B – Boundaries
Set boundaries in your relationships with learners and parents. Communicate your rules verbally and/or in writing. Keep to your rules and don’t make exceptions.
R – Relaxation
Teachers are often perfectionists, but trying to give 110% to every single task is impossible. Practise the “good enough” rule for non-essential tasks and save your energy for interactions that will have an impact on your students’ learning. Take time to relax at home.
E – Emotional Awareness
Teaching is high-intensity emotional labour. Acknowledging your feelings prevents them from manifesting as physical stress. Acknowledge silently to yourself if you are frustrated. Stay positive and try to learn from each experience.
A – Acceptance
Accept your learners and respect who they are. You can help them to adjust bad behaviour or adopt good habits but you cannot change their background or circumstances.
T – Task orientation A teacher’s to-do list is infinite. Effective coping requires aggressive prioritisation. Use the “rule of three.” At the start of the day, identify the three most critical tasks. Everything else is secondary. Completing three goals provides a sense of mastery that an unfinished list of twenty cannot.
H – Healthy connections
Isolation breeds stress. Teachers need a professional community to lean on. Spend your tea break with colleagues who offer solutions and support rather than those who only focus on grievances.
E – End-of-day gratitude
The human brain is wired to focus on the one thing that went wrong rather than the ninety-nine things that went right. Focus on the positive things that you have achieved during the day.