5 Ways to Reduce Teacher Stress and Teacher Burnout

It is become apparent to me that teachers I work with are increasingly feeling teacher stress and burnout, the demands placed on teachers are incredible.

While I am very aware that many professions are extremely demanding and many employees are under a great amount of stress, teachers are the ones whom I deal with on a daily basis and feel most in touch with in terms of their emotional well being or non- well being.

Teachers will often talk about their love of their profession and the love they have for their students, however many teachers will also tell me that they are feeling very stressed for many different reasons.

Some reasons I have heard over and over again are issues such as: concerns their school will make AYP (adequate yearly progress), making sure their students are ready for the state testing, worrying about their students being homeless, concerned their students are not getting enough to eat and coming to school hungry, the list goes on and on.

In between all the worries and concerns, the teacher also needs to make sure he or she is following the curriculum and teaching the students what they are suppose to be learning.

It comes as no surprise when I hear a teacher tell me that they are feeling a tremendous amount of teacher stress and feel like they are getting teacher burnout. I feel an amazing amount of sadness for them not only because I hear the pain in their voice but also because I have experienced first hand the teacher stress and had thought numerous times that I was on the verge of teacher burnout.

However, from my experiences I have found activities that have helped me reduce my teacher stress and that feeling of teacher burnout. Not everything works the same for each person, so as a teacher who is feeling stress and burnout, it is important to experiment and find what works best for you.

Here are 5 ways that have helped me to reduce my teacher stress and teacher burnout:

Teacher Stress and Burnout Reducer #1: Walk

We hear over and over again how important exercise is and I am the first to admit guilt to not exercising enough. However, I have also found that when I was at my most stressed periods in teaching, taking a long walk in the evening really helped me to think about my day in a rational and clear manner.

Teacher Stress and Burnout Reducer #2: Talk to a Colleague

I personally do not know what I would have done had I not had a teaching partner that I could vent with. Not only did those few special colleagues listen to me and what I had to say but they understood what I was saying and could empathize. Having that sympathetic ear was a life saver for my teaching career and sanity!

Teacher Stress and Burnout Reducer #3: Learn to Say the Word No and Mean It

It took me a long time to figure out that it was okay to say the word no, mean it and then not feel guilty about using that little but powerful word. It has now become my favorite word....okay maybe not my favorite word but in the top ten!

Teacher Stress and Burnout Reducer #4: Find a Creative Outlet

I love to work on crafts of any kind so crafting is my creative outlet, working on crafts gives me a way to focus my energy on something that I really love to do and I feel so revitalized when I am able to produce something that came from my own hands.

Teacher Stress and Burnout Reducer #5: Sit and Relax

This is a novel idea especially for teachers, I have noticed that many of my teacher friends including myself cannot just sit and relax. There is always a need to feel like we should be doing something, I believe it comes from the classroom experience of always being on a tight schedule and the notion that down time needs to be minimized. I believe that just sitting and relaxing is so important to the human body and mind and it is something I still continue to work on.

There will always be teacher stress and unfortunately teacher burnout, however I believe as with everything in life, there are ways to cope. Finding the teacher stress and burnout reducers that are successful for you is the first step in the empowering and healing process.

Sources:

Self-experiences