As teachers, we live a stressful life. Agree? And once unmanaged, often leads to hating the work and quitting. So, before we even reach that point of breaking down and despising our profession as teachers, let me share with you some tips which will help you live a less stressful teaching life.
LEARN TO SAY NO.
Yes, learn to say no. The problem with many of us is that we feel it is our duty to do everything that is asked of us especially by our superiors (e.g. Principal, Assistant Principal, Department Head) or even co-teachers. Upon careful examination, most of them are simply favors being asked of us. And because we are so good-natured, we try to accommodate all of them, which actually leaves us with very little time for ourselves, to relax and enjoy.
How then do we say no? First, don’t feel guilty saying no especially if you feel that by saying yes, you will end up sacrificing so much time which you could use in accomplishing your very own list of priority tasks. Second, deliver the message in a polite way. Facial expression and tone of voice are very important when turning down someone. Remember, you can always deliver bad news in a not-so-bad way. Third, be proactive. Instead of simply turning down, why not extend a hand by simply offering alternatives to help the requester? That way, it would sound like a win-win situation for the two of you. Lastly, be firm by giving the requester a reason why it is a no and not an excuse. Just be honest about why you need to say no, and for sure, people will more likely to understand.
EMPOWER YOUR STUDENTS.
Why not tap your students to help you out? I’m not saying, ask them to check test papers for you especially if your school policy doesn’t permit you to do so. Empower the class officers to help you out in the checking of attendance, monitoring of discipline concerns, collecting of class fund. You could also tap the creative students of your class to help you in bulletin board designing and in coming up with ideas for song and/or dance class competitions. This way, you could make your work a little lighter plus you could even train your students to face challenging tasks. And what is even a more important outcome of this is heightened self-esteem among your students brought about by your trust in their talents and capabilities.
MAXIMIZE YOUR VACANT PERIODS.
Instead of being idle by doing non-work related tasks, be productive. Bear in mind that the time you spend in school is your time for work. As much as possible, devote your vacant periods to doing the clerical side of teaching: checking papers, recording and computing grades, preparing visual materials, and lesson planning. By doing so, you are protecting your weekends from paperworks.
It is also good to always come up with a list of To Do’s everyday and do your very best to accomplish what’s in your list. This then would remind us to come up with a realistic list of To Do’s, something you can really finish by the end of the day.
COMPUTERIZE AND KEEP A FILE OF YOUR TEACHING MATERIALS.
When you are to prepare a quiz, computerize it. Keep a hard and soft copy in your disk. You can do the same for lesson plans and visual materials. Re-use the effective ones and improve on the not-so-good ones. Through the years, you will be able to come up with a compilation of the best lesson plans, teaching materials and evaluation tools which you could always refer to when you are in need of one. This would definitely save you time and effort.
KEEP YOUR WEEKEND SACRED.
As much as possible, weekend is the time for God, family and oneself. You need your weekend to de-stress your life a bit, to re-charge so that by the following week you are in your best shape again. My advice is to engage into something different like sports or exercise (especially for those who need trimming down), socialize like going to parties (especially for singles), other recreation like cooking, arts, gardening, part-time business ( for those needing extra income), graduate school (for those requiring themselves to have MA and PhD), or anything that is out-of-your weekday routine. This will truly help you achieve work-life balance.
Yes, learn to say no. The problem with many of us is that we feel it is our duty to do everything that is asked of us especially by our superiors (e.g. Principal, Assistant Principal, Department Head) or even co-teachers. Upon careful examination, most of them are simply favors being asked of us. And because we are so good-natured, we try to accommodate all of them, which actually leaves us with very little time for ourselves, to relax and enjoy.
How then do we say no? First, don’t feel guilty saying no especially if you feel that by saying yes, you will end up sacrificing so much time which you could use in accomplishing your very own list of priority tasks. Second, deliver the message in a polite way. Facial expression and tone of voice are very important when turning down someone. Remember, you can always deliver bad news in a not-so-bad way. Third, be proactive. Instead of simply turning down, why not extend a hand by simply offering alternatives to help the requester? That way, it would sound like a win-win situation for the two of you. Lastly, be firm by giving the requester a reason why it is a no and not an excuse. Just be honest about why you need to say no, and for sure, people will more likely to understand.
EMPOWER YOUR STUDENTS.
Why not tap your students to help you out? I’m not saying, ask them to check test papers for you especially if your school policy doesn’t permit you to do so. Empower the class officers to help you out in the checking of attendance, monitoring of discipline concerns, collecting of class fund. You could also tap the creative students of your class to help you in bulletin board designing and in coming up with ideas for song and/or dance class competitions. This way, you could make your work a little lighter plus you could even train your students to face challenging tasks. And what is even a more important outcome of this is heightened self-esteem among your students brought about by your trust in their talents and capabilities.
MAXIMIZE YOUR VACANT PERIODS.
Instead of being idle by doing non-work related tasks, be productive. Bear in mind that the time you spend in school is your time for work. As much as possible, devote your vacant periods to doing the clerical side of teaching: checking papers, recording and computing grades, preparing visual materials, and lesson planning. By doing so, you are protecting your weekends from paperworks.
It is also good to always come up with a list of To Do’s everyday and do your very best to accomplish what’s in your list. This then would remind us to come up with a realistic list of To Do’s, something you can really finish by the end of the day.
COMPUTERIZE AND KEEP A FILE OF YOUR TEACHING MATERIALS.
When you are to prepare a quiz, computerize it. Keep a hard and soft copy in your disk. You can do the same for lesson plans and visual materials. Re-use the effective ones and improve on the not-so-good ones. Through the years, you will be able to come up with a compilation of the best lesson plans, teaching materials and evaluation tools which you could always refer to when you are in need of one. This would definitely save you time and effort.
KEEP YOUR WEEKEND SACRED.
As much as possible, weekend is the time for God, family and oneself. You need your weekend to de-stress your life a bit, to re-charge so that by the following week you are in your best shape again. My advice is to engage into something different like sports or exercise (especially for those who need trimming down), socialize like going to parties (especially for singles), other recreation like cooking, arts, gardening, part-time business ( for those needing extra income), graduate school (for those requiring themselves to have MA and PhD), or anything that is out-of-your weekday routine. This will truly help you achieve work-life balance.
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