Overwhelmed and It's Only September: Managing Teacher Stress

I was working in a school, with teachers, last week and they were tired. It’s only September. We were having teacher training after school on a Tuesday; they’d had Open House on Monday and were at school until 8:30 or 9:00 PM; they had a faculty meeting after school on Wednesday to look forward to. Most teachers I work with LOVE teaching. It’s everything else that overwhelms them - after hours professional development, faculty meetings, parent conferences, grade level/content team meetings...the list goes on and on. And, for many teachers, these “extra” tasks/responsibilities follow them home in the evening. So, how does a teacher who’s a month into the school year make it until Winter Break, let alone May?

An 80-question survey sent out to more than 30,000 respondents by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) found that “seven out of every 10 respondents said they “often” felt their work is stressful and nearly eight out of 10 indicated they recently felt physically and mentally exhausted at the end of the work day. Three out of four survey participants said they spend at least two hours on school work either before or after school. Most said the typical work day did not leave them any time to pursue hobbies or leisure activities.”

Elena Aguilar, a Transformational Leadership Coach from Oakland, CA, has written two recent blogs on building resilience and managing stress for teachers. In “Ways to Cultivate Your Emotional Resilience this Year”, Aguilar gives 3 tips to teachers:

1. Build Community - "Feeling connected to your colleagues, your students, their families, and the community in which you work is an essential element in building emotional resilience. We need each other." Pepper's online learning community provides a vast network of teachers and educators from across the county. Teachers are encouraged to network and interact with nationwide peers, learn and share from experiences, and promote and support successes and ideas.  Pepper Professional Development Courses provide opportunities for teacher collaboration through peer discussions and sharing course portfolios.
2. Know Yourself - Identify your purpose and mission as an educator. Set personal goals too. “With self-knowledge comes ability to make choices and decisions that will help build resilience.”
3. Create a Plan for Self-Care - Prioritize sleep, exercise, and nutritious eating.

Her follow-up article, “How Educators Can Manage Stress and Build Resilience”, encourages teachers to look for the positive points in their day to inspire hope and inspiration. Aguilar recommends that teachers keep a journal of these observations to keep them focused on the true reasons they chose teaching.
Teaching is a very challenging and rewarding career. We, at Pepper, are thankful for all that you do and the time that you give. Our goal is to provide meaningful professional development that can be done at a time, place, and pace of a teacher's own choosing. Pepper courses are online, self-paced, available 24/7 to accommodate every teacher's unique schedule. Pepper's course content is immediately applicable to the classroom which, hopefully, will cut down on some stress. As you choose professional development, be sure to visit all of our Pepper course offerings on our website for great options with a blended training approach.

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OnTrack Greenville: One Community's Initiative to Impact At-Risk Middle School Students

Greenville County Schools, a PCG client, is initiating a community-wide project that strives to keep middle school students in Upstate South Carolina engaged in school and “on track” for graduation. A federal Social Innovation Fund grant has provided $3 million to jump start a partnership between the United Way of Greenville County, the Greenville Partnership for Philanthropy, the Riley Institute at Furman University, various nonprofit groups and Greenville County Schools to revolutionize one community's ability to help middle school students stay "on track" to graduate and help them build a successful future. One partner, BELL (Building Educated Leaders for Life) is aiming to create change by helping schools and communities find innovative ways to expand learning time beyond the traditional school day and school year. Online learning is a great way for students and teachers to have learning opportunities outside the classroom.

“Middle school is a time for students to explore their strengths and start to think about their future,” said Greenville County Schools Superintendent Burke Royster. “But, it is also a time when too many students start to disengage with school and take the first steps on the path towards dropping out of high school, putting their futures at risk.”

According to the United Way of Greenville's website, OnTrack Greenville is focused on implementing an Early Warning and Response System. Piloted effectively in other communities around the country, OnTrack Greenville’s Early Warning and Response System will utilize real-time data to identify students beginning to disengage from school as indicated by attendance, behavior, and course performance. Once a student is identified, a coordinated team of educators and community experts develop a customized plan to match the student with the right response interventions and then monitor his/her progress over time. To see an early warning and response system in action, watch the PBS Frontline special, Middle School Moment.

Pepper has a range of English/Language Arts and Math courses specifically for Middle School. These courses will help you engage your students with meaningful learning activities. You can check out all our courses at Pepperpd.com.

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