Teacher self-care is of paramount importance, serving as an essential mechanism for educators to rejuvenate and avoid the perils of burnout. As we delve into this episode, we explore the myriad forms that self-care can take, ranging from tranquil moments of solitude to invigorating adventures, underscoring the notion that renewal is not a monolithic endeavor. Nicholas Kleve, our host, articulates various dimensions of self-care—physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and practical—emphasizing that the path to well-being is uniquely personal and contingent upon individual preferences and circumstances. Through illustrative anecdotes, such as engaging in paddling excursions and appreciating the subtleties of nature, he elucidates the significance of recognizing and cultivating simple joys. Ultimately, we advocate for a holistic approach to self-care, affirming that by prioritizing our own well-being, we enhance our capacity to inspire and nurture the students entrusted to our care.

A comprehensive exploration of the significance of self-care for educators unfolds within this episode, delineating various strategies aimed at rejuvenating one's spirit and preventing burnout in the demanding landscape of teaching. The host, Nicholas Kleve, elucidates the multifaceted nature of self-care, emphasizing that it is not a monolithic concept but rather a spectrum that encompasses physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and practical dimensions. Through personal anecdotes, he underscores the importance of engaging in activities that resonate with individual needs, be they tranquil moments of solitude or invigorating adventures. For instance, he recounts a recent experience of paddling on a serene river, which served as a vital reset for his mental health, demonstrating that self-care can manifest in both grand escapades and subtle, everyday joys. Furthermore, Kleve advocates for recognizing and valuing small moments, positing that even brief interludes of respite can significantly contribute to overall well-being, thus reinforcing the notion that self-care is indeed a sustainable practice rather than an indulgent luxury.

Takeaways:

• Teacher self-care is essential for maintaining the energy and creativity needed for effective teaching.
• Self-care strategies vary significantly among teachers, encompassing physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and practical dimensions.
• Engaging in small, daily resets can significantly contribute to a teacher's overall well-being and resilience.
• Spending time in nature or pursuing personal passions can serve as a powerful form of renewal for educators.
• It is crucial for teachers to prioritize their own well-being to effectively support their students' needs.
• Self-care should be viewed as a sustainable practice rather than an indulgence, allowing teachers to be more present and engaged.

Links referenced in this episode:

• beafunkyteacher.com

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• Be a Funky Teacher

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This is Mr. Funky Teacher with Be a Funky Teacher dot com.

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

Welcome back, everyone.

Today's podcast is focusing on teacher self care strategies to recharge and avoid burnout.

That's what we're focusing on.

But before we get into it, let's talk about three things I'm thankful for.

First thing I'm thankful for when I get a chance to laugh with friends.

Laughing with friends.

There's nothing like it.

There's nothing like that.

Reset to your spirit, bringing some joy and shared laughter together.

I. I just love it.

Next thing, ladybugs.

I was out.

I was out next to a river yesterday or last night actually paddling.

And I had used these.

What were they like Porta Potty type of bathrooms.

And there's a ladybug in the bathroom.

It was great.

And it reminded me of how small surprises in nature can bring such delight.

I just thought it was great.

It's just something I noticed and I really liked.

A third thing is a good burger.

Simple, satisfying, and one of life's underrated pleasures.

Just a good burger, especially out in nature.

I had it.

We ate some burgers after paddling on a river.

Oh, it was perfect.

All right, y', all, let's get into it.

We're focusing on teacher self care strategies to recharge and avoid burnout.

Now, self care looks different for every teacher.

I think you and I can can all agree that, hey, self care does look different.

Now, some teachers recharge with quiet time, others with adventure.

There isn't one right way.

It isn't about having it look the right.

The right way.

What is quote unquote the right way?

Right?

It's something that if something recharges you and kind of fills your battery up, then there we go.

There's for me.

Now recharging for me yesterday, last night was actually as soon as school got out, as soon as I got done teaching, I.

As soon as my contract time got done, I headed two hours to drive a place called Split Rock Creek with a paddling club out of Sioux Falls where there was a, there was 13 of us that went out in the river and this trip was actually just what I needed to reset myself.

And thankfully my wife was able to handle things at home and, and she said, yep, go, go, go paddle, go reset.

And so I was so thankful that I had that opportunity to do that.

It's been, it's been a little while.

It's been.

Been a month or two since I've been out on the water paddling and I definitely needed that time to get out there.

I was so thankful for it.

But that for me, that self care for me this, hands down that is truly my self self care when you get me on a body of water.

And it's even different for me too because the different types of water that I get on I needed yesterday.

Some call a Kong river that I knew was just beautiful and then I could go and explore.

Nothing intense.

Sometimes I want some white water that I can run that is going to get my heart rate up.

It's going to, there's going to be some intensity behind it or I can do some river surfing and I know I can kind of get down in the water and that's not what I wanted yesterday.

I wanted just to have some, some a calm beautiful water with some, some beautiful almost like stone cliffs around and that's what I wanted.

And boy did that, that do my mental health and my physical health good.

Getting out there as, as a, as a reset and as a way of charging my battery.

But once again, someone else might not, that might not be a way for someone to have self care for someone else.

They might just want to read or might want to go get their nails done or go.

You know, there's a lot of different ways that, that someone can do self care.

I guess the next thing, the next big area is that small moments matter as much as big ones.

Self care, y'.

All.

It doesn't have to mean a long trip, right?

You don't have to drive two hours for self care like I did yesterday.

It doesn't mean you have to have a big long getaway weekend or even a vacation.

And we can't, we have to recognize that you don't have to have those.

Self care can also look like a five minute hallway walk or listening to a Favorite song after dismissal.

One of my favorite groups that I love listening to, Toby Mack.

It's a Christian band that I've, I've started listening to over the last, I'd say three years.

Boy, do I really like some Toby Mack.

When I, when I'm to listen.

Jamming out the Toby Mack, it just, it, that's a way of recharging me.

I, I, I can listen to one or two songs and it just like, it just, I can feel the, my battery getting full from it.

Sometimes small moments, like saying no to one extra commitment because what we know is like a lot of small commitments, saying yes to a lot of smaller commitments can overwhelm our system and overload us and burn us out in that respect too.

And so sometimes just saying no to some smaller commitments because we know they're going to pile up if we don't say something, that can matter too.

So sometimes saying no to those extra commitments, the little things add up and prevent burnout.

We got to try to prevent burnout before it starts, y'.

All.

And so paying attention to those little things does matter.

So the next thing is self care is sustainable, not selfishness.

I don't know about you, but there's been times in my life where I feel almost selfish for taking, for focusing on self care and I Self care is not selfishness.

Self care is sustainability.

Teachers, teacher.

I found that sometimes women feel guilty to take advantage of self care.

And I'm not a woman, I don't want to speak on behalf of woman, I'd never claim to, but I know my wife though, just feels guilty sometimes as she focuses on self care and, and I have to encourage her, no, you take this, do this for you.

But then teachers are the other group of people who, who feel guilty, I think, for sometimes prior prioritizing ourselves and let's talk truth for a minute.

Taking care of yourself lets you bring more energy, more patience and creativity to students.

Period.

Case closed.

I mean that's just the bottom line.

That's the truth right there.

Taking care of yourself brings you more of those things that we need to impact young people.

Think of it as fueling up, not checking out.

Write that down.

It's going to be in a test.

Fuel up, not check out.

That's fine for me.

But after getting the Paddle last night.

I, I'm coming back today feeling refreshed and I, I came back in a way where sure could have I used that time to work a more grading.

Yeah, could have I use that to work on some paperwork.

Certain stayed late at school.

Yes.

But mentally, where is that going to get me physically?

How is that going to help me with my physical health?

Right.

Like, and, and so that's not self care.

Just leaning into the work more.

It's not going to help help me sustain me to perform at a high level.

If I want to talk about sustainability, I've got to take care of myself and you do too.

You've got to take care of yourself as well.

And it's not selfishness.

Now there are really, there's four different kinds of teacher self care and self care isn't a one size fits all type of a thing.

But here's some categories and some examples of how teachers can focus on self care.

First off, physical self care can be as simple as going for a walk or a run or a bike ride or a hike.

Maybe a stretch between classes.

Get enough sleep.

I mean, when you get enough sleep, man, how important can that be?

Right?

That can be a game changer for energy.

Right.

And an emotional self care.

It can be.

This is one of those things that sounds cliche too, like journaling.

Right?

But journaling matters.

I, I think one of the ways I journal actually is through this podcast.

It's, it's an audio.

Is like an audio type of journal in a way.

Right.

It's not.

Some people would prefer to write stuff down, which is great too.

I've done, I've had seasons where I've done that too.

This audio journal per se really works for me.

And one aspect of this audio journal, this podcast that I really like is the three things I'm thankful for.

The three things I'm thankful for is part of me taking care of myself, my emotional self care, and kind of modeling it for, for all of you, the importance of having gratitude and being reflective and being thankful for what you have.

Being thankful for what I have.

My mom, when she was alive, stressed how important it was to have gratitude in our lives and to take that time to be reflective.

Where she would say, what are three things you're thankful for in your life?

If I was complaining to my mom or upset and talking to my mom, she would stop and say, all right, what are you thankful for in your life, Nicholas?

I mean, she was very adamant on that, that it was so important to, to do that.

And so journaling, journaling about things I'm thankful for is part of my emotional self care.

Sometimes journaling about our day can be powerful, whatever that looks like for you.

Laughing with friends is a part of emotional self care as well.

One thing, that's what I got to do last night.

I got to, to laugh with friends and oh, did it, did it help me so much.

And then, you know, talking with a trust, when you get a time to like talk with a trusted colleague or counselor even, there's.

There's something so satisfying I think about that, where we can talk with a trusted colleague and share good things, but maybe things we're struggling with, that's important.

I'm seeing.

I have a grief therapist that I still see that from my mom's passing, a grief therapist that I still kind of continued to see because my mom's passing really hit me hard.

And I still see her about once.

Once a month is where I'm kind of at right now.

And I see her tonight and probably once, maybe twice a month it's been.

With the transition into a new school district, I think I'm at two times a month right now, but it'll probably go back to once a month.

But boy, that's, that's self care too.

That's emotional self care too.

And actually it's emotional self care as well, if I want to be real because you know, that, that kind of helping me with kind of my emotions and my mental health because I want to take care of myself.

So sometimes leaning into things like that matters.

Mental.

So let's talk about your mental self care because that's another type of self care.

Sometimes reading a book for fun or listening to a podcast that inspires you or an audiobook or are learning something new outside of teaching can be important sometimes.

I had Donna Nguyen, she, she was my supervising or she woman I shouldn't talk with.

She's the late, late, great Donna Nguyen.

Just an amazing human being.

She passed away in a car accident tragically.

But when I learned from her, one thing that she really promoted was, hey, Nicholas, learn something new.

Because learn something new that's hard for you.

Because when you learn something new, that's hard for you.

You don't forget what it's like to be a student and you don't forget what it's like.

Like you can be in touch with your student struggles.

And we want to stay connected to our student struggles, y'.

All.

And, and so she, she didn't tell me that once.

She told me that multiple times in the course of me students teaching with her about learn something new, do something new that, that, that challenges you because you want to stay connected with that spirit of hey, this is hard.

I'm going to keep trying, I'm going to and I'm going to stay connected with what it's like to, if I, if I have to learn something completely brand new, that, that's hard for me.

And then I, it, I, it helps helps us as educators to have empathy and compassion when working with our young students, our, the kids that we're entrusted to work with.

Which I think is great advice.

Donna, the late, great Donna Wynn.

Man, that was a great advice from her.

And then another area I think that is important is spiritual self care.

Praying, meditating, reflecting my Christian faith is very important to me and I say that proudly here, you know, as I'm very proud of my Christian faith.

If that offends you, I'm sorry but my Christian faith is very important to you or very important to me rather.

And I respect whatever your faith is, whatever your spiritual beliefs is, that's fine.

There might be times on this podcast I talk about my Christian spiritual faith and that because of how important it is to me, but yet I will never, I will never judge someone for their own faith, their own belief.

It's.

I recognize there's all kinds of differences that, that make this world go around.

My Christian faith is just very important to me and that's a part of my self care and my existence is being able to pray, to meditate, to, to lean into, into God, into Jesus.

It's so important to me.

Another part of spiritual self care is, is getting outside in nature.

When you can connect with nature that can do a body good and just being out in nature.

Last night, paddling on a river, the Split Rock Creek was such a spiritual connection for me that it.

I could once again I could feel my battery filling up because of that.

And I just from, from a spiritual self care point of view, pause y' all to, to notice small joys like a ladybug crawling next to you underground.

A beautiful little ladybug.

Don't miss out on those opportunities to notice those small joys.

And then y' all practice the practical self care y'.

All practical self care things like organizing your desk or, or taking time to plan your week ahead.

That's some like some practical self care that, that needs to get done.

Things like meal prep or, or packing snacks, right?

Like wanna make like something want to eat healthy.

We need to be purposeful about that.

We need to plan for that and not just say, oh, we'll just grab something on the side.

And, and then I, I, the other day I, I didn't plan accordingly and I had to ended up, I picked up some fast food when I was working at my dad's and I, and I picked up these really, really greasy tacos that I hadn't eaten for months from, at this fast food place.

And boy, afterwards I really wish I had it because they were like a gut bomb in my stomach.

They were greasy, they were gross.

At one time I thought they were great.

But with, with, since I have, have really tried to prioritize my physical health, I, I'm not eating that stuff like, like I was.

And I've, I've lost £80 just by cutting out a lot of the junk food and, and trying to eat more just clean stuff.

Am I perfect on it?

No.

Have I cut out all, all the junk food?

No.

However, cutting out that stuff made a huge difference, y', all in my life.

And so I try to be more purposeful about what I take to school, particularly because where I'm at, I don't, there's not a lot of options for food to run out and get which, which is good for me.

But then I get hungry if I don't have stuff, right?

And so I need to meal plan or, or even just pack, have some snacks available, healthy snacks that can fuel me, that can give me some protein, that kind of sustain me through the day.

And so that's part of practical, logistical self care.

And then, and then just saying no when your plate is full.

And, and sometimes we as educators are our own worst enemy because people ask us to do stuff and we just keep adding to our plates.

We just keep adding and adding and adding and, and what happens?

We, we hit a point of overwhelm where we bust.

Like, we, like we, we, we just like fall apart because we're so filled up and sometimes we just have to say no y', all, we do.

And that's a part of your practical self care.

So self care is any practice that helps you feel rested, grounded and ready to show up with heart.

Self care as we reflect here, some, some takeaways on and reflecting on this episode.

Self care matters because teachers matter, right?

Find your version of rest, whether it's adventure, maybe quiet, or those tiny daily resets.

Explore physical, emotional, social, mental, spiritual and practical self care to see what works for you.

Or a combination of them that even better, right?

Absolutely.

A combination of them.

Students don't just need a teacher who works hard.

They need a teacher who's well enough to bring joy and presence into the classroom.

The way we do that is through our self care, y'.

All.

Indeed.

Now that brings our episode to a close.

But before we officially close up shot for the day, I want to remind you, I want you to 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,.

Yeah.