According to the World Health Organisation Icelandic people are amongst the longest living on the planet. On average they make it to over 83 years of age. Despite Iceland being a terrible place to live (food is scarce, winters last for nine months, for a number of days there are only four hours of sunlight…
Formula For Success – Keep It Simple
Teachers (and other staff who work in schools) are often our own harshest critic. We are often self-critical and can be REALLY tough on ourselves. We can feel like there is always more that can and should be done and it can seem like our work is never ending. The following simple strategies are the…
Strategies to Reduce Your Frustration
Teaching can be demanding and at times frustrating. As an experienced teacher, I have made a conscious effort to develop strategies that I can deploy when I feel frustrated at school. Here are some of the techniques that work for me. Don’t rant endlessly, but do seek support from your colleagues. Everyone needs friends at…
Coping With Change
Change can be hard. Often change is for the good. Occasionally change brings about worse outcomes. The one predictable aspect of change is its inevitability. Coping with change is one of the biggest challenges in schools – the sheer volume, let alone the rate of change, can be overwhelming. Avoiding change fatigue can be critical…
Overcoming the Challenges of Working From Home
Staff in many schools are currently working remotely. Whilst many people will initially be happy to be ‘working from home’ (teaching in your pyjamas sounds great), it does come with its challenges and demands. Everyone who works remotely has to figure out when to work, where to work and how to create boundaries between their…
Two Words to Start the Day With in Challenging Times
Sad but true – we all have a Use By Date. Whilst we don’t like to think about it, it is inevitable. At some stage we are all going to die. In “The Comfort Crisis” author Michael Easter quotes researchers from the University of Kentucky who had people think about death and the result was…they…
Good Intentions Aren’t Enough
Most of us have good intentions about looking after our own well-being. We also have a pretty clear idea about what we SHOULD be doing. We SHOULD do the most important things FIRST! We SHOULD get some exercise, even when we are busy! We SHOULD stop and eat a healthy lunch! We SHOULD drink more…
Sleep is as Important to Your Health as Diet and Exercise
Sleep is something we all do; in fact, we spend around a third of our lives in this strange, unconscious state. A lack of sleep impacts on our physical and mental health. Too little sleep can devastate your body, brain and microbiome (gut bacteria), dramatically increasing your risk of developing a range of chronic conditions….
How Well Do You Currently Manage Your Stress Level?
It’s not a very comfortable thought, but true nonetheless; staff who work in schools are at very high risk of burnout. All of us are. We don’t have to be new teachers or have a difficult schedule or even teach the worst-behaved students in the school. This makes sense if you consider how we spend…
Directions For Recalculating From the GPS Girl
What does it mean to Recalculate? When we are in the car and we hear the voice in the GPS say “Recalculating” we know we have taken a wrong turn. The satellites work their magic and in a few quick turns we are headed toward our destination. In fact, by the time we even hear the…