, and Joy.
ReplyDeleteMs. Iseminger, we are definitely soul sisters. I wrote my blog this week about the same thing! Check it out—I also found a web article with some helpful, but simple advice on how to handle stress. I agree…simple is good right now. I am trying to implement some of the advice I got on the web, but it is definitely not easy. For example, one of the suggestions was to exercise on a regular basis. I used to exercise all the time, but part way through pre-student teaching, that just went out the window because of TIME. So, I am trying something new. I bought a few kettle bells, and I am committing to 15 minutes of kettle bells in the morning before I take a shower. 15 minutes is doable…I think. I can wrap my head around adding a 15 minute activity into my busy day. Also, it is something I can do at home. The other suggestions I found were about taking breaks, setting boundaries, and keeping one weekend day free. I haven’t quite figured this one out yet. Yesterday (Saturday) I did homework, lesson planning, and KPTP stuff for 13 hours. Yes…I timed it. Started at 9am and worked until 10:30pm, with about half an hour for a dinner break. I am still not where I would like to be to start this week.
ReplyDeleteSo I am starting small. Exercise. I am also going to try to just plan a few nights a week for relaxing.
One other thing that I think might help me get through this stressful time—reminding myself that the worst will be over at the end of this month. Once I get my KPTP submitted, I think my stress level will go way down.
Hang in there, my friend! This semester is rough, but I really believe that we will all get through it! We are so lucky to have such a great class…it’s a built-in support system! Don’t ever hesitate to ask for support when you need it!
I love the way you used humor in a post over a serious topic.Learning to deal with stress in the classroom is so very important. I'm glad you found a good source to help you with your own stress.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I've found that humor in the classroom helps tremendously to review the stress level. Also, making time to relax, take a break, and have some fun is critical.
Fortunately, you are nearly half way finished with your last semester of college. Woo hoo!