To Healthy Habits and Routines

I began my T2W1 reflection with “Teaching is never easy”. I would like to add that teaching is also a stressful job. The burn-out rate, stress-related health problems are indeed happening among many of us teachers I know.

Personally, the best thing being a teacher is to being able to provide a safe environment for my students to explore parts of their being – may it be public speaking or social interaction. Our students do having difficulties communicating ideas and opinions – the skill to communicate freely. Even for myself, I had to keep telling myself to relax and speak naturally. The most precious moments in school so far this year have been those times when I looked to the podium (every morning) or stage (during sec 1 orientation) and seeing my students speaking freely, even though it may be only a few minutes – confidently articulating in front of the whole school, rising from being terrified to now believing in themselves which most of them didn’t know they could.

The worst thing being a teacher is the juggling of many things on our plate, trying to keep in balance all the different demands required of the profession. There are times when there are actions that we may not agree with that cause us painful inner clashes. Sometimes, conflict among staff occurs where “passive” aggression hangs in the air. The educational landscape has also changed with visible shifts towards preparing students for life and not just to pass examinations and find jobs. And even the most optimistic of us teachers will feel disheartened after reading mid-year examination results and facing the truth of what our students have – and have not – really learnt. One of my AYHs spoke about this feeling of frustration because “no one seems interested to listen to what they have to say about how things could get better.” I thought about this and decided that such feeling of being alone and disappointed may be due to the fact that these teachers not being able to find emphatic listeners for their own needs and demands.

While I believe that preventing all these from affecting our health and well-being is not completely in our hands, learnt and having a coping mechanism can make a big difference. For me, a “self-care” plan includes reliable ways to release stress, recharge, connecting with people I care about, enjoy my “white-space” time, and watching my favorite movies. In the end, I came to this realization that in order for the quality of our teaching to improve, I have to actively take good care of myself through healthy habits and routines.