8 Ways to Refocus After a Stressful Week in the Classroom

By
Double Dose of Learning

This post originally appeared on the blog Double Dose of Learning. 

We’re hitting the reset button because last week was just one of those weeks! Today we’re sharing some tips on how to refocus in the classroom after a stressful week.
 
One

Spend time with your family. Each of the Double Dose ladies love spending time with their families and love to fill the weekends with family events. Some of our fall favorite family events include visiting the pumpkin patch, playing in the leaves, playing catch outside, and sitting outside with a nice cup of coffee! Teachers live, breathe, and sleep education all days of our lives so it’s necessary to spend time with your loved ones and refocus!

 
Two
Setting a goal. We special educators are all about setting clear, achievable goals and finding ways to help our students meet them. That practice should reflect in our lives too! Setting a goal for the week helps us stay motivated during those trying times. Your goal may be something as small as preparing all your materials for next week before Friday, or it could be as large as touching base with each of your students’ parents. Just remember that they need to be achievable! How can we expect our students to reach their goals if we can’t either?
 
 
Three
Refresh your Monday Mindset. Our students thrive on rewards and incentives. They’re always earning something and they’re constantly seeking adult attention. After last week, we’re increasing our positive reinforcement to make up for missed opportunities. This extra splash of positivity is sure to set the tone for our week.

Four

When all else fails, look forward to something. At times it’s difficult to think that our plans, our class management, our rewards, etc. aren’t working, but we have to remember that there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel. And this week, that light is a three-day weekend!

 
Five 

Pamper yourself! Take the time to go get that mani-pedi that you’ve been thinking about for the past week, grab a coffee and head to your favorite hair salon, or find time for that massage that you’ve been long overdue for. A little “me” time goes a long way in helping refresh your mindset… even if that just means a little longer than usual shower with a fresh face of makeup after!  

 
Six
Organization is key! No matter how stressful of a situation I am dealing with, I always feel better after I take some time to get organized. I’m not saying that you need to completely clean out that classroom closet or redo your entire leveled library, but try to tackle one small task of de-cluttering, labeling, sorting, or throwing out and it may help ease your mindset. I love coming in on Monday mornings to a clean desk that’s ready to go for the week! I also carry this over to my home, and tend to clean if I am stressed about something. The physical space that I am in has a lot to do with my mood and mindset, and nothing calms my inner “me” more than a clean and clutter free space. Ahhhhhhhh 🙂 
 
 
Seven

Consult your teacher bestie! Use the emotional advantage of having a friend down the hall at its fullest when you have had a rough week. Plan something together with your classes to look forward to-perhaps a Friday afternoon movie on the Smart Board after finishing a coordinating chapter book read aloud. Plan to bring each other your absolute favorite coffee the following week. Plan to have your lunches align so you can decompress and talk to someone that really gets it! 

 
Eight

LOVE what you do. LOVE your school, LOVE your coworkers and LOVE your kids. This may seem literally IMPOSSIBLE at times, but try to reflect on why you even began this career in the first place and just how far you have come as an educator. Whether this is your first year or fifteenth, there is a whole classroom of kiddos who need you, who make you the center of their world for 7 hours a day — even if they show it in the most unloving of ways at times. Take a couple of minutes to reflect on the quirkiness, uniqueness, perseverance and strength that each of the tiny humans who call you “teacher” every day has and the joy that they bring to you when you are able to be 100% present to them… and maybe, tomorrow your mind will be a little more at-ease, and you can continue on being the rock star teacher that you are! 🙂

  
{Interactive classroom resources for the busy teacher}

 
 

 

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When a 5-day week feels three times as long, it's time for a reset come Monday. Here, 2 teachers share 8 tips on how to refocus after a stressful week.The two teachers behind Double Dose of Learning are teacher besties, un-official co-teachers, and curriculum designers of interactive pocketbook units. They started creating engaging units for their special education classrooms and after observing their students success with the specific format that they created, they continued to create and teach with the same systematic approach for every topic. {Resources are geared for 1st through 4th grade depending on the unit}. Visit them at their TpT store, on Instagram@doubledoseoflearning, and on Facebook.

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