Heading 1NDMTSS Conference
Description
Teachers have always needed to know and practice protective strategies in their social emotional first aid kits to manage the daily stressors of working on the front lines of a human-service oriented profession. That need has never been greater given the massive increase in uncertainty and unpredictability in the teaching profession and in one's personal life due to COVID.
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In short, teaching is emotional labor-- the effort required to manage and metabolize strong emotions like anger, shame, guilt, anxiety, and overwhelm, as well as generate and stoke positive emotions like joy, hope, and compassion.
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Stress significantly diminishes a teacher's capacity to regulate their negative emotions and cultivate positive emotions. Ironically, teachers who leave the profession often cite their inability to cope with their own emotional reactions to loss of control, unpredictability, and lack of purpose in their teaching as the primary reason for burnout.
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There are many, many strategies and practices rooted in cognitive and affective neuroscience and social and behavioral sciences that teachers can learn, practice, and integrate into their personal and professional lives as teachers to metabolize stress, manage negative energy, protect themselves from the burnout cycle, and find joy in teaching the whole year through!
Learning Objectives
In this session, teachers will:
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Explore the core elements of the teacher burnout cycle and learn how to protect one's self from the 2 paths to burning out,
The Greatest Sacrifice,
YOU
Isn't an option
Learning Objectives
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Learn how to disrupt the dominate narrative that "burnout" is necessary to be a good teacher and that taking time for self-attention, self-care, and self-restoration is selfish and takes too much time
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Explore the 3 primary ways burnout shows itself in the life of a teacher, and learn how to protect one's self from going down the 2 paths to burning out,
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Learn the 3 core elements of teacher well-being: PURPOSE, PERSPECTIVE, POSITIVITY
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Establish your personal and professional PURPOSE of making your mental, emotional, and spiritual health a priority
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Create a practical Present Teacher Practice Plan for your PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL, MENTAL, and SPIRITUAL Well-Being in your professional and personal life.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
BREATH is your base for your well-being
REFLECTIONS on the
PURPOSE of my BEING Well.
When you are feeling well in mind, body, and spirit, what do love most about how you relate to:
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YOURSELF:
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I love that I....
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THOSE IN YOUR INNER CIRCLE:
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I love that I....
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YOUR LIFE:
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I love that I.....
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YOUR EXTENDED GROUP OF LOVED ONES:
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I love that I....​
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When you are feeling well in mind, body, and spirit, what do love most about how you relate to:
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YOUR STUDENTS:
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I love that I....
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YOUR PEERS:
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I love that I....
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YOUR SCHOOL COMMUNITY/ CAREGIVERS of your STUDENTS:
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I love that I.....​
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In what concrete ways is your "well-being" your greatest professional asset?
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What are your top 3 core values as a teacher (see below)
When you are healthy and well, how does your well-ness allow you to express your core values? (Spiritual Wellness)
How do YOU define "impact" as a teacher?
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How does expressing your core values create greater impact as a teacher?
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Self-Care Practice Plan
There is SO much power in JUST ONE THING when it comes to committing to your mental, physical, and spiritual health.
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Grab a piece of paper or a sticky note.
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Simply choose ONE element of well-being (e.g., Physical, Mental, or Spiritual).
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Write down ONE thing you can realistically commit to practicing (and releasing) every single day for the next 7 days.
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VALUE-BASED Actions are proven to be more effective than goal setting.
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Remind yourself "How does my well-being serve both me and my students? ​How do I want to be when feeling stressed? What simple daily practices can I commit to will allow me to practice my well-being when I'm not stressed so that when I get stressed, I have some physical, mental, and spiritual immunity built?
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RECEIVE(+) RELEASE(-)
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M
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hysical
ental
piritual
What is ONE simple thing you can "receive" or do every day for your physical body this week?
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RECOMMENDATIONS:
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drink more water
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do 10 minutes of movement throughout your day
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do a body scan meditation every day for the next 7 days (click here to try one out!)
What is ONE simple thing you can "receive" or do every day for your mental health?
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RECOMMENDATIONS:
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perseverating on the positive by looking for the good and practicing gratitude
What is ONE simple thing you can "receive" or do every day for your spiritual health-- that means doing that thing that YOU love to do and makes you happy?
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What is ONE thing you can "release" doing that would positively impact your physical health?
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What is ONE thought or expectation you have of yourself that you could release for the next week just to see how it feels to NOT BE ABLE TO THINK THAT THOUGHT?
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As Teachers Our
WELL-BEING is Collective
If "I" am unwell it creates "Illness" for the self and the collective.
When "WE" are well it creates "WEllness for the self and the collective.
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When we realize that our greatest professional impact is our ability to have our Well-Being-ness create spaces of grace where those we teach feel safe to be fully seen in our presence,
we begin to have reverence for the practice of our own self-seeing, self-attention, and self-reverence.
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TEACHERS of BASSWOOD
We need you to be well!
We want you to be well!
We want you to stop every single day to give to yourself ALL the same gifts of presence, thought, and care you extend so graciously to those you lead.
When you give to you, we receive.
(*Yes! You are that powerful!)