![]() As us messy and stressy readers are all aware, being in our early twenties in college makes us want to pull our hair out in ten different directions. In my life as a Rowan University Student, writing countless education papers and stepping into multiple schools is incredible, yet challenging. Even though this is all true , making sure children have a smile on their faces in the classroom and having them call me ‘Mrs. Rubinson” is still my desired career path. Getting ready to put on that “teacher face” for the rest of my life is exciting, but can be VERY messy and stressy sometimes. There have been many days where I have had a bright smile in the classroom, and other days where I come back to my apartment to wipe countless tears out of my eyes. This is the story of an extreme messy and stressy situation of a time that my stress level was at its highest peak so far working in the teaching field. ![]() The situation that made my stress level feel ten times worse than usual while being in the teaching environment would most definitely be in the field experience that I had this spring semester. Every Thursday this semester, I had the privilege of stepping through Dorothy Bullock Elementary doors at eight am sharp. The date of this day that caused me to feel like a hot mess occurred on April 12th to be exact. I was already feeling a bit shaky on the start of this bright, sunny morning. Usually, I never pour myself a cup of coffee before going into field, but today was a different story. That is because the famous “WAWA Free Coffee” sign was hanging proudly from my local Wawa today. I also noticed in the mirror that I had extra tired bags under my face, so coffee was a much needed thing on this very morning as well. ![]() Today was also a VERY big stepping stone into my teaching career for. Today was the very first time that I would take a hand -written lesson plan and conduct it into a real lesson on clouds for third graders. As you all can probably tell, I do not do well with situations that are out of my comfort zone. Creating cloud books for multiple hours the previous night before was not helping my stress this morning either. Setting up my cloud books, demonstration where food coloring dips down from shaving cream, my hands began to sweat immensely. It felt like there was an actual cloud around my head because my thoughts were all over the place. Therefore, my tip before walking out the door was to get everything for my lesson organized. I have learned personally and from my therapist that organization is the key to putting a smile back on your face when stressed! Placing my books and notes in an organized manner, my body began to feel at peace again. I learned that this was an amazing way to manage stress. Flash forwarding to the moment after the students closed their foundations book, the stress began to flood my body much more then before. It was now time to attempt to hold some of the stress back and begin the lesson. ![]() The cloud over my head was suffocating me because the students would not stop calling my name over and over again. Then, I decided to take a step back for a moment. "Hey Tori, would you mind helping me out and showing the students how to put their clouds on their projects?", I said in a pleading voice. This caused the lesson to go ALOT smoother. Therefore, I learned that asking for help is an excellent tool to use in the classroom. Unicheck.com expresses that "Teachers and school authorizes encourage them to have a dialogue about stress management." This caused my emotions to relax a bit. ![]() After this occurred, chanting of students still not understanding clouds surrounded me. The stress was piling up again and my heart was beating a mile per minute. All of these negative thoughts were bringing my confidence down and my stress level up even more. Then, a thought popped into my head about a tip to help these feelings dissipate. Coolcatteacher.com states that a great tip to help teachers reduce stress is, "Interupt negative thought loops and replace them with others." (p.1) Positive thoughts rose into my body and I began to explain the directions in a clearer manner to help the students.The negative thoughts began to erase, and the students understood what I was teaching them better! ![]() Walking out of the school and jumping right into sweatpants at 3p.m allowed me to reflect on my messy and stressy day. Teaching a lesson for the first time is like riding a bike for the first time without training wheels. It is hard, but eventually, you will be able to manage it on your own. With the help and guidance of stress relieving tips, I was able to "flip" my emotions and have a successful lesson in the end! Comment down below how you manage stress in the classroom.I would love to hear some of your tips so I can use them as well! Let's learn how to take the messy and stressy out of our teaching lives! xoxo Vicky Categories: Stress, stress Management, teaching, positivity.All Early Twenties Night Time Stress Relief Stress Managment Teaching
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Categories: stress, stress management, mornings.All Early Twenties Night Time Stress Relief Stress Managment Teaching |