Occupational Wellness

I am not a teacher but I am blessed to be able to work in the schools as a speech language pathologist. I am itinerant and work in three different schools: a private classical school, a preschool-6th grade elementary school, and a residential psychiatric treatment facility.

 I am currently working on a college class for my job about finding balance between work and the rest of my life. One of the course assignments is to create a blog to help others working in education to find balance in their lives.

Teaching is in the top ten of the most stressful jobs. Working with trauma, class size, heavy workload, challenging relationships with other teachers, administrators, students or families all impact a teacher's stress level. We all know that chronic stress causes health problems. Stress can negatively impact the climate of our homes and classrooms as well as the qualities of our friendships. It is important that we take care of our bodies, try to keep our classrooms or offices tidy and pleasing for our students but also for our own enjoyment (for example, if you like the sound of water you may want a small water fountain in your room), and find ways to increase your joy outside of school. Some ideas might be listening to comedians (as we all know laughter is good for your soul!), going for hikes, going out for coffee or grabbing a bite to eat with a friend, reading a book, taking time to get away and pray or journal your thoughts.

Today I got to read a book called "The Well-Balanced Teacher" by Mike Anderson. Mike talked about making sure we meet our basic needs such as nutrition, hydration, exercise, sleep and getting emotionally and spiritually refreshed. We all know that these things are important but when we feel stressed we need to examine our life and make sure we are doing what our mind and body need. The other day my youngest had woken me up three times in the night. I was sleep deprived and was very grumpy trying to get my two oldest out the door to school. On the drive, I had to apologize to my oldest girls for snapping at them. Sleep deprivation can impact our whole day and all of our interactions with our family, students and colleagues. Some of us might need to try and set a strict schedule that allows time for exercise, devotions and sleep. We may say these things are important but if we are not doing them and allowing other things to creep into our schedule it shows what our true priorities are.

Finding a good balance isn't just about things away from school. Obviously eating healthy needs to carry over into your school day. Take snacks to school that are healthy and try to minimize taking junk food....it will just tempt you in the late afternoon when you are hungry. If you don't have it, then you can't eat it! Another area that needs to be important in your school day is building positive relationships with the staff in your school. I will be the first to admit that I eat at my desk most days. I have so much to get done that I try to squeeze in more while I grab a quick bite to eat before I dash off to another building to see more students. I apologize up front to my peers at my primary building! I do recognize that having at least one colleague with whom you can connect positively can make other challenges that arise in the school seem easier to deal with. Taking time to eat even just once a week with another colleague can brighten your week and maybe their week as well! Make time to talk to your peers. We have lots of work to get done which can be overwhelming BUT life is better with FUN! So make sure you laugh with your colleagues some too.

There are times that we just have to say no. A teacher's school day extends way past the 8-4. Besides IEP paperwork (for special education staff) and grading/planning, there are lots of committees, service opportunities with PTA, booster clubs, school fun nights, and extra curricular events (e.g., band, drama/debate, sporting events) where teachers are asked to give of their time. There are times when you have to admit that you have limits. When you take care of yourself, you are less likely to burn out.

Lastly, I want to say thank you to all the teachers and speech language pathologists out here who might be reading this. What you do is very important. There are very few thank yous but remember to enjoy the little things like when a student's eyes light up from learning something new or a simple smile that is offered when you have helped a student with something or even when you pass them in the hallway. When we focus on simple joys we can flood our lives with gratitude. We can't look to others for affirmation for all of our hard work, we need to be confident that we are effective at our jobs and just do the best we can do.