“It can be a stressful time… and it’s therefore important to look after your own mental health and well-being during this busy period.”
For many, silly season is synonymous with Christmas, but in the world of teaching, it marks the beginning of getting ready for the last few months of term. End of year reports, evaluating students’ progress and forwarding feedback to your classes new teacher for the next academic year are a handful of the tasks you’ll be ticking off the checklist.
It can be a stressful time as you still have your students to focus on and lessons to complete and it’s therefore important to look after your own mental health and well-being during this busy period.
But don’t despair! We’ve done our research (A*s all round) and have created a list of what we think are the most effective ways to manage silly season, keeping stress at bay and future-proofing a fun and exciting end of academic year for not only yourself, but your students too!
Shared Goals: Dependent on the age of your class, you can discuss with them that although the last few months of term are very exciting, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. Explain to them that you need their full cooperation with handing in work, keeping on top of homework and bringing work in on its due date. If the whole class works as a team in keeping to these expectations, then it means the class can have more fun days as the summer months approach. You could set up a goals chart for the class to focus on. Ideas such as, getting projects in on time, organising the classroom and finishing uncompleted work. If the class reach the goals, you could treat them to a special day to celebrate.
Purpose: The stress of the year may have been felt significantly this academic term with strikes and financial pressures taking a massive toll on teachers. Try to remember why you decided on becoming a teacher, spend some time reflecting on what your purpose is as a teacher? Jot down all the positive differences you’ve made this year, have there been any big changes in some of your students learning? Perhaps you’ve helped some pupils through difficult times and offered emotional support. Remember not to be hard on yourself, teachers are doing the best they can in very challenging circumstances and even what you think might have been a small amount of help could have been a massive game-changer to one of your students this year.
Your well-being: Looking after your own mental health and well-being is crucial to being a great teacher. Your students look to you as a role model, some maybe even a parental figure and a friend. You want to be in as good a place as you can mentally and physically to offer your pupils stability, life-long skills and emotional regulation. Creating healthy habits in your life outside of school such as a good sleep pattern, exercising and eating healthy will certainly support you through tough days as a teacher. Remember to be kind to yourself too, be compassionate and focus on the positives.
Organisation: This is key when it comes to getting through the last few months of the academic year. Make a checklist of all the tasks that need undertaken and be honest. List everything, from marking exams, writing reports, clearing resources and finishing up end of year lesson plans. When everything is written down it makes it a lot less stressful to navigate as it’s out of your head and on paper. You might even want to give yourself deadline dates to stick to for each task and then list them in date order to make working through more effective. Having your list will also flag up anything that you might need extra time to work on, or assistance from classroom assistants or fellow teaching staff.
Rewire revision: If you’re a teacher of older children, you may be helping them prepare for end of year exams. Ultimately there will be feeling of stress and anxiety in the classroom as your pupils get ready to sit exams. Mix things up in the classroom and make revision bearable by having them revise without even realising they are doing so. We know that everyone learns differently, some are visual, verbal, logical, social or solitary. And it’s therefore important to mix revision up so all students feel that they are included in learning. You’ll also be showing your class different ways of learning, giving them skills that will carry them throughout their school years.
Brain breaks: Giving yourself and your pupils the opportunity to have a break from the classroom and learning will be a very welcome outlet during the last number of months. Take your class out around the playground for their daily mile, have them explore nearby nature or if the weather isn’t great, simply take your class to the PE hall and let them shake off their energy. Children will of course be feeling restless at this stage of the year, they may be fed-up with learning and it’s important to go with their feelings and let them get creative, dance, sing or explore! You may find yourself coming up with some innovative ways to let your class have fun, so just go with it!
Have a chat: A simple method, but one that gets overlooked – talking through your stresses and worries as a teacher with a colleague, family member or friend will lessen your mental load and positively impact on your well-being. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the checklist that needs completed, or the report letters that need written for each student discuss your concerns with someone you can confide in. They may be able to offer practical ways to help and you’ll feel relieved that your worries are being listened to. Having a walk after a busy day of teaching is a great mood booster and if you feel that things are getting you down more than often, always reach out to your GP and seek professional help.
