by Denise Lee, DMS Collaborative Teacher According to the November 2016 issue of Time, anxiety and depression are on the rise with high school students. If we take a look at the other side of education 15% of teachers leave the profession every year (Psychology Today, 2014). Burnout with teachers is a problem even when they remain on the job. (Neufeldnov, 2014). Needless to say, when I found myself having a few difficult years I began to look for ways to cope and reassess what my profession is all about.
Last month I had the opportunity to participate in an online “Mindful Education Summit.” The summit was five days of research, techniques and inspiration. The five daily topics included: Day 1. Calm, Day 2. Attention, Day 3. Resilience, Day 4. Compassion and Day 5. Cultural Transformation For those who know me well, I’m a list person. So here are my short and sweet take-aways for teachers and students from the mindful summit.
If you are asking yourself, “Where does someone begin?” there are many options. For me, the journey began with a group of coworkers. We started by reading the book Mindful Teaching and Teaching Mindfulness by Debra Schoeberlein. We had the opportunity to work through the materials and speak with experts in our community. This in turn gave us the support and knowledge to begin a practice ourselves. I created two web page resources from this experience, a book study web page and a “Mindfulness: Using it with Students” resource page. Another way is to continue your exploration by trying out this December calendar that I created. It has links that take you to activities and information. Click on the square and then click on the blue link that appears. After teaching for many years, I think struggling through mindfulness practices and creating my own practice woke me up. Before I was locked into a rhythm of to do lists, and not noticing life around me. When I am feeling stressed and overwhelmed I have found that those deep breaths have made those situations more manageable. This in turn has made a difference in the relationships with my students and peers. With student/adult mental health and teacher burnout situations I appreciated the opportunities to hear a reminder of awareness and self care that we as busy teachers often put to the side. So teachers take a deep breath in…...exhale all those emotions that are distracting you…...breath in all the kind thoughts and favorite spots that you love….exhale all the stresses that bog you down…..and be aware of the kindnesses you see and share every day with our students. Is there any mindful experience or activity that has helped you or your students? Neufeldnov, S. (2014, November 10). Can a teacher be too dedicated? The Atlantic. Retrieved from http://m.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/11/can-a-teacher-be-too-dedicated/382563/?single_page=true Rankin, J (2016, November 22, 2016 The Teacher Burnout Epidemic Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/much-more-common-core/201611/the-teacher-burnout-epidemic-part-1-2
9 Comments
Dana Bockman
11/27/2019 06:32:04 am
Education is an incredibly demanding and stressful occupation. Thank you for this reminder to take care of ourselves in order to be our best for our students and for each other.
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Amanda Maki
11/27/2019 09:35:10 am
Thank you for your post and your calendar! I will have to try some of these ideas.
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Beth
11/27/2019 10:36:30 am
This is wonderful, Denise! I have been thinking about re-starting my own mindfulness practice... your calendar will be a great kick-start for me. I also especially like your comments about buildling and modeling kind intentions and tolerance. Thank you!
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MIchelle
11/27/2019 11:15:05 am
Excellent blog post, Denise. Some food for thought that we can all use. Thanks for sharing this. I'm going to give your calendar ideas a try.
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Jenn
11/30/2019 01:15:02 pm
Denise, thank you for sharing your learning! I feel blessed to have learned with you through the book study a few years ago. I have enjoyed our conversations. I'm truly grateful for your share out with the calendar. I am looking forward to December 1st! Hard to believe it's TOMORROW already! I hope you are able to "be in the present moment" with this wonderful break.
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Lizabeth Fox
12/1/2019 05:35:37 pm
Wow - so much great info, Denise! I am definitely going to use the calendar; I appreciate all the work you did here to help educate us about mindfulness in ourselves and in our students.
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Cheryl Huebner
12/2/2019 06:30:28 am
What a wonderful way to usher in the holiday season and remember to calm and focus ourselves.
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Shannon Horton
12/4/2019 12:34:47 pm
I love this post, Denise. Thanks for being honest about the challenges we all experience in this profession and some concrete ways to deal with it all!
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Michaela Seeman
3/31/2020 07:52:45 am
Our self-care, modeling, and teaching of mindfulness is so important! Thank you for the tips and giving us a suggestion for a place to start!
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