educators – Mind Body Classroom

Preventing the Sunday Scaries

September 21, 2022by stephaniewsson411Leave a Comment

Maybe this is true for all 9-5 Monday-Friday jobs, but I definitely know it’s true for educators; Sundays, traditionally, have been for preparation, and if you’re not careful, you can spend your entire Sunday dreading the next day. I can speak to that feeling of existential dread. Like the sand is running out of the hour glass, and every action I take is just prolonging the inevitable: heading into work the next day. Recently, I found out that this feeling of impending doom has a name: Sunday Scaries.

Though it does still happen, I am happy to report that my instances of Sunday Scaries have decreased over the years, and now it rarely happens. I want to help others by sharing some techniques that helped me stay in the moment instead of worrying my Sunday away.

Because “Sunday Scaries” is not necessarily an academic term ( Though I found many news articles about it, I could not find peer reviewed academic studies) I decided to go with researching teacher burnout to see what science may be behind why I felt a decrease of stress and foreboding on Sundays. I believe that the source of Sunday Scaries is burnout.

I thought that I was going to fill this blog post with practical solutions to how to get your work done before Sunday, but upon researching the topic, I realized that that wasn’t the real source behind my mitigation of burnout, and thus the cure to the Sunday Scaries. Here is what I found out.

What Causes Burnout?

Essentially, burnout occurs when your job demand is higher than your perceived resources to deal with the demand which leads to emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a lack of feeling personal accomplishment (Camacho et al. 2020). When you feel like what you need to do is greater than your resources to do it, whether that is physical resources or emotional resources, burnout occurs. Though there needs to be more research on the predictors of burnout, it is known that many factors can play into the severity and occurrence of burnout. A teacher’s age, years of experience, coping self efficacy, and internal locus of control are all factors that can affect burnout. However, according to a 2020 study, the “most robust” of these factors are professional and emotional support (Camacho et al. 2020).

Now this study had some limitations. The teachers involved in the study were 90% white and 96% female which means that there is little in this study to speak to how race and gender affect burnout, but I do believe that there is value to be gained from these findings. If you couple these findings with the results of another study, you can see what may be at play. According to Pedditzi et al., “the most predictive variables of burnout … are interpersonal conflicts and the personal image teachers have of themselves. (2020)” So in my eyes, through strengthening relationships and prioritizing oneself, one can positively affect burnout by raising their physical and emotional resources to meet their demands thus getting our Sundays back.

How can we fix it?

A note to school districts and school administrators

First, it is not completely up to the teacher to mitigate factors that lead to burnout. As I mentioned above, professional support is among one of the biggest predictors of teacher burnout, so providing resources for your teachers is imperative. Set up the master schedule where teachers have common planning time to network and make connections. Make sure that they have access to supplies such as paper and toner (if you’re a teacher, you know how important toner is), and make sure you coach teachers with love. Yes, our goal is continual growth, but if you are adding to their demands and not their resources, your efforts are counter intuitive.

Improving your personal image

In addition to professional support, it was also cited that a teachers’ self-image and interpersonal conflict are major factors in burnout (Pedditzi et al 2020). I believe this is the biggest factor that helped me to get rid of my Sunday Scaries.

Have a life outside of teaching

As I mentioned in my last blog post (linked bellow), things really turned for the better when I began to do things that were not related to my work. By expanding my identity beyond just teaching, I am able to cope with the stress of my job more because it is not the end all be all of Stephanie. Because I had a bad day doesn’t mean I have a bad life. Or even just because work was not ideal, doesn’t mean my entire day was bad, just a part, because I am way more than my job. Ironically, by not focusing on my job so much, I was able to be better at my job! See my blog post “How to Find True Rest” for resources on how to cultivate an image beyond teaching.

How to Find True Rest

Positive Self Routine

I am going to preach this until I am blue in the face, but it has helped me so much, I cannot help it; my morning routine saved my life. The first thing I do in the morning is meditation or prayer, then I journal, then I start with work. This has been instrumental in getting my mind ready to take on the day and affirm that I am not a machine that jumps out of bed and starts pumping out work products. Yes, I know this is probably the 1000th time you have heard about meditation and affirmations, but it’s what has made a difference for me over the years.

I also know that many teachers need to be at work at the crack of dawn, so a morning routine might not be feasible. It doesn’t have to be in the morning, it can be at a later time, the important part is that you make time to connect with yourself and begin to orient your brain towards a positive self image

Professional Assistance

Though there are many ways for you to help yourself, sometimes we aren’t equipped to handle it on our own. Seeking help from a professional therapist can be instrumental to gaining tools to improve your life, and it is more accessible than ever with online options available. I would also check with your benefits department because sessions may be covered by your insurance.

Give it Time

Though it is not cited in my research as a major factor, years of experience is still a factor. If you are a new teacher, and you feel like you’re drowning, you are not alone. I will say from my own experience, working as a mentor to first year teachers, and seeing growth throughout the years, that it does get better. Teaching is incredibly complex, and it may feel like you are ruining student’s lives but you’re not. You are learning and growing and that grace can be what gets you through.

Improving your environment

Sometimes you just need to leave. Though there are many things we can do to change our self-image and improve our resources to meet our demands, sometimes the environment possesses too many demands for us to cultivate enough resources to cope with it. If a school is toxic beyond your mental and physical capacity, you do not have to feel guilty to find a better place. It is okay to seek another campus or even profession. Though my goal is to support as many teachers as possible to stay within the profession, I care about people first. When you have exhausted all of your resources, sometimes you need to change the demands.

Conclusion

So, in the end, Sunday Scaries is deeper than just deciding not to work on Sunday, or getting all your work done before you go home. That dread of going to work may mean that you are burned out. By focusing on improving your physical and emotional resources, you can begin to make steps to take not only your Sunday back, but also your life.

THANK YOU!

I am so grateful for you! You are needed and loved. I hope you have a beautiful day and remember Mind, Body, and THEN and only then Classroom.

Sources

Camacho, D. A., Hoover, S. A., & Rosete, H. S. (2021). Burnout in urban teachers: The predictive role of supports and situational responses. Psychology in the Schools, 58(9), 1816–1831. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22561

Pedditzi, M. L., Nicotra, E. F., Nonnis, M., Grassi, P., & Cotrese, C. G. (2020). Teacher Stress and burnout: a study using MIMIC modelling. Electronic Journal of Applied Statistical Analysis, 13(03), 739–757. https://doi.org/10.1285/i20705948v13n3p739

back to school

3 Tips on How to Manage Clerical Tasks

August 14, 2022August 14, 2022by stephaniewsson411Leave a Comment

When I started teaching, there was an undercurrent of dread that came from something that is overlooked in most teacher training. There was little to no preparation for all of the CLERICAL TASKS teachers are asked to do. I was not prepared to keep up with parent contacts, student contacts, emails, special education documentation and accommodations, student behavior logs etc. etc! There is just so much that you need to keep up with and be intentional about. You need to think about when, where, and how you document everything. I am happy to say that I got the hang of it after a while. I am not perfect, but I have found a system that allows me to complete and keep up with tasks and documentation. I am going to share some ideas that will hopefully help you also,

Tip 1: BLOCK OUT TIME: ESPECIALLY FOR EMAILS!

We have experienced getting an email notification, and it ruining your entire day! Or you set down to do a task, and then all of a sudden, you have opened 10 emails, and forgot why you sat down in the first place. With the mounting to-do list that we have to deal with, the best thing we can do is block out dedicated time. Research shows that we cannot focus on more than one thing at a time. In actuality, we are just splitting our attention which is detrimental to the quality of all of the tasks we are doing. That is why I set aside a time to check emails, and that is it. Yes, I mean it, that is it. I do not have emails linked to my phone. I know, “what if it’s an emergency?” Well, you can always reach your email on your phone through an internet browser, but the enemy is notifications! You do not want to be distracted by emails all the time. It is actually detrimental to your productivity, not the other way around.

Additionally, while answering emails, I do not try to complete the tasks that are in the emails right away because I would never get through all of the emails if I did that. I keep a notebook, or in my case my digital planner on my ipad, next to me and I write out the tasks given to me in the email, therefore I can prioritize them by level of importance and schedule them to be done from most to least pressing.

Besides emails, I also block out time for grading, parent phone calls, and paperwork. It is just important to have a dedicated time for each

Tip 2: Have a set system for documentation

This is another skill that was glossed over in teacher orientation, that can make or break your mental state as a teacher. Here is a list of things that you may need to think through a system of documenting.

Parent contact
Student Behavior (Both positive and negative)
Special education paperwork and accommodations
- This usually needs to be secure and in a locked area.
Meeting notes and tasks
Interventions and student progress
Student work and achievements!
Lesson plans and resources

The way you document these may look different because it is personal to your organization style, but I wanted to share some systems that work with me.

Digital planning saved my life! I use an ipad and the goodnotes app to keep up with most of my documentation because it keeps everything handy and in one place. I am not unorganized, but I am forgetful. While I am walking around the room, I may misplace my clipboard, or I may forget a paper in another room or at home sometimes. By putting everything on my ipad, it made it much easier for me to keep up with paperwork because I know that if I have my ipad, I knew I have everything that I need. It is also password protected, so if I leave it on my desk, I do not have to worry about students being nosey and reading sensitive information about other students.

Digital planning is also helpful because it is SO EASY to color code information and edit your writing. While I am monitoring student progress and giving in the moment feedback, I can easily assign a color for “mastered a task,” “Almost there,” and “Needs attention” instead of walking around with three different pens!

TIP 3: Do your research and experiment

It took a lot of trial and error for me to find a system that works for me, so I am going to share three resources that helped me find my organization style!

Leadership Tools for School Principals: Organizational Strategies for Survival and Success by Nelson Coulter
- Yes, I know this says school principals but this has been helpful for me as a teacher. It explains how to manage emails, phone calls, and paper documentation. A warning, that it is a little dated when it comes to technology, but I still found it helpful for organization.
Atomic Habits by James Clear
- Once you have a system, how do you force yourself to use it? That is where habits come in. This book is helpful for strategies to gain consistency for your routines. I also found it helpful for training students to have good academic habits also.
GoodNotes App
- This app allows you to put all of your notes in one area. You can upload digital planners. You can also email PDFs directly to the app and write on them like they are paper. It is a life saver for documentation during class.
Virtual Planner
- You can find these planners on ETSY. This is the link to my personal planner, where I track all of my personal tasks. I also have a specific teacher planner that I made, it is available for free HERE.

My Teacher Planner is available for FREE

Though managing the day to day tasks and documentation may be intimidating, it isn’t impossible. It may be ugly before it gets pretty, but you can do it! Remember, you can also ask for help. I am sure there are teachers and administrators around you who have great systems they can share with you. You are not alone!

Thank you!

Thank you for reading and I wish you all of the best for your new school year. Remember, mind, body, and then classroom. In that order!

back to school, Uncategorized

Classroom Vision: 7 Questions to ask yourself to set the foundation of your classroom.

July 26, 2022July 25, 2022by stephaniewsson411Leave a Comment

When I first started teaching, I felt overwhelmed. Here I was, straight out of college, with virtually no student teaching experience, staring at the reality that in a couple short weeks, I will be left alone in a room with 20 plus 7th graders and expected to keep them alive, and better yet, actually TEACH them something. I had no idea where to start. Thankfully, I had the guidance of older and experienced teachers who shared the best advice which I still utilize today. I needed to start with a vision.

Like all leadership positions, the tone, direction, and culture starts with you. In order for me to lead my students in the classroom, I had to first understand where I wanted to lead them. I had to ask myself, “What type of classroom environment and values do I want to work towards?” I found this effective. I am happy to say that today, my district student survey results are positive with many of the domains over the ditrict average and some of the domains were even over the state average. My students report that they feel respected in my classroom, and I accredit that to starting with these questions, and then working to build systems around them.

I want to share this with you because I truly believe that to have a classroom where all feel welcomed and valued, it must start with being intentional about the questions you ask yourself surrounding what you want to be true for your students. Here are 7 questiong to ask yourself when you begin to plan your year. I hope it helps!

What is the goal of the year? What do you want students to walk away with when they leave at the end of the year?

I want you to push beyond data and numbers in this question. The skills and habits you want them to leave with is important, but I would also push you to think about personally and professionally how you want them to feel. Because I teach 9th graders, a big part of what I want my students to leave with are skills to reflect and process emotions. This is something that will not only help them to focus on their work more effectively, but also help them to navigate life far beyond my classroom.

How do you want students to feel when they come into your room?

This is a big one. Though it seems small, whether a student feels welcome, safe, and seen, plays a LARGE role in the overall classroom culture and if a student will be open to tackle new content and ultimately learn. Think of adjectives that you want your students to feel like when they come in. For me, I want my students to feel safe, seen, open, loved, and empowered.

How do you envision students engaging with the work?

Do you envision your students up, doing hands-on activities, and engaging with manipulatives? Do you see students regularly engaging in sustained silent reading? Students taking charge of their learning and exercising agency and choice? When you picture the perfect student engagement, what do you see? Since I am an English teacher, I see students tackling rigorous texts and engaging in dialogue about their ideas of how the text relates to their lives, and the world at large.

With what mindset do you envision students approaching problems and difficult situations in your classroom?

Learning does not take place unless you engage with something new and challenging. So, at least for me, approaching problems and difficult situations is the entire point of school! What mindset do you envision your students having when they approach work that may push them out of their comfort zone? What kind of self-talk do you want them to have? What types of resources do you want them to have access to? How do you want them to proceed when they get stuck?

How do you want relationships to look like in your classroom? What language do you see them using with one another? How do you see conflict being resolved?

Conflict is unavoidable both in your classroom and in life. One of the most important lessons we can make space for in our classroom is how to approach conflict in a healthy way. It is imperative that we are intentional and explicit with students about how we handle conflict. In order to do this, you must flesh out for yourself, how do you see it taking place in the classroom? What level of voice? What language? At what point do they need to involve the teacher or a mediator? How do we move forward?

I would also push you to think through how you want students to celebrate each other and themselves? Do you have a unifying cheer? Are students leaving shoutouts on a shoutout board? Are you ending each classperiod with glows? Being intentional from the start can make celebrating and positive thinking a staple in your classroom. Especially if you teach secondary, don’t assume that this will develop on its own. Intentionality is key!

What do you want your students to remember from your class when the year is over?

What do you want as the main take away? For me, it was the mindset of “No failure, only data,” And because I started intentionally from the beginning, by the end of the year, I had students quoting it to me when I found myself in a fixed mindset. I would like to think that is what they took with them moving on. What do you want to stick for your students?

What do the STUDENTS want to be true in their classroom?

I saved this for last, not because it is the least important, but because you cannot ask this question until after the school year starts. Though you want to have a foundational vision when stepping into the year to build systems around, it is extremely important to get the student’s values and input as to what they want their classroom to be because in the end, the classroom is for them. I ask my students at the beginning of the year what their goals are and what they value. What they want to get out of the class, and I make adjustments to be sure that the students can see themselves reflected in our classroom.

After you think through all of the questions, you can begin to build systems around the answers. If you want students to feel seen when they come into your room, maybe build a system where you are at the door greeting them each class period, or start off with a emotional check in for the warmup before jumping into the work. If you envision your students collaborating, set your room up in groups. If you envision students dealing with conflict in a professional way, maybe introduce them to sentence stems and then incentivise their usage. When you know where you’re going, it is easier to know what systems to put in place!

THANK YOU!

I really hope these questions have been helpful. Remember, you are amazing, and so many students and parents are grateful for you even though, sometimes it might not seem that way. I will see you next time, and in the meantime, remember, you are enough.