Feeling Stress?
Posted by Kim Murphy on 17 Feb 2009 | Posted in: Life After School, Teachers and Teaching
This is me after Jazzercise. I’m tired, I’m sweaty, and my photographer is standing really far away from me—so I’m probably a little stinky as well. I try to exercise whenever possible, but let’s be honest, shall we? I would rather be sitting on the couch eating a cheesecake and watching reruns of House. (I just love that surly physician!) There are two reasons why I force myself to work out—the first being that I don’t want to buy larger pants. The more important reason is to reduce stress. Teachers have a lot of stress in their lives! What about teaching stresses you out the most, and how do you combat that stress? Do you exercise? Talk to coworkers? Bite your nails? Take bubble baths? Go to professional development workshops? Drop me a quick message and let me know. And if you happen to have a good cheesecake recipe, I would be tickled if you would tuck that in as well!
Your exhausted blog host,
Kim Murphy
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25 Responses to “Feeling Stress?”
More Comments Pages: « 1 [2] 3 » Show All Comments
More Comments Pages: « 1 [2] 3 » Show All Comments
Living in a cold winter climate it is difficult to get outside and walk or bike, so I joined a 24hr.,7 days a wk. fitness gym. Many of my co-worker teacher friends have also joined. It does help deal with the stress so it is well worth the bucks. Also, don’t forget to laugh along with the students once in awhile. Some days are more difficult then others, but the kids do like to see you laugh. It lets them know that you enjoy them. Also, when you feel stressed and need to take a deep breath have the kids do it along with you. My Kindergartners do and it does help them relax and settle down.
I love all your ideas and would really like it if you could help me. I work 6:45-3:30 as a pre-school teacher of 7 very high energy boys, 1 of which is special needs and a just as active girl. I don’t find time to do circle time anymore and I barely find time to do art. We have gym class on Mondays and then we go outside and then it is lunch so Mondays are out. After work I go to another job due to I don’t make enough money:) which I am glad I do have because my husband just got laid off. Well I work there till 7:30 and on my feet running the whole time. I am a pharmecy tech at the hospital. I literally never sit down. I am home by eight and am exhausted, I eat and clean/laundry and go to bed. My husband is not helping w/ the cleaning. He is busy ice fishing. I have tried w/ this!!! I also work for the hospital every other Sat. so when I am off I am busy cleaning and getting stuff ready. I feel like I can never destress and am never prepared for the preschool job anymore. Any ideas????? HELP!!!!
I was happy to read that other teachers are feeling stressed. I have been taking this vacation to try to understand why I also feel stressed. I have come to the realization that it is not the students, parents, administers, or colleagues that make me stressed but me. I love to do hands on projects and have the students work in stations or centers even though I teach third grade. The curriculum has become such that it is impossible to keep it all up. I have come to the conclusion that LESS STRESS IS LESS MESS. I am giving up this crazy race and learning to empower my students as learners with the curriculum that is being demand. Yes I did some interesting and fun projects but no one is more important than me. In the end no one can teach at the speed I was going. Slow and steady wins the race!!
Not being prepared in the morning stresses me out. So I like to make sure the class is set up before the kids come in and I have extra stuff for them to do. I get stressed that kindergarden is now first grade and preschool (which is what I teach) is now kindergarden. I have been teaching for about 25 years and I love it. Remembering how much I like what I do helps me destress. Taking deep breaths, laughing with the kids, running around the bike track with the kids helps me destress. Reading what you all are saying helps me destress. It is important to remind myself to take good care of me.
Thanks Kathleen
Stress : ( Chocolate : ) A good power nap seems to help, I’m up at 5:00 a.m. everyday and I teach 3 & 4 year olds so my body is always moving and exhausted by 4 p.m.
I also walk with Leslie Sansone. You can get an energizing 2 mile walk done in half and hour. She has lots of videos to choose from (with varying number of miles) and you can walk in your home rain or shine. I try to walk in the morning before school, because I, too am either tired or busy with my own family activities in the evenings. I do feel better - more energy, etc - when I take time to exercise. It’s a good stress reliever.
I also am an exerciser. My fave are the Leslie Sansone DVD’s and videos. I’ve been doing them for years. I’d be interested in knowing what about all our preschool type jobs is most stressful to us? Quite honestly, my highest stress has nothing to do with the kids, though they can be a challenge. It’s the low salary I receive. I know, after many years, that we aren’t in this career for the money, but, my stars and stripes, it’s hard to make ends meet any more. THAT’s stress to me.
WOW! I am so glad I read the replies to this. I have been trying to think of ways to destress and while my current job of caring for children from my home is much less stressful than the last day care position I had - The stresses that come with going it alone, while worth it, can take their toll. I am definitely going to get an exercise ball, probably in several sizes so that I can sit on one and my small people can use theirs to exercise and play with. Also, I showed this to my boyfriend and he said we should see if any Wii Fits are in stock because we originally got our Wii just for that purpose. I too tend to curl up with a good book in winter and thus far long walks with the kids have been out due to the weather! Thanks for all the good ideas : )
I’m also exhausted at the end of the day. This is what I try for helping me “work out” during the day. Instead of sitting on a chair I sit on an exercise ball. We’ve all heard about having the high energy child sit on a ball during the day so their body has to concentrate on something else and it allows their minds to engage, so I’ve applied the same principle for some core muscle exercise. I even (sometimes) sit on a ball when I watch television at night!
Walking right after work is a great stress reducer also. Take the dog for a walk. I live in Wisconsin and have finally admitted to myself that I can buy clothes to keep warm in, even if it’s zero outside. The children go out if it’s above zero, so why can’t I? It’s a mind game.
I hate to exercise but love to walk. So spring,summer and fall I’m fine. Winter is when I just want to curl up with a good book and forget it all. Today will be the first day of our Walk on Wednesdays group at school. My principal has given permission for a small group of teachers,parents and people from the community to walk the halls after school. Who knows;we may add days and continue on the playground this spring!
I am really exhausted at the end of the day! If I can, I take a short nap when I get home–enough to get some energy back–then I’m good to go for the rest of the evening. I seem to have a second wind and am able to do what I need to do (make dinner, do schoolwork, check up on my mom with a quick phone call, etc.). I really need to get in some exercise time, I’ll have to work on that!
I am exhausted at the end of my day. The winter weather does not help either. All I want to do is go home and sit in front of the tv with a cup of hot chocolate. I keep telling myself to get up from the couch and use the step master while watching the evening news. Better yet I make myself walk around a local shopping mall. I can hardly wait until the weather becomes warmer and the days are longer. I can go for longer walks outdoors. I used to do water aerobics and occassionally jog around the local high school track. But now I do not do any of those things. I tried low impact aerobics with some co workers after work, but all of our schedules are so crazy! I am sure this is very familiar with a lot of us. Most days, I drink 2 diet cokes, trying to cut back to one a day. I have been trying to do simple strechting exersices and that has helped me a lot. Jenny