Prioritizing my Well-Being as a Teacher Through Self-Care

WHAT DOES SELF-CARE MEAN TO ME?

Self-care means ensuring that my mental, emotional, spiritual and physical well being are addressed. When I find aspects of my well-being not being tended to, it begins to affect not only myself, but it negatively impacts my family and other relationships. The most important thing in my self-care routine is to ensure that I engage in activities and actions that both contribute to my mental, emotional, spiritual and physical well-being.

HEARTcare Plan

SCHOOL (H) – WORKPLACE AND RELATIONSHIPS

In the school setting, as a pre-service teacher, contributing to building a positive school cultures is a primary focus. Strategies include:

  • I will prioritize packing a healthy lunch everyday and eating with my colleagues in the staff room on a regular basis. This is a great way to engage and get to know my colleagues and foster positive relationships with them, while staying connected to the pulse of the school and students.
  • Fortunately, I have a great teacher partner open to having honest conversations. We both like to begin the day early, which provides us time, in addition to breaks between blocks, to have private conversations. I’ll use it for honest check-ins about my teaching or any challenges.
  • There are several opportunities for me to contribute to the school community such as joining staff meetings, parent-teacher interviews, and helping with the school outdoor carnival. Small acts like greeting everyone and offering to help with school activities will help me fell part of the team.

SYSTEM (E) – PEDAGOGY, RESPONSIBILITIES AND POLICY

My primary focus in SYSTEM (E) would be to learn what my professional responsibilities within the bigger education system are. To achieve this, I aim to do the following:

  • My responsibilities as a preservice teacher are to follow the TQS (Teacher Quality Standards), maintain confidentiality, prepare and teach lessons under supervision, attend staff meetings, and reflect weekly with my partner teacher. Also, always model professional conduct.
  • To achieve this, I have read, and will continue to revise, the Alberta Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers and Teacher Leaders, practicum policies, and my school division’s Personal and all other applicable Administrative Procedures. I have also printed the Teaching Quality Standards for quick reference.

INDIVIDUAL (A) – PERSONAL LEARNING, SELF-CARE AND IDENTITY

Focus for this section is to build the foundation to my daily well-being, which includes:

  • My current well-being tasks include: quiet contemplative drive to and from work, spending time every lunch with colleagues, taking walks after work, talking to my children and husband about their day, and enjoy my pets and farm animals.
  • Resources from University of Calgary that I can access, include:
  • I try to be very mindful of my partner teacher and his time. I have already thanked him numerous times for his generosity to taking me on as a student teacher with a full work schedule. In return, I’ve been doing what I can to alleviate his workload, including marking exams and assignments. In the end, I don’t want my practicum to be an extra burden for him, and as a bonus I get to experience the day-to-day responsibilities to being a teacher which provides me more opportunities to ask him why he does certain things.

      PROFFESIONAL (R) – EXPERT HELP

      For this section, it is important to reflect on how I can build a positive network of professional support, in case of times that I (or colleagues/classmates) ever need help. Strategies include:

      • I prefer face to face interactions, and if I ever need professional counselling, I will likely utilize our local therapists. I’ve use them for my child and have no issues to use them myself if I need.
      • I will be mindful on identifying when I need to reach out for professional help. I will look for signs of burnout that may include constant exhaustion, trouble connecting with students, skipping meals, etc. It will be critical to contact my local therapist right away, I do not wish to wait until it is a crisis.
      • As for spiritual distress, I find often myself in prayer when I need it.
      • To reduce workplace/classmate stigma surrounding professional support, I would do my best to normalize help as part of building a caring school culture.

        EDUCATIONAL WORKER (T) – COMMUNITY AND UNIQUE WORK

        My primary focus in this section is how I can define my role within the bigger picture—parents, community, crisis/trauma work, social justice and recognition.  For instance:

        • Fostering relationships with parents would be a big focus for me as a teacher. I was fortunate to join parent-teacher interviews in my first week, allowing me to observe my partner teacher interact with parents, in addition to meeting many parents within my classes that I will teach in.
        • I plan on asking my partner teacher to walk me through the school’s crisis protocol and the trauma-informed practices they already use.
        • Something I already practice is giving recognition when it is due. My partner teacher is still new to the profession, and I want to ensure that he feels valued as a teacher and that when I really like how he handled a situation or delivered a lesson, he should be told so. Even little things, such as buying coffee or bringing treats for my colleges can go a long to show gratitude and support.