Burnout!
Because teacher burnout is a widespread concern, it is important that all teachers are equipped with a strong self-care plan. If we are not feeling well, either emotionally or physically, how can we deliver the quality of education our students ought to have? The following self-care plan is a living document and is designed around burnout prevention.
Physical Health
My physical health and well-being is an important aspect of my everyday life. I strive to ensure I am hydrated, that I eat well, that I get adequate physical exercise, and that I get plenty of sleep. I am an outdoor enthusiast and I try to get outside every day. I enjoy mountain biking, hiking, walking, and camping. I also use my home gym at least 3 days per week, depending on my schedule.
Mental Health
My mental and emotional health and well-being is also an important aspect of my everyday life. For me, my faith is my main strategy to manage my emotional and mental health. By attending a church, I have surrounded myself with people who care about my well-being and who will be there for me in times of need. I also volunteer in my church and am an advisor on the board of directors. I find that giving back to my community is highly rewarding and helps me keep the most important areas of life in focus.
Prevention
To prevent burnout, I ensure that I am highly organized in my teaching practice. I strive to have unit plans created well in advance so that my time can be better focused on activities like talking to parents, adapting lesson plans based on formative assessment, preparing resources for lessons and other administrative activities. I have noted that report card season can be stressful and equates to long hours. I ensure I am ready for report cards by preparing three forms of assessment (worksheets, summative task, and a summative test) for each unit (S. Epp, personal communication, April 16, 2021). I also have files for each student in which I add anecdotal notes so that when report card season arrives I am prepared and avoid unnecessary stress and long hours.
Managing Stress
When I am faced with stressful events, I focus on refraining from an irrational response. I lean on trusted people around me for advice and support, I pray, and I take my time to respond. I think it is important to ensure my responses during times of stress are professional and appropriate. This transfers to teaching students as well. During stressful times in the classroom, I step back, give everyone a break and some breathing room, and then come back together with fresh minds to discuss the issue.
Work-Life Balance
I also believe that a healthy work-life balance is important to avoid burnout and overwhelm. Some strategies that I use to ensure a healthy work-life balance is to be prepared and organized, as I previously mentioned, and to set reasonable office hours (A. England, personal communication, April 14, 2021).
Areas of Improvement
The area of self-care that I most need to work on is creating a healthy work-life balance. I have found it is easy for me to focus solely on my career and not make adequate time for my health and for my family and friends. I think improving my time management skills will be helpful with this and incorporating technology like Google Calendar and Google Tasks help me organize and schedule my time and important tasks.