Stress Relief for Teachers and Students

Let's face it: teaching is a tough job. There are plenty of obstacles that teachers face in and out of the classroom, whether it is behavioral issues in the classroom, or the workload outside of the classroom. Grading papers, grading homework assignments, and making lesson plans is just one of many parts of the job.

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 the Teachers.tv video series How Stressed Is Your School?, and then find out what you can do to relieve stress. The videos range from 30-45 minutes, but offer teachers scenarios they can relate to, and ways he or she can release stress.

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 EducationWorld 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.

Stress Relief for Students

Schools isn't just stressful for teachers. With these resources, 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.

What have you done to relieve stress in your classroom? One school district hired a yoga teacher to arrive shortly after the last class so that teachers can breathe and stretch their stress away. Share your ideas in the comments.

Updated: 03/30/2015