Educator Wellness

It’s a new year and many of us are entering our classrooms with a heightened sense of awareness of the connection between our personal and professional lives. With New Year’s Resolutions everywhere we turn and social media overflowing with “New Year/New You” messages, there is a collective urge for newness to be on our minds. While it may be tempting to set lofty resolutions only to abandon them on January 17 (Ditch New Year’s Resolution Day), what would it be like if you focused instead on carving out just 3-5 minutes each day for a practical, effective strategy that will sustainably support you and your wellbeing as an educator throughout this year?

See the toolkit below titled "8 Educator Wellness Strategies for 2024"

Sleeping Resource: . At this busy time of year, many of us experience racing minds when trying to fall asleep at night. You may want to try this.....

Body Scan for Sleep

Why does sleep matter?

With only 47% of Americans reporting that they are well-rested during their work week, a good night’s sleep can have a significant impact on health, helping us to feel more rested, energized, and able to meet the needs of our students each day.

When work stress is high at school, we tend to get caught up in the stream of thoughts and feelings we experience, so it’s crucial to take regular breaks to reboot our nervous systems. The body scan helps us to shift away from our thoughts to focus on physical sensations. Because the mind can only be aware of one thing at a time, a systematic, head-to-toe focus on the body can provide relief from a barrage of thoughts, slowly stabilizing our minds—helping us to drift off to sleep

Please explore the attached article and embedded links: 

Secondary Traumatic Stress for Educators: Understanding and Mitigating the Effects 

by Jessica Lander
Click here to access

STAT

Support for Teachers Affected by Trauma 

Geared toward preK-12 teachers, STAT (Support for Teachers Affected by Trauma) was developed over a two-year period by a group of experts in the fields of secondary traumatic stress (STS), education, and technology. STAT comprises five online modules that explore the concepts of secondary trauma, risk factors associated with susceptibility to STS, the impact of STS across multiple life domains, and tangible self-care skills.  

STAT is a user-friendly curriculum that allows participants to engage in a range of STS learning interactives; explore scenarios that highlight the impact of STS; listen to teachers describe their experiences with STS and self-care; and complete self-assessment scales that can measure and track STS levels over time. STAT brings much needed attention and understanding of secondary trauma to the field of preK-12 education. 

Visit the Training page to access the STAT course.