Wellness

6 Self-Care Strategies for School Leaders

June 4, 2020

You’re taking care of the teachers.

The teachers are taking care of the students.

But who’s taking care of you?

As the educational leader of your school or your classroom, not only are you taking care of and dealing with the stress and PTSD of your teachers and/or students, but you are also dealing with your life’s day to day stresses. Principals and Assistant Principals, how many times are you greeted with 25 different fires that need to be put out…NOW! Urgent emails and phone calls from parents or teachers. Your whole staff needs even more support right now. Wifi/tech issues or a lack of access to devices. I could keep going.

Classroom teachers, I know you’re dealing with it, as well! Kids that just won’t engage, phone calls and emails from parents, learning new systems and tech on the fly. The list goes on and on.

Does ANY of this sound familiar? It’s critical that you have non-negotiable strategies in place to help you cope and deal with what you experience every day. You cannot pour into your teachers, students and your own families if your cup is empty. You have to be intentional and take time to pour into your cup every day so you can show up better for everyone else in your life. Self-care is not selfish. It’s critical!

Here are six strategies that you might consider incorporating into your daily routine to help you practice self-care.

Strategy #1. Own your Morning!

When you own your morning, you own the day! How many of you wake up when your alarm goes off, grab your phone and the first thing you check is either your email or social media? **raises my hand** I’m guilty of it, too! I want to encourage you to stop this practice. I know it’s easier said than done! Take the first 2 minutes of your day to close your eyes and visualize your day. Think about the awesome day that is ahead and the positive things that are going to happen. There are 86,400 seconds in a day. I think we can all give the first 120 seconds of our day to setting the tone for what we want to happen!

In a productivity article by Carlo Cruz titled, 7 Steps to Own Your Morning and Seize Your Day, he suggests 7 things you can do to seize your morning:

Wake up 1 hour earlier.
Spend your best time by taking stock of yourself.
Write down, revisit, or revise your long-term goals.
Set your daily goals.
Sharpen your expertise.
Use your head start and start acting.
End a vicious cycle of waking up late by sleeping early.

Strategy #2. Establish your North Star

What’s your why? Why do you wake up every morning? Why do you show up every day? Who are you showing up for? As time goes on, and the days go by, we find ourselves on what I like to call, the hamster wheel of life. We wake up, drive to work (sometimes not even noticing the path we take to get there), work a full day, go home, eat dinner, go to sleep, only to do it all over again the next day. We do this 5 days a week, 4-5 weeks a month and before we know it, we look up and an entire school year has flown by.

In the book “Start with Why” by Simon Sinek, he challenges us to get to the root of our why. When we know and understand our “why” we get more in tune with our how and our what. I add to this and believe that when you know your why, you walk with more intention and more purpose every day. You become more intentional about the decisions that you make and the actions that you take because you are aware that they are all in alignment with why you do what you do.

I challenge you to dig deep into your why. Understand your why. Really allow it to be your North Star and lead you every day. Write it down. Post it up any and everywhere you can. Make it your screensaver on your computer and your cell phone. It will become a part of who you are.

Strategy #3. Establish Daily Healthy Habits

When you take the time to be intentional about how you take care of your body every day, you are practicing self-care. These daily practices that become habits, will eventually become non-negotiables for you. A few things that you can do to establish doable daily healthy habits are:

Drink enough water. You should be drinking half of your body weight in ounces of water a day. For simple math, if you weigh 100 pounds, you should be drinking 50 ounces of water a day. For those of you that don’t necessarily like to drink water, here’s how you can get it in:
- Drink out of a straw.
- Drink out of a “nice” cup.
- If you drink bottled water, take the number of bottles that you need to drink to get your ounces in with you to work. Challenge yourself to drink them before you leave to go home for the day.
- Add fruit to your water.
Make healthy eating choices. You can’t put “bad” fuel into your body and expect it to perform the way you need it to every day! Working in schools puts us in contact with thousands of different germs every day. Eating healthy fruits, veggies, and proteins helps to build our immune system.
Move your body for at least 20-30 minutes every day. If you find yourself sitting behind a desk, set an alarm on your phone to get up and take a lap around the building every hour. If you can, stand up at your desk to work. Join a gym. Go for a walk. Make it a game by using a smart watch and engage in friendly contests with your friends/colleagues.

Strategy #4. Engage in your own personal and professional development

As the leader in your school building or your classroom, you are super busy making sure that everyone else has what they need. You are providing learning opportunities for your teachers and students, but who is providing you with learning opportunities? How are you engaging in your own personal and professional development? I’m a firm believer that what we put into our minds is what will come out. Positive in? Positive out. Negative in? Negative out. Listen to, watch and read things that encourage and inspire you to grow and be better.

A few ideas to make sure you’re getting some “positive in” are:

Turn off the music and listen to podcasts on the way to work.
Read professional development books that interest you. Here are a few that I recommend.
Join or start a meeting group with like-minded individuals.
Find a mentor if you don’t already have one. Set calendar appointments so it’s a priority.
Join Twitter and grow your Professional Learning Network (PLN).

Strategy #5. Establish Doable Routines

Every December 31st when the clock strikes midnight, we find ourselves making New Year’s resolutions. We make lists and vision boards jam-packed with “all of the things.” We find ourselves discouraged because we don’t accomplish everything on those lists and vision boards. Then we just give up. Sound familiar? The reality is, is that we can do anything, but we can’t do everything! What I’ve found to be successful is to implement small, doable, bite-sized things that eventually become a part of your lifestyle. Here are a few doable things that you could slowly start to add to your daily routine.

Start journaling. When I was a kid I journaled all of the time! Probably about who my crush was at the time and how school was going and how I was mad at my parents simply because they were being parents and raising me! As I’ve gotten older, finding the time to keep this up has been a challenge. I was recently listening to a podcast by Judi Holler (Fear is my Homeboy) and she talked about a book she read called, “You are Awesome” by Neil Pasricha and he mentioned that he spends 2 minutes every morning and writes on a clean index card, answering these 3 prompts:
- Today, I will let go of…
  - This helps to deal with any anxiety that you might have. When you write it down, it disappears.
- Today, I am grateful for…
  - This makes you see the small everyday things that you encounter.
- Today, I will focus on…
  - Choose one small thing. Again, you can do anything, but you can’t do everything!
Practice meditation. There are so many meditation apps (free and paid) and YouTube videos that you can follow. You can try the app, Calm for free here: https://www.calm.com/schools.
Daily gratitude. This one is an easy one for me. I have a journal on my nightstand and every night I pick it up and write down 5 things that I’m grateful for. It’s a super simple practice that really makes me reflect on the day. I attended John Maxwell’s Live2Lead conference last year and had the pleasure of seeing Rachel Hollis speak. She mentioned that she practices gratitude in the morning. She even challenged us to select things that we are grateful for (when practicing gratitude) that have happened within the past 24 hours. Of course, we are thankful for our spouses, our kids, our jobs, our friends, etc., but selecting things that have happened within that 24 hour window really cause you to look at the small things (ie. the blue sky, your perfect tasting cup of coffee, the “good pen” that your colleague let you borrow, etc).
Shut your phone down at least 1 hour before bedtime every night. According to the Cleveland Clinic, continuing to engage with your phone all the way up until you fall asleep has negative effects on your brain.
- It keeps your mind psychologically engaged.
- The blue light from the screen suppresses melatonin.
- The alerting properties delay REM sleep.

Strategy #6. Brain dump every night

In order to clear your mind from all that’s racing around in it from the day’s events, keep a notebook next to your bed and brain dump everything that’s floating around in your mind before you go to bed. It’s a way to get everything out of your mind so you can regain focus. When you get things out of your brain and onto paper, it can reduce anxiety, eliminate unnecessary thoughts/tasks, and prioritize what needs to get done. The key is to write down everything! “Dump” all of your thoughts onto paper! These could be the pressing things that will be on your morning’s to do list, picking up the dry cleaning on your way home from work the following day, an email that you need to send in the morning, a good book that you want to order from Amazon, a teacher walkthrough you need to get done before the end of the week. Write it ALL down. You might also consider creating your braindumps digitally using tools like Google Docs, Google Keep, Microsoft Word, or OneNote.

You could also separate your brain dump into personal, professional and family sections or just create one long running list. You may even decide to color code your brain dump so you can visually see what needs to get done in each area of your life. While I love brain dumping every night, there are times when I create a weekly brain dump on Sunday nights or first thing Monday morning. Whether you brain dump at night, in the morning, or for the week, this list could potentially serve as your “to do” list. Once you accomplish something on your brain dump list, cross it off!

CLICK HERE to access a brain dump template that you may want to use to get you started!

What it all boils down to is that it’s important to take care of yourself. You have to put your oxygen mask on first before you can put a mask on anyone else. There is no doubt that there will be fires to put out when you walk into your buildings and classrooms every day. Having strategies in place that allow you to deal with the stress that you will encounter every day is critical to making sure that you are at your best.

Whether you incorporate some of the ideas above into your practice or have something else that works for you, do something! I’d love to know what else, besides the things on this list, that you do to practice self-care. Let’s start some dialogue and share all the tips! We’d all benefit from these ideas!

Dr. Natasha Rachell, a passionate educator, is an alternatively certified high school science teacher turned edtech enthusiast! Currently, Natasha is a Digital Learning Specialist for Atlanta Public Schools. Natasha has immersed herself into the instructional technology space and has earned several certifications, awards and accomplishments, some of which include: Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert, Google Certified Innovator (MentorMeEdu) and Trainer, Apple Teacher, Surface Master Trainer, and Flipgrid Ambassador. She has a Bachelors in Biology Pre-Med, a Masters in Education Administration, a Specialists in Curriculum and Instruction and is finishing her Doctorate in Organizational Leadership with an Emphasis in Effective Schools. Natasha was selected to take part in the first cohort of Our Voice Academy through EdTechTeam, a group of minority educational technology leaders from across the nation. Natasha has presented at both the local and national level. She is ecstatic to lead the work as we transition into 21st century classrooms through blended learning opportunities, BYOD, professional learning for instructional technology and digitally connected classrooms. You can learn more about Natasha by following her on Twitter @apsitnatasha, on Instagram @natashabrachell or by visiting her website at www.natasharachell.com.

Practicing Mindfulness in the Classroom

March 29, 2019

Several years ago, while I was teaching high school, one of my favorite students would regularly come into my classroom and ask, “Mrs. Taylor, are you in the mood today?” From the outside that question seemed really odd, but it was a direct response from me constantly saying, “Aaron, I am not in the mood today.”

“In the mood for what?” you ask? Well, whatever antics my precocious juniors and seniors had for me. Most of them I had been teaching since middle school, so on the days when I was on top of my game I could handle their antics. But then there were those other days…

Fast forward many years later and I finally have a name for that mood. It’s actually not a mood at all, it’s mindfulness. Mindfulness is the process of being in the present moment, and not allowing outside issues and circumstances to get in the way. Classroom teachers have very little downtime in their day; (I always envied my husband’s lunch hour at his corporate job). I was lucky to get an uninterrupted 23 minutes to eat, visit the restroom and quickly check an email. Being “on” all day long can be draining and when you are distracted it leaves little brain power to handle the antics of your students. Shouldn’t they learn how to adapt to our moods? Isn’t that part of the school learning process? I used to think so, but this is what I have learned.

We can’t build relationships with students when we are not present.

When I am having a bad day, I don’t see the student that is hanging their head. When I am overly tired, I might overreact to a student’s misbehaviors. When I am not at my best, my students notice and begin to build walls between themselves and me. This is hard to hear, because we are human too, and we can’t be perfect every day. Here is what I learned about bringing my healthiest self to work every day.

Your Health Is Important

Period. Teachers are notorious for coming to work sick, overtired and worn out. Showing up is easier than getting a sub. It’s also hard to miss a valuable day of instruction. It should be obvious, but when you are sick being present with your students and practicing mindfulness in the classroom is going to take a back seat. When you are sick, you should be able to take that much-needed time to rest and recuperate. Take the time over your next holiday break to build a stash of versatile sub plans. The next part of planning for a sub is preparing your students to behave for one. Take the time to train your students on the expectations you have of their behavior when a sub is needed. Utilizing online platforms such as Applied Digital Skills and CS First are great tools to build lessons around. The instructional piece is part of the platform so the sub can focus on classroom management. Next time you need a day, whether it be the flu or just a mental health day, your sub plans are taken care of.

Fill Your Cup

One of the best pieces of advice I received during my teacher training was to find a hobby unrelated to your job that brings you joy. Something active that engages your brain and body but doesn’t drain you (watching Netflix is not a hobby). For me, it’s sketchnoting, yoga, and reading. Find what that something is and include it in your weekly schedule. Even as a busy professional, wife, and mother I carve out time to invest in myself. Put it on the calendar and make it a priority even when life gets busy. It’s a double bonus if the activity is something you can practice personal mindfulness with. Yoga and meditation are common practices that use mindfulness. Here are multiple apps that can help facilitate either of these anytime, anywhere. My personal favorites are Headspace and Calm.

Fresh Start Everyday

Make every day a fresh start, for you and your students. Act like you haven’t told them a million times to do something. Remove the phrase, “they should know better!” from your vocabulary. Maybe they should, but they don’t and that is OK. Learning to “know better” is part of the development process for them. When we remove that expectation, we start each day with a different perspective.

Mindfulness on paper looks simple, but preparing ourselves to practice it daily starts with self care and ends with a ton of grace for our students. Build out a routine to care for yourself, try out an exercise for mind/body awareness and be gracious with your students as they learn to know better.

Amanda Taylor is a Director of Professional Learning for EdTechTeam. In her current role, she is a project manager for the C3 IGNITE program, a partnership with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and Sprint. She is also the Program Director of Certifications. She is passionate about helping other educators discover new and innovative ways to use technology to create hands-on learning environments. Amanda began her career in Austin, Texas as a CTE teacher and an FCCLA advisor. There, she fell in love with the power of technology to transform classrooms and the lives of her students. Amanda is a graduate of Texas State University.

Amanda makes her home in sunny Southern California with her video-gaming husband and two iPad-addicted children. You can follow Amanda @TeacherandGeek.

Self-Care: Taking Care of Yourself So You Can Take Care of Your Students

March 22, 2019

As teachers, we often strive to teach our students valuable lessons. As teachers, we also know that learning never truly stops once we finish school. Life sometimes has an interesting way of teaching us lessons. I happened to learn mine the hard way.

One Friday afternoon, I felt an irritating tickle in my throat. I popped a cough drop in my mouth thinking nothing of it and continued through my normal routine: teach my afternoon classes, coach practice after school, come home, workout, cook dinner, do a couple of chores, and go to bed. The next morning, I didn’t feel well. My sinuses hurt, I had a bad headache, my throat was on fire, and I just felt like “blah.” You know that “blah” feeling you get when you just don’t feel well? I went to an Urgent Care and was diagnosed with sinusitis. I received a steroid shot and a prescription for antibiotics and was sent on my way. This day also happened to be a family member’s birthday. I filled my prescription and continued my day as if I was feeling fine. I helped cook the birthday dinner, spent time with family, went home, worked out, and finally rested after a long day. On Sunday, I woke up still feeling bad. I went to church, came home, cleaned my house, meal prepped for the week, and went to bed hopeful that my steroid shot and antibiotics would soon kick in and help me feel better.

That was four weeks ago, and I am just now finally getting better.

My sinus infection turned into the winter crud that graces the population every year. It is not quite the flu, but it leaves you feeling miserable with a deep cough, sneezing, loss of voice, and that miserable “blah” feeling. Being stubborn and determined not to let feeling bad keep me from slowing down, I powered through my days. I wasn’t feeling sick enough to actually take a sick day. As a teacher, I’m sure most of you have taught when you don’t feel well. And let’s face it, it’s sadly easier to go to school sick than prepare for a substitute. As you can imagine, I was not up to my usual “A game.” I taught my classes with hardly any energy and voice (I’m sure most of you know how hard it is to teach without a voice), I continued to tutor after school, and I continued working out. I powered through my days because that’s what I thought I was supposed to do. Though I never slowed down, it wasn’t until almost two weeks later that I finally started feeling like myself again. For the two days over the weekend, I was happy to just feel like myself.

Then it quickly hit in the middle of class on Monday afternoon:the chills, the body aches, and the awful feeling. I went home after school and couldn’t move for two days. It was the flu. Though I had received the flu shot and am always conscious about washing my hands, I felt as if my body was forcing me to slow down and get better. I couldn’t be stubborn and power through this one. Once the worst of the flu passed, the pink eye hit in both eyes and lasted for almost a week. On top of the pink eye, the glands in my throat were so swollen that my throat and ears were on fire. This also lasted for two weeks. My body was definitely teaching me a lesson, and all I kept thinking was, “I’m tired of feeling like this.”

Looking back on my icky-feeling February, I can’t help but wonder if I would have gotten the flu if I had taken care of myself when I first started feeling bad. We live in such a fast-paced busy world and are often too worried about the wellbeing of others or getting things done that we often forget to slow down and take time to take care of ourselves. While reflecting on my February, an important question popped into my head.

“How can I expect the best from my students if I can’t be my best self?”

As teachers, we understand the importance of modeling. Would I want any of my students powering through their day if they truly felt ill? When they are feeling down, would I ever ask them to power through it? If my answer is no, why can’t I give myself the same answer? And if I was modeling these behaviors for my students, what actions will they pick up and duplicate? Hopefully the answer is none.

As humans, we don’t have to be sick to be run down. Constantly going without taking a break will eventually wear you down physically and mentally. You can’t drive a car without having to refill it with gas. The same applies to us. We can’t keep going without being refueled not just with food, but with breaks. In this fast paced world, it can be difficult to find those moments to stop and refuel. It doesn’t have to be long, and it doesn’t have to necessarily cost money. Just a few minutes a day can do wonders for your sanity. Here are some of my favorite self-care ideas:

Give yourself a manicure and/or pedicure. While going to the salon for a mani/pedi is relaxing, this can be both time-consuming and expensive. A quick 20-minute self-manicure (and pedicure if you have the time) is a great way to give yourself a mental break and look great! When picking my outfit for the next day, I like to paint my nails to coordinate with my outfit. The students always notice when I do this (they are very observant!), and the added compliment helps us mentally!
Read a book. As teachers, we are always stressing the importance of reading to our students. Are we also stressing that importance to ourselves? Reading just 5 or 10 minutes a day is a great way to relax and escape reality. For those few minutes (or hours if you just can’t put it down), you’re able to escape into a literary world and live through someone’s eyes. Sometimes even scanning my library’s website to find a good book is just as relaxing as actually reading. Check to see if your library offers the lending of e-books. You won’t even have to leave your house to check out a book!
Take a walk or get some exercise. You don’t necessarily have to go outside for this. If you’re working at your computer and your eyes begin to cross, take a walk down the hall. Even just a brief 5 minute walk will help you more alert and ready to tackle your work upon returning to your computer. Exercise is a great way to increase self-care. Find your favorite activity and go for it!
Watch a TV show or a movie. Most of us have a favorite TV show or movie as a guilty pleasure. On a night when I know my favorite show will be on, I make sure to take care of anything and everything necessary before settling down to watch. In doing so, I’m able to let go and focus on the show as opposed to being distracted by everything else I need to do.
Find a hobby. We teach because we love teaching. However, even teachers need a break from teaching. What is something else you love to do? Crafting? Coloring books? Baking? Bird watching? If you love to do it, you owe it to yourself to do it every once in a while. Personally, I love puzzles. Puzzles allow my brain to focus on the fun challenge in front of me and block out the rest. After completing the EdTechTeam Teacher Leader Cohort 1 course (which I fully recommend), I received the EdTechTeam’s Future Ready Honeycomb Rubik’s Cube in the mail. I mentally reminded myself that I had always wanted to learn how to solve a Rubik’s cube after watching my own students solve them in under five minutes. I took it as a personal challenge and taught myself how to solve the Rubik’s cube. Now it sits in my office and helps aid in my quick mental breaks. It has also become quite the conversation starter!
Spend time with friends. Time flies by quickly, and we often do not slow down to realize this. When we are with friends, we tend to be more happy. Get your friends together and have some fun reminiscing or doing what you love! If you can’t be with them in person, most likely they are just a phone call, FaceTime, Skype, or Google Hangout away!
Sleep. It’s well known that we do not function well without enough sleep. Be sure to get enough sleep every night. Your mind and body will thank you the next day. Even a ten minute power nap in the afternoon will help you throughout the rest of your day.
Take a moment and breathe. In those very stressful moments, the easy path is to react rashly, scream, or cry. However, the easy path is not always the right path. In those tough instances, take a moment to breathe. Take a few deep breaths (I also like to say a quick prayer). Once you’ve had a moment to yourself, you will then find it easier to react appropriately.

Let’s face it, the mountain of work will always be there. We can either continue to power through—no matter the circumstance and no matter how we are feeling—or we take a moment to rest and ensure we are our best selves. Don’t let life teach you this lesson the hard way. Take the time to take care of yourself. Not only will you get more accomplished, but you will be the best self for your students. Don’t they deserve your best self?

Lauren Johnson is a Technology Coordinator and Middle School Computer, Coding and Robotics teacher from Covington, Lousiana. Also a Google Certified Educator, Apple Teacher and Certified BrainPOP Educator, you can follow Lauren @laurkjohnson.