Teacher overwhelm during the back-to-school season is a prevalent concern that can greatly affect educators’ mental health and overall well-being. In our discourse, we delve into effective strategies to manage this stress and maintain a positive outlook amidst the myriad of responsibilities that accompany the commencement of a new academic year. We emphasize the importance of prioritizing essential tasks, taking deliberate pauses to breathe and reset, and the power of collaboration by seeking assistance from colleagues and students alike. Furthermore, we highlight that feeling overwhelmed is not indicative of failure but rather a reflection of one’s commitment to their vocation. Through these insights, we strive to equip teachers with the tools necessary to navigate this challenging period with resilience and optimism.

As the school year commences, many educators find themselves grappling with an overwhelming array of responsibilities that can precipitate significant stress. In this enlightening discussion, Mr. Funky Teacher, Nicholas Kleve, addresses the phenomenon of teacher overwhelm, particularly during the back-to-school period, and shares invaluable insights on how to navigate this challenging time. He initiates the conversation by acknowledging the common feelings of anxiety and pressure that arise as teachers strive to establish their classrooms, plan lessons, and meet the diverse needs of their students. This initial chaos can be daunting, often leading to a state of overwhelm that undermines both teacher effectiveness and mental health.

Mr. Kleve articulates several practical strategies aimed at mitigating feelings of stress and fostering a more positive mindset. He underscores the importance of employing simple pause and reset techniques, such as taking a few moments to breathe deeply or engaging in mindfulness practices, which can significantly aid in recalibrating one’s emotional state. Moreover, he advocates for the practice of maintaining a brain dump list—a method that allows educators to externalize their thoughts and tasks, thereby reducing cognitive clutter and enhancing focus. Prioritization emerges as a central theme in his advice; by identifying and concentrating on the most impactful tasks for students, teachers can navigate their responsibilities with greater clarity and purpose.

Throughout the episode, Mr. Kleve emphasizes that experiencing overwhelm is not a reflection of failure but rather an indication of a teacher’s dedication to their profession and their students. He urges educators to embrace collaboration, seeking help from colleagues and recognizing that they do not have to shoulder their burdens alone. By fostering connections and focusing on building relationships within the classroom, teachers can create an environment that nurtures both their well-being and that of their students. Ultimately, Mr. Kleve’s reflections serve as a poignant reminder that while the beginning of the school year may be fraught with challenges, it is also an opportunity for growth, connection, and the cultivation of resilience.

Takeaways:

• Teachers often experience overwhelming feelings at the onset of a new school year due to numerous responsibilities and tasks.
• To effectively manage stress, educators should prioritize their tasks based on what will most benefit their students.
• Implementing simple pause and reset strategies, such as deep breathing, can significantly alleviate feelings of overwhelm.
• Writing down a comprehensive list of tasks helps educators clear their minds and maintain focus on important responsibilities.
• Building relationships with students should take precedence, as it lays the foundation for a positive classroom environment.
• Recognizing that seeking assistance from colleagues can alleviate stress and foster a collaborative atmosphere is essential for teachers.

Links referenced in this episode:

• beafunkyteacher.com

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• Be a Funky Teacher

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I'm coming to you with another Be a Funky Teacher podcast.

Well, we're going to talk today about back to school teacher overwhelm.

How to manage stress and stay positive.

That's right.

That's what we're going to be focusing on.

Before we go any further though, I of course have to talk about my three things I am thankful for.

The first thing that I'm thankful for is fresh school supplies.

I love some brand new fresh school supplies.

There's nothing like the smell of new markers or a crisp notebook.

The second thing I am thankful for is kind words from family.

They mean more than they can possibly realize.

Those kind words just can be very comforting.

The third thing is jackets.

Because when your classroom gets cold or when your classroom might dip down to 60 degrees, 61 or 62 degrees, it, it helps to have a jacket on hand or several jackets on hand that you can layer.

I'm not trying to teach her while I'm shivering.

All right, so let's get into it.

Let's talk about the, the teacher overwhelm and, and how to stay positive, especially early on in the school year.

Well, let's set the, let's set the scene here if we could.

You know, even after 20 plus years of teaching, I still get that mountain of tasks feeling at the start of a school year.

And, and I think there is a difference between good busy and overwhelmed.

But you can slip.

You can slip from one to another really fast.

Where you can go from to being completely overwhelmed if, if one's not careful.

So what causes teacher overwhelmed at back to school?

Well, think about it.

Wait.

There's so many moving parts happening at the beginning of a school year from classroom setup and organization being the first and foremost thing that we have to do.

And that alone can be overwhelming.

I Can't even for a brand new educator.

I think sometimes a brand new educator doesn't know what they don't know.

And so, and veteran teachers, they know what they know and if they're committed and they're willing to put, put the work in, I think any teacher, if they're willing to put the work in, there's a lot that needs to happen.

And just a classroom set up, an organization alone can really be consuming.

But then you get into lesson planning for the first weeks.

And that's kind of where I'm at right now is kind of mapping out the first few weeks.

Here I think I might talk another podcast about mapping out, mapping out the first few weeks, mapping out a month, a school year, kind of pacing what that might look like.

But you throw that into the mix, then learning new curriculum, the curricular resources that the school district uses, or you're learning new technology tools that you might not be used to.

Meetings, trainings, expectations just all piling up and then, oh, then just trying to meet every student's needs.

From day one, where you get those students coming into your classroom, you get, you see, you can start seeing their strengths, you can start seeing their opportunities for growth, the challenges that they may be having.

And so all of these things can start kind of bouncing through your head and then you can start feeling, you can start, you can very easily start getting overwhelmed if you're not careful.

Foreign.

It's very easy to slip into that overwhelmed.

And, and so I, I just want to take a moment to share some pause and reset strategies, some strategies that will help you kind of reset if you're kind of getting into that spot where you're like, it's feeling very busy, but it could possibly be sliding into that overwhelmed.

So the first thing that, that and some of them here, some, some of these strategies that I might be sharing, you know, they, they might be like saying like they're basic or very, almost too practical or too simple.

But what's wrong with simple if it works in life?

I think teachers, I think are so guilty of it over complicating things.

You know, it's, it's almost like we see something that is simple and it, oh it, it, it's, it's, it's simple.

So we dismiss it and that, that's not a good thing if, if, if, if we're just dismissing, dismissing things that work because they're simple.

So here's some, I think some simple pause and reset strategies.

First, stop and breathe, literally take two minutes to reset your nervous system.

Sometimes just close maybe after the students leave for the day.

Just sitting in your room, closing your eyes and just breathing.

Now there was one time, true story, there was one time I did this.

This was, I think when I was in my, in year 10 of teaching.

I did this and I was exhausted and I was sitting at a, at a student desk.

I, I, I, I, I literally, I closed my eyes, I was taking some breaths, I put my, I had a headache, I put my head down and I fell asleep after school and I don't know if I fell asleep for an hour or two, but it was after students were gone, after most of the staff was gone.

There was another staff member in the building that came into the classroom and thought I was dead, fighting me there.

She came in to drop some papers off or something and there I was asleep in the app after, after hours.

It was off the clock, but I was just so exhausted.

So I think that, that, that, that stop and breathe did me good.

But, so I don't recommend necessarily falling asleep in your classroom, but just taking 2, 3, 4, 5 minutes to stop, close your eyes, breathe or, or look at something on the wall if you don't want to shut your eyes.

That can help to, to kind of reset that nervous system.

It really can.

And, and that's something that, that I sometimes have to remind myself and force myself to do because I know the benefits of it.

The next thing that I'm really big on is to write it down, brain dump everything into one list to get, get it out of your head.

I, I, I'm one where things will just kind of bounce around in my head and, and then I can't focus on what I need to do.

And so if I write it down, it kind of helps me to just get it down.

Then I can kind of start going through and getting my list sorted out from there.

But it doesn't help our overwhelm if we're just things are ping ponging back and forth through our head.

All of these things like, I have to do this, I have to do this, I have to do this, I have to do that.

Oh, I'm, I don't have this done yet.

It can bounce back and forth in your head, ping ponging and really get you overwhelmed.

So we got to be careful with that.

So get it written down and it'll definitely, definitely help.

I don't care if it's a, if it's a paper pencil, write it down or if it's in a digital notebook on your phone, get it written down.

Third Thing is to prioritize the impact what matter, what will matter the most for students this week.

Do that first.

Because if you try to do it all, then, if you try to do it, if you try to do it all, then you're going to get overwhelmed and stuff isn't going to get done.

So try to prioritize, hey, this has to get done for my students this week.

And if you're looking towards next, it's towards the end of the week and you're looking to the next week, hey, this has to get done for my students next week for stuff that has to get done.

And sometimes you have to chunk different things that need to get done or come back and give yourself a break working on stuff because you're just so tired of working on it.

And so prioritize stuff and then also bring in some chunking of working on some stuff too.

As you prioritize getting certain things done.

Maybe you're not going to work on multiple units at a time.

Maybe you're going to work on just one unit that will work on.

That will help you kind of prioritize getting language arts ready for multiple weeks.

But you don't have to do it all but prioritize it.

That's something that is such an important thing.

New teachers aren't necessarily the best at this I have found.

And me as a veteran teacher, I'm a lot better at it.

And I can prioritize saying, hey, I know this has to get done and this has to get done.

I know that certain things have to get done in order for a classroom to function during the week.

And so using that, writing it down and prioritizing really can make a huge difference.

And then of course I mentioned chunking it down.

Break the task into smaller wins.

Because if you, if you try to eat an elephant all at once, you're gonna choke and you're probably gonna start throwing up and you're gonna be sick.

And so don't try to tackle the whole list all at once or, or big tasks all at once.

Break them down and, and prioritize them.

And so I, I had mentioned they're writing it down and prioritizing the impact can really matter.

I, I think by breaking the task in a smaller wins is also, it's, it's a very complimentary strategy.

So like to helping you be successful when you're feeling overwhelmed.

And then the, the final big pause and reset strategy.

Yo, sometimes we have to ask for help.

Colleagues, paraprofessionals, even students can pitch in.

We don't have to do it all by ourselves.

And if we want to burn ourselves out, then we get that mindset that says, oh, we have to do it all.

We don't have to do it all.

And we can ask for help.

And that's powerful when we can get help.

And that's.

It can be very.

Boy, it can just be really.

It can just help.

I. I don't know how else to say it, but it can just really be.

It can just kind of take off some of that stress, knowing that we can have others help us and we can work together on tasks that need to get done.

Now, from a veteran teacher's perspective, overwhelm isn't a sign that you're failing.

It's a sign that you care.

Let me say that again.

All right.

Overwhelm isn't a sign that you're failing.

It's a sign that you truly do care.

Every year, it has a chaotic start, but it does level out.

And so if things are feeling chaotic, if things are feeling intense right now, it does level out.

You will get through it.

My wife knows that the beginning of the school year for me is always intense.

Those first couple weeks, very intense.

My kids know it too.

I'm lucky enough where my school, where I'm teaching, it starts before where my students start.

So it's kind of nice where it'll start leveling out a little bit with the beginning of the year intensity, just in time for my students year to start, or then I can start pitching in and kind of helping with.

With getting my students squared or my children, my own children squared away on.

On getting their school year started.

So even though that once again, I. I'm going to say it one third time because it's that important.

Overwhelmed isn't a sign you're failing.

It's a sign you care.

The more you focus on relationships first, the more the rest falls into place.

So from a veteran teacher's perspective, if you focus on all the stuff and you don't focus on the relationship building it, it's I.

You're going to.

You're going to.

You're going to face an uphill challenge.

That's how important building those relationships is.

We got to get this stuff done.

Of course, there's no doubt about it.

There's stuff we have to get done.

However, I want to encourage you greatly to prioritize.

Most of all, most importantly than anything else is building those relationships, building those connections in those first weeks of school.

That's what is the most important thing.

So my encouragement to other teachers.

You don't have to have it all perfect before the first bell rings or after the second bell rings, or after the.

The bells.

And after the first week of school, those bells are ringing.

Students do remember your energy more than your perfect bulletin board.

They'll remember your energy.

They'll remember your.

Your attempt at connecting with them, showing them love, showing them kindness, showing them that, hey, you're there for them and that they matter.

That's more important.

Not that the other stuff isn't important and that it's not that you're not going to work any other stuff, but keep the main thing, the main thing in what you're doing here.

The start of the school year will always be be busy.

But you can choose whether the busyness becomes that burnout or momentum.

Take a breath.

Focus on what matters most, and remember, you're not alone in the way that you're feeling.

All right, well, that brings our episode to a close.

Remember to inspire greatness in young people.

And don't forget to be a funky teacher.

Bye now.

He's Mr. Funky Teacher, yeah he's Mr. Funky Teacher, oh, yeah, yeah.