An Open Letter to the Overwhelmed, Stressed Teacher…

Stressed Teachers Unite… You know the ones.

They wander around the campus looking disheveled.

Can’t find their keys, glasses, papers, grade books, etc.

They run on caffeine and too little sleep.

They tend to surround themselves with drama and negativity.

Stressed teachers need all the help they can get. Maybe the stressed teacher is you, and you are Googling ideas to keep yourself from having that breakdown.

Let me ask you- are you ready to transform your teaching, starting with your environment?

Are you ready to increase your own productivity and reduce your stress hormones?

Imagine a learning environment that allows your students to exceed the academic expectations placed upon them and YOU!

Do you dream about a classroom that runs on autopilot so you can focus on home life at the end of every day?

Imagine this space costing NOTHING to create…

In the Beginning…

OK let’s back up a bit! It’s somewhere around 16 years ago (I know- how do you even remember that far back Tina?) Let’s just say when it is a life-defining moment you take notice! Maybe not in the moment, but definitely on the other side of change…

So I’m 10 years into my teaching career, my life is not quite what I imagined. I am a newly single mom, in the midst of chaos, trying to find my new normal. My babies are in desperate need of a mom who can give them all the comfort and security they are craving.

So what do I do? I spend the time escaping reality, in the depths of a brand new platform called Pinterest, and making all the cute matchy-matchy things for my classroom. 

Stressed Teacher Guidebook

You know the room, it looks like a teaching supply outlet store. I was known as the pond classroom. I had all of my matching rainbow tubs set out so I could divide the children into learning groups that were rainbow color-coded to match the flowers on the Lilly pads. The walls were covered in ABC charts, number lines, colors, and shapes charts (which all had coordinating colorful frogs and lily pads on them).

I had every child’s name written on a frog-shaped card, covering the door. The frog name cards were ready for rainbow color-coded cubbies. I had color-coded labels for all of the centers and bright colored pictures that showed students where to return items. I was a seasoned teacher, so I had accumulated a healthy amount (read: hoarder status) of manipulative items, oodles of books, and other items for my students to use as learning tools. Whew- just writing it all out makes me itchy! 

And I just KNEW the learning would begin on day one because it was CUTE and HAD ALL THE THINGS…

The plan was to put my day to day teaching on autopilot so I could focus on my family. Instead what I encountered was a teaching year like no other! I felt like a stressed teacher about to suffer a breakdown. It was a tough year, to say the least. 

If It’s Broke–FIX IT

I knew after 3 days into school something had to change! BUT HAD NO IDEA WHERE TO START! The block center was a war zone, literally! And the library was a place to knock every book off the shelf, and step on them while making room for forts. The majority of my class started using the bookshelf as a climbing structure, and there were NO learning centers happening. They threw blocks, broke toys, tore books, and basically had a free-for-all for 6 hours every day. My classroom management was nowhere to be found. All of that “escaping reality” was starting to hit me in the face!

I went home every afternoon in tears and struggled to come to school each morning. My hair was falling out from stress and my family was struggling because I was exuding constant negativity. My classroom was no longer a place I wanted to be.

I was drowning in classroom management (because I had spent the summer prepping cute things, not working on intentional environment design) and I was stuck and felt all of my tricks were useless!

Teacher Stress Affects Students

AT THIS POINT I COULD HAVE GIVEN UP, STAYING STUCK IN MY WAYS. I ACTUALLY CONSIDERED LEAVING THE PROFESSION…It’s a tough pill to swallow when you know you are meant for more, and the day-to-day grind is going to be your undoing.

As a result, I did some soul-searching, researching the heck out of my dilemma. From there I made an intentional decision and made one small change every day to meet those students where they were. I worked on my own positivity and came PREPARED every morning…

What I realized was that I couldn’t do it without some intentional prep work. Because I still had those babies at home that needed me. And I still needed an environment that ran on autopilot. So I started to put into action the plans and processes that would ultimately lead me to an intentional learning space. And rid my life of the stressed teacher feeling.

As I developed my educational space that year (and every year since), I began to notice that the ideas I was incorporating actually helped ME relax. And in turn, so did my students AND MY CHILDREN AT HOME!

As I began to take action I started noticing increased productivity. This was actually the first year that the students not just met but EXCEEDED the academic expectations set forth by my admin and state. 

Natural Environments Help Stressed Teachers

All of this to say, natural environments helped every one of my classes (after understanding how to create one), and helped to combat my teacher stress! My suggestion to you…

Go into your learning space, take some time to breathe, and follow the Master Guide to help intentionally design your classroom environment:

• One that will help transform challenging behaviors
• Combat visual overwhelm
• Enhance child-centered learning
• Control the Sunday scaries
• Reduce stress levels, BOTH yours and the students
• Increase productivity 
• All while giving you a beautiful, intentionally designed space where you spend the majority of your days!

I can honestly say that after 26 years in the classroom, I still felt renewed, rejuvenated, and ready for whatever my class list (I had 17 boys and 0 girls that fateful year) or life brought me…

Let me guide and help you achieve a space worthy of all you do. Let me help you intentionally incorporate the self-regulation you and your students are craving!

Until next time, keep learning to play the nature way~