This week at school, I had several meetings where it became apparent to me that many of my collegues are really stressed out from our school reorganization. Most teachers expressed the fact that they like the new school they are in and they like the kids. The problem is the HUGE adjustment to the increase in workload.
Some teachers came from a very small middle school and are now teaching in a huge middle school. They may have had 60 total students and now are dealing with over 100 students. Many teachers are looking at an overwhelming increase in paperwork because of the increase in the number of students and they are wondering how they will keep up.
Other teachers have an increased number of classes too. The district has tried to have as many teachers instructing 6 classes a day as they can. I have almost always taught six a day, but many of my co-workers have not. Plus my paperwork load would be way less than say..the Language Arts teachers.
So what to do? I have decided to try to offer stress relief by running a fitness night every Monday at 3:45 p.m. Teaching can be oh so stressful and it's hard for anyone who doesn't teach to fully understand how physically and mentally draining it can be. We all can really use the stress relief of a good workout. I sent out an e-mail to all my co-workers to see if there would be any interest and many people said yes. So we are going to sweat it out together at least one night a week to see if we can bring the stress level down a bit. I will keep you posted. What about you? What do you do to keep your stress level of your job manageable? Post it here. We at MCMS could use any suggestions you have!
I have started back into a fitness regime in the last twelve months. Our school has also started a time for fitness twice a week. I know it has helped me with stress. It helps take my mind off work, but it directs all that energy somewhere. I feel better for being healthier. Its been a great way to chill out, because I'm usually working out with friends or colleagues.
ReplyDeleteIt would be so great if we could all incorporate fitness into part of our work day! Even the kids we teach (although I'm at the college level, I still encourage them to get their exercise). I was at a Higher Ed Teaching and Learning conference this past weekend and learned that aerobic exercise is the top thing you can do to improve your cognitive function! If only we could figure out a way to all workout every day we'd all learn better. :)
ReplyDeleteI wish we could convince our school boards and administrators that cutting recess and PE from the school day is really shooting our kids in the foot when it comes to cognitive function!
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