I am doing my student teaching in a kindergarten classroom with 14 very
active students. May I add that 10 are boys....each day is never the
same. Tantrums are thrown, arguments and drama are heard and tears are
shed throughout the day. Don't get me wrong,
I love it! But it can get exhausting after a while. These vacations are
much needed for both the students and the teachers. We have talked a
bit in previous courses about managing stress in order to maintain that
positive teacher role and attitude. My question
for everyone is how do you handle your stress? What do you do after a
long school day to get yourself prepared for tomorrow?
Jess Reed, Johnson State College
Hi Jess, I can imagine your kindergarten classroom, and I can tell that it must be such a fun & exhausting place to be!! When I feel stress, I watch Netflix. I know that Netflix is so dangerous and you can keep watching so many episodes without realizing it, but watching the show with your favorite character who can be your role model helps you to think/behave better next day. Indeed, there’s a research about how people act like their favorite character from the TV show/book after they watch/read it (although it is temporary). Choose a TV show or a book with a great role model and brainwash yourself to be great next morning!
ReplyDeleteHere is the link to the research article! ;) http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/exptaking.htm
Hi Jess,
ReplyDeleteIt's great to meet you! I can definitely agree that reading a good book or watching a tv show that has your favorite character in it can help make you feel more relaxed. Something else that makes me feel relaxed, and this may be a little odd, is being organized. I make huge lists of everything I have to do the next day to make sure I don't miss anything. These include making copies, remembering to give back work to students, and more. I know that a lot of my stress comes from feeling unorganized and unprepared for lesson. Even small things like cleaning off my desk makes me feel better. Being organized makes me feel more prepared for the next day of teaching and calms my worry of forgetting something.
I'm not sure if you have animals, but I always make sure to spend time with my dog when I get home from school. Spending a few minutes with him always makes me smile because he always does something goofy. During this time, I'm able to put school behind me.
I hope this helps!