Combat teacher burnout as the summer approaches: tips for you and your classroom

So it’s mid-June and that time of year again. The sun is shining (well most days anyway) and the summer holidays are so close, we can almost smell the sweet scent of July! Sounds great doesn’t it?

Well it is great but the truth of the matter is that whilst we are so close to holiday time and we have lots of our friends and family telling us how great it must feel being on the ‘wind down,’ most days of the month of June for a teacher feel like the exact opposite of winding down.

In fact we can feel like we are literally being wound up! There are still those few weeks to go; testing is underway and reports are due in. Textbooks and copies are coming to an end. Maybe summer concerts and plays are taking up your time. Principals are already discussing September and allocating classes. It’s non-stop. Along with all of that, the children have decided that due to the sunny weather and talk of all that is summer-related, they are already on their holidays. So good luck teacher in trying to keep their focus and attention for a full school day. All of this combined can mean only one thing – increased potential for serious teacher burnout.

So here are some really simple tips for both you and your classroom to decrease this potential for burnout.

For YOU:

• Try to deal only with what is in front of you right now. I know this may sound very simplistic and easier said than done but it really does work. When you feel the stress take hold, notice whatever task it is that is in front of you right now, be it with the children in your class or with your work outside school and just try to get that much done. Little by little, you will get there with the workload and also, this will reduce your stress levels.
• Make one short list per day for June and keep it realistic. Try to avoid the tendency to make a weekly or even monthly list for June. Make one realistic list for each day (even at the weekend to help avoid Sunday night build up of corrections) and get as much done from that list as you can.
• Try to keep your ‘self-talk’ realistic and even positive if you can. For example, if something happens during a day (June can be unpredictable in schools) and you do not get all of the items on your list completed, try to use phrases in your mind such as ‘I will get that done tomorrow and that is okay’ and ‘it’s time for me to take a break as I will get more done when I have had even 10 minutes ‘brain-break!’
• Try to make sure that you have one activity per day in June that you look forward to and enjoy; even if it is a 10 minute stroll outside (by yourself if you can), or a cup of tea where you sit and do NOT correct tests or write reports. Try to have at least one fun activity organised per weekend too – this will promote rejuvenation of spirit and actually increase your energy too.
• BREATHE! Yes yes an old faithful but it really does work. As you mark tests or write your reports; as you stand in front of 30 children who think it is July in June and attempt to teach, just pause and breathe in and out. Notice your chest rising and falling. Notice your feet. And breathe in and out again. This takes a few seconds and yes you DO have time.
• Accept that you and your colleagues are going to be slightly more on edge with the pressures that June brings. So with this in mind, try to remember to pause before you answer someone who arrives at your door with something else for you to do or when a colleague or your principal comes to you with an issue that may have arisen in relation to a child, a parent, a test or a report… try to pause and breathe before you respond.
• Avoid drama. With lots of members of staff suffering from ‘Juneitis’ and teacher burnout, there may be staffroom dramas. Notice them, avoid them if you can and let them go. These dramas use up far more energy than you may realise so simply walk away. You will thank yourself for it later when you have managed to reserve your precious energy and have used it for more positive activities like walking or cycling or spending time with family and friends.

For YOUR CLASSROOM:

• Insert a mindfulness meditation into your early morning routine even if you have never done this before. Explain to the children that June is a very busy month where our minds can become very busy and cluttered throughout the day. Then follow one or both of these simple scripts below. Remember to pause for a few seconds at each full stop.

My Conveyer Belt of Thoughts:

• Can you close your eyes right now just notice all of the sounds inside this room? All the sounds outside this room? Can you bring all of your attention to your breath; don’t change it just notice it. Can you bring all of your attention in this moment to your feet? Can you wiggle your toes to bring attention to them? Can you notice how gravity is pulling your feet towards the floor right now? When thoughts, distractions, judgments or worries come into your mind, that’s okay. That’s just the way the mind works. We don’t push them away. We notice each thought or group of thoughts and label them with the word ‘thinking’ and allow those thoughts to move on as if they are on a conveyor belt in a supermarket. Can you imagine you are simply watching your thoughts on this conveyer belt and as each thought is noticed by you, it makes a small ‘beeping’ sound so you know you can let go of it? Can you return your attention back to your breath now? To your feet?

Mind Labelling:

• Can you close your eyes right now and bring all of your attention to your breath; don’t change it just notice it. Can you bring all of your attention in this moment to your feet? Can you wiggle your toes to bring attention to them? Can you bring all of your attention to your mind now? If you were to give your mind a label right now, what label would you give it? Would it be a ‘busy mind,’ a ‘calm mind,’ an ‘anxious mind,’ an ‘excited mind?’ Maybe you want to give it more than one label and maybe one label is bigger than another. What label have you given your mind right now in this moment? (Use My Conveyer Belt of Thoughts with this exercise).

Remember that if the children have never practiced mindfulness or meditation previous to this, they may struggle to adapt to it, but do persevere as they will become accustomed to it even within a few days if practiced every day.   Don’t forget to use this time to pause and breathe yourself and keep it simple.

Take care, look after yourself and enjoy the holidays!