According to the U.S. Department of Labor, "Teaching may be frustrating when one is dealing with unmotivated or disrespectful students. Occasionally, teachers must cope with unruly behavior and violence in the schools. Teachers may experience stress in dealing with large classes, students from disadvantaged or multicultural backgrounds, or heavy workloads. … Accountability standards also may increase stress levels, with teachers expected to produce students who are able to exhibit satisfactory performance on standardized tests in core subjects."
Do you ever find yourself dealing with unmotivated, disrespectful, or
unruly students? With students from disadvantaged or multicultural backgrounds?
With large classes, heavy workloads, or unreasonable accountability standards?
With job-related stress? What teacher doesn't? The Education World articles
below can help!
Learn More About Stress Relief
Check out your stress level with the Teachers.tv Stress Test. And then, do something about it!
How Do You Spell 'Stress Relief'?
With teachers under pressure to do more and more in the classroom, stress seems inevitable. But stress takes a toll on teachers' health and on their effectiveness as educators. Several stress-reduction experts share their advice with Education World readers. Included: Exercises and activities to relieve teacher stress.
Calm is Strength, Upset is Weakness
Classroom management requires calm. Because upset happens quickly, however, you have to learn to relax immediately and automatically when confronted. A calm response to provocation can be learned, but it takes practice. Dr. Fred Jones explains relaxation techniques to help you deal with the stress in your classroom.
Principals Offer 30 Ways to Fight Stress
Being a principal is a stressful job -- no doubt about it! But since stress does come with the territory, principals also are masters of dealing with it -- and they can get pretty creative about it. We asked our Principal Files team to share their stress-busting tips with you. Maybe some of these 30 ideas will be ones you haven't thought of before.
20 Teacher-Tested Tips for a Stress-Free Year
Does the pressure of dealing with student lethargy, parental demands, and administrative imperatives cause you to wear a path in your classroom floor? Is ulcer medication the first item on your weekly grocery list? Have you tried all the traditional tips for lowering job-related stress and found them ineffective? Have we got a tip (or 20) for you!
Laugh and the World Laughs with You
It's the end of another stressful week -- time to live a little; laugh a lot. Experts say humor can be an extremely important component of an educator's long-term professional survival. To make sure humor is a part of your world, Education World brings you some of the funniest education-related sites on the Web.
I've Grown Accustomed to the Stress
To many teachers, the hurried pace, the frantic race, the mountain of unfinished details can seem too much to bear. But not to Education World's own lyricist, Eric Baylin. "My system has adjusted," Baylin sings. "I've grown accustomed to the stress." Maybe his latest song can help you deal with stress too.
Stress-Relief for Students
You can help your students deal with stress too!
Learning to Tap Away Stress, Anger
In this Wire Side Chat, psychologist Dr. Lynne Namka, author of Good Bye Ouchies and Grouchies, Hello Happy Feelings, describes how teachers can use the self-soothing Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) to help students let go of their worries and release tension in a positive way.
Comedy in the Classroom: Just What the Doctor Ordered?
Emily Oldak, author of Comedy for Real Life, describes how stumbling into comedy led her to a career of teaching others to lighten up. In this Wire Side Chat, Oldak explains the role of comedy in teaching and how it can ease the tensions of children in an unsettled world. Included: Oldak shares tips for teaching with comedy.
A Laugh and a Half: Students Make Funny-Poem Mobiles
Students in grades K-8 read a variety of funny poems, find their favorites, write funny poems of their own, and then display their poems on a smile-mobile. Student worksheet included.
Ogden Nash's Humorous Verse
In this every-day edit worksheet, students read about Ogden Nash, an American poet noted for humorous verse, and edit the information.
Striking Out Stress: A "Gallery Walk" Activity
This lesson actively involves students in grades 6-12 in a discussion about the causes and effects of stress, and helps them find ways to cope with it.
Stress Relief
