It's the end of the year- Are you Burned out?

As we approach the end of the school year it doesn’t seem strange that our Friday staff reading was on teacher burnout. I went away, did some research on my own and found a treasure trove of top 10 lists of things to prevent teacher burnout. So many in fact, David Letterman might be jealous. The following were some of my favorite suggestions:

• Watch a funny movie
• Leave your teaching at school
• Get plenty of sleep

My immediate reaction to these lists is always, What the what?

• My students are hilarious, and every day I giggle at the craziness that happens in my Early Learning classroom. A funny movie will not ebb the tide of report writing, or endless meetings or feeling that I am just at the end of my rope. It is a 2 hour band aid that gets ripped off as soon as credits roll.
  
• Ummm, do you even lift? Teachers choose this profession because they care. Part of becoming a master teacher is taking time to reflect on the teaching and learning happening in our classrooms during downtime. Some of my best ideas for design thinking or provocations come when I am in the shower, or having a beer on the balcony… mulling over the learning that takes place in my classroom.
• Seriously, I know. I should drink lots of water, sleep, and eat right. But that is just general knowledge about how to be a functioning human (Granted, probably a good suggestion).
  

I swear this image is stalking me. As we get closer to June It has shown up more frequently on Facebook, Twitter and even reddit. 

I am not entirely a critical jerk, I do have some other ideas that seem to have worked for me for over the last 14 years of my teaching career. I am not saying that there haven't been times that I felt burned out. There have been. But these are daily strategies that have helped me to combat those times and move forward in positivity.

1. Live the Learner Profile.
Ya, I know I sound like an IB talking head. Actually, I don’t mean it glibly, and I am the first to admit I don’t always succeed. But if I want a student to be a certain type of learner, I too have to embody the same attitudes and attributes that I profess to hold in high regard, or else I'm just a big hypocrite. The attribute that I suck at the most? Being Balanced. Balance is a skill that is hard to master.  Working together as a learning community to become balanced makes for happier learners and happier teachers.  Unpacking this skill for little kids is hard though. Jeff and I wrote an easy reader book to help teachers, parents and students have real world examples of how to be balanced and happy.

Click on the image to find the eBook on Amazon
Not sure what the Learner Profile is but want to learn more?
Click here.

2. Practice mindfulness.
In The Times today I read an article that stated,

State school pupils don’t know right from wrong, says top teacher
"State schools are creating amoral children because they spend more time on academic studies than learning right from wrong, a leading independent school headmaster will say today."
(Mr Walden is the dude that said that!).

For obvious reasons this is distressing. Kids that are under so much pressure to gain academic knowledge that they don’t know right from wrong- is that ok?

Many teachers are turning to mindful practice within their classrooms to help bring balance to their learning community. I conducted a research study on the effectiveness of 2 minute mini-breaks on the academic success of kindergarten students in an international school in Korea way back in 2006. I designed a gauge of student stress indicators and off-task behaviors that would trigger a mini-break. The breaks included, but were not limited to Yoga, mediation, short videos, dance, and computer games.
It was a very long and most likely boring paper.
However, the results were significant. In the highly academically driven culture of Korea, I observed that children were more engaged, on task and happy when mini-breaks were incorporated into the teaching and learning cycle. No new news there, but please remember, it was 2006!! I was a graduate student and I called them "mini-breaks" -cringe. Mindfulness in education hadn't become a hot topic.

Some of my students- waaaay back when I taught grade 3

The view from my 18th floor apartment of my hood (Dong) in Nambu Terminal

Back then, Facebook was relatively new, no one was on Twitter and my 'social network' consisted of me sitting in a smoky PC Bang with a bunch of gamers, hunt and pecking out emails on Korean keyboards and sending them out into the æther hoping someone would write me back. So much has changed in the last decade. Consider,

“Educators are turning to mindfulness with increasing frequency–perhaps a good thing, considering how digital technology is splitting kids’ attention spans too. (The average American teen sends and receives more than 3,000 text messages a month.)

Click on the image and read the full article

Click on the image to read the full article on mindful practice

So what does mindfulness in the classroom look like now?

Understanding mindfulness takes a bit of unpacking for learners-

I think a noisy classroom is a learning classroom- but sometimes, noise can mean off-task behavior. Teaching the skill of refocusing helps kids stay invested in the learning experience.

But how does mindful practice and teaching mindfulness help us as teachers avoid burnout? Being present in the moment and in control of our emotional state helps us to not become overwhelmed with the inevitable burden of tasks that teachers face. Personally, it helps me to be more present with a concerned parent, calm about those slightly overdue report cards, or more positive about that policy change that doesn't seem to make sense. It helps me put the details into the context of the bigger picture and appreciate the amazing moments I help construct within my learning community. It helps my students to focus on character education as well as academics and develop a clear connection with others. Which of course, helps them know right from wrong which reduces conflicts and builds a positive community of learners.
I dig this site to help me set the tone each day: The Mindful Teacher.

3. Give more.
Yes, you read that right. People with purpose are happier. Design your inquiry towards service learning and solve problems that are in your local and global community. Connect with other schools trying to make a difference. Empower your students to take action and feel that their learning has an impact. You may think that service or problem based learning is more work for teachers- but actually when designed well, is the kind of 'work' that teachers live for. Exciting, active, hands on, empowered and sustained.

This is a great place to get started for service learning!
Click on the image to visit Cathryn Berger Kaye's amazing website full of resources!

Click on the image to purchase ED-ucation Publishing's book all about student action and visit the website full of complementary resources to help you get started on the journey of service learning.

Giving makes us aware of our circumstance in relation to that of others. It makes us grateful, it builds our sense of connection, happiness and purpose. And when teachers have purpose- we are driven. On fire, but not burned out.

Tosca Killoran