Teaching is Hard Work: Taking Care of Yourself

I went to this professional development this afternoon and one of the sessions I attended was "Teaching Children with Trauma."  Working in an inner-city school, the trauma that the students at my school have experienced is tremendous!!  However, as teachers and caretakers, it is very easy to develop compassion fatigue.  Helping students that have experienced trauma can be emotionally draining for teachers!  We often take care of everyone but ourselves!!!  I am hoping that this list is helpful!!!

Here are some tips to help take care of yourself*:

• Get Enough Rest
• Eat Enough
• Exercise
• Vary the Work You Do
• Do Something You Enjoy
• Focus on What you Did Well
• Learn from Mistakes
• Laugh
• Pray, Meditate, or Relax
• Support a Colleague

I love to do things I love!! However, I have to work hard to make time for exercise!  I know I feel so much better when I am doing things I enjoy outside of school :)  This includes being a "carpool" mom, reading books, blogging, and catching up on my DVRed shows!!!

I also keep a journal.  It is beautiful and pretty with fancy parchment paper!!  It is my gratitude journal.  I am not as faithful as I should be about writing everyday, but I need to make a better effort because overtime I write in it, I feel so blessed.

If all else fails, and you only have 5 minutes...watching YouTube videos of babies giggling is a sure way to put a smile on your face :)

This break, I hope everyone has a chance to rejuvenate and get ready for an enjoyable (not exhausting) 2015!

*These were from a handout that referenced proqol.org