Teacher Wellbeing

In this episode we hear another teacher story, this time from Elise. Elise tells us about some serious health challenges she's faced, including a really important message for teachers about vocal care. We cover so many great points and it was such a good conversation that it actually went for nearly an hour, so I've split it into 2 parts. This episode, part 1, focuses on workplace stuff, the wellbeing challenges and the impact a leadership team that is proactively supportive of staff wellbeing has been. In Part 2 we focus on the more personal wellbeing side of things, and Elise shares some great tips there too, so stay tuned for that next week. Throughout both of these episodes, Elise mentions Katrina Bourke from Katrina Bourke Coaching, who is a friend and supporter of this podcast and has been a wonderful sponsor for a couple of seasons now. I do want to say, though, that this is NOT a sponsored episode, Katrina is not paying me to or Elise to say any of this. This is just a very real and honest testimonial for the power of coaching, and of course for Katrina's wonderful work both with individuals and with school staff. If you'd like to work with me there are a number of ways to do that, with individual coaching or group programs, online resources and also some in person workshops. You can find out more and book a discovery call with me at www.selfcareforteachers.com.au/coaching or sign up for all the resources on the Freebies Library, and stay tuned to the SC4T Facebook page for updates, events and resources. As always, remember you are a person first and a teacher second and you are worthy of your own care x

Despite the jokes that teaching is 9 - 3 with 12 weeks holiday a year, we know it to be otherwise. We know that the work starts well before 9am, finishes well after 3pm and that large parts of those holidays are usually spent working too. We also know that workload has been increasing over the last 10-20 years. The introduction of new improvement measures such as Professional Standards for Teachers and the national curriculum, as well as the impact of NAPLAN and the My School Website have resulted in more administrative work, much of which arguably has little to do with the actual running of a classroom day to day. There is a vast invisible workload required of teachers today, much of which isn't only invisible to the general public but it's also going unnoticed and unacknowledged by us too. As well as the administrative requirements of the job, the mental load of running a classroom and the emotional labour inherent in the role are increasing too. This episode is about that invisible work, and while there are no quick fixes, I offer some steps to take to help survive and practise self-care in the process. The Teachers Thriving list of Employee Assistance Services Mental load cartoon by French Cartoonist Emma, in the Guardian Mental load ABC article by Leah Ruppannah BBC Emotional labour article Toggl App The work hours tracking sheet on the Self-Care for Teachers Freebies Library Books mentioned: "The Wife Drought" by Annabelle Crabb and "Your Money or Your Life" by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez

In this episode I interview Kelsey, a teacher from the United States. She shares with us her wellbeing challenges of being consumed by the job in her first year, and losing her identity as a person. Kelsey then tells us how she has overcome this through intentional personal growth and self-care. We talk about decision fatigue, the power of rituals and routines, and learning to switch off at night. You can find Kelsey at @adventuringkelsey on Facebook and Instagram and also at adventuringkelsey.com Connect with me @selfcareforteachers on Facebook and Instagram and at selfcareforteachers.com.au I also have a couple of announcements! • If you're in South East QLD Miranda from Kickstart Martial Arts and Yoga and I are running another PD, a Teacher Wellbeing Workshop in Toowoomba on Saturday the 29th June, so head to selfcareforteachers.com.au/workshop for the details and to book. Spots are limited so get in quick! • Speaking of events, make sure you keep an eye on the Facebook events list because I'm also running another free online video training on Saturday the 15th June at 9am, if you miss it it will be going into the freebies library so head to selfcareforteachers.com.au/library to check that out! • I'm also currently taking expressions of interest for a new group program I'll be running in Terms 3 and 4 of this year, all about having a better time managing and minding your mind. We touch on decision fatigue a little bit in this episode and I know that is something teachers struggle with, and of course there's a whole lot of other cognitive demands that impact us too, things like focus vs distraction, also called deep work vs shallow work, the mental energy required to be 'on' in the classroom all day versus the type of thinking that's required for planning, preparation, marketing and reporting tasks. Plus just switching off before bed. So anyway, if you're interested in taking part in a pilot program along those lines, send me a PM or a DM on Facebook or Instagram and let me know you're interested in the mind management program, and I'll send through more details. • And last but certainly not least, it's the middle of the year and the end of Term time which is a time often you can feel a bit exhausted and frustrated and just over it. And honestly, that's the perfect time to think about what you want to change. So I'm making myself available for some one-off Reflect + Refocus coaching sessions on the school holidays to help you get clear on what you'd like to change in the 2nd half of the year and how you'd like to support yourself with your health and wellbeing, as a person first and a teacher second. Now these are one offs, no ongoing coaching commitment, just time for your to Reflect + Refocus on you during the school holidays. So head to selfcareforteachers.com.au/coaching for more info on that!

In this episode I speak with Linda Back from Zest Natural Therapies. Linda works with a lot of teachers so I felt she was a great guest to cover this topic because she really does have a good understanding and appreciation of the kind of work that we do and the demands of working in a school that are different to other workplaces. We talk about all things to do with gut health and the immune system, which is such an important thing and very timely too at this time of year. Disclaimer: This podcast episode is NOT medical advice, this is general information only and you need to speak to your health practitioner to get advice that is right for you. Connect with Linda via her website zestnaturaltherapies.com.au, on Facebook, or email her at linda@zestnaturaltherapies.com.au Some articles Linda suggests are below, and you can also check out her free e-course on immmunity here. • Low immunity/continual colds & flus: https://www.zestnaturaltherapies.com.au/why-we-get-sick-and-what-to-do-about-it/ • Burnout recovery: https://www.zestnaturaltherapies.com.au/healing-burnout/ • Zinc https://www.zestnaturaltherapies.com.au/7-things-didnt-know-zinc-really/ • Magnesium: https://www.zestnaturaltherapies.com.au/9-signs-need-make-magnesium-friend/ • Gut health: https://www.zestnaturaltherapies.com.au/5-steps-healthy-happy-tummy

I share 5 steps to changing your health habits and improving your wellbeing as a teacher. When I'm coaching teachers, running live webinars or presenting workshops and retreats, you tell me that your habits are something you know undermines your wellbeing, especially as the busy times of term set in. So hopefully this episode will be quite timely for you and will help you cultivate wellbeing habits that support your health and happiness not just on the school holidays but throughout the year as well. Find some helpful worksheets, including a self-coaching worksheet, a healthy habit tracker and a free training about healthy habit hacks, in the freebies library on the Self-Care for Teachers Resource Room: www.selfcareforteachers.com.au/library I also have some important people to thank. In case you don't know, podcasts are free to listen to but they're not free to make and if you've been paying attention on the socials, you'll know I ran a successful crowdfunding campaign earlier in the year to make this Season 5 of the show possible. I want to publicly thank the people who supported this show via that Pozible campaign. So, a big shout out goes to Naomi Arnold, Jessica B, Penny C, Bek P, Kelsey G, Jessica D, Amanda Rootsey, Leanne, Jess H, Amorina, Marie-Therese, David Masefield, Valda, Karly Nimmo, Naomi C, Sarah P, Phil C, Miranda, Katrina Bourke from Katrina Bourke Coaching, Katie McCray from See Me, Know Me, Teach Me, Jessica Terlick from Lead and Inspire, Trudy from Teachers Thriving and Zoe Eather from My Smart Community. There were also a number of wonderful, wonderful people who contributed to the crowdfunded who wished to remain anonymous, and I completely respect their wish. However, I do want to give them a shout out here as well without mentioning names. So thank you, dear anonymous supporters, you know who you are and I am truly grateful. Notes and links can be found at www.selfcareforteachers.com.au and follow me on the socials @selfcareforteachers If you enjoyed this episode, and especially if it made you think about a teacher that you care about who you think needs to hear this message, please share it with them. Hit the 3 dots on whatever podcatcher you're listening in and share the episode to your socials. Or, send your friends to https://pod.link/teacherwellbeing As always, remember you're a person first and a teacher second and you are worthy of your own care x

This is the last episode of Season 4, and I'm talking about three thinking traps that sabotage your wellbeing as a teacher. I see these all the time and I experience them myself, so don't feel like you're alone in it. Of course it's not an exhaustive list, but these are the top three that I see and I think it's useful to identify them so that we can get out of the trap. I've heard Katrina Bourke say that we have to "name it to tame it" when talking about emotions, and I think it applies here too. Once we're aware of these thinking traps, we can catch ourselves in the act and redirect our thoughts to be more conducive to supporting our self-care and our health and happiness, instead of sabotaging it. May the rest of your 2018 go smoothly and I hope you will join me on the socials and via the newsletter so you can be the first to know about announcements and have access to things like early bird prices for programs I'm running in the new year. Support the show at www.patreon.com/selfcareforteachers and by leaving a rating and review on your podcast app. Reach out if you have a teacher story about health and wellbeing that you'll like to share on the next season of the podcast. Until next season, remember you are a person first and a teacher second and you are worthy of your own care! Find the show notes for this episode at www.selfcareforteachers.com.au/podcast and connect with me @selfcareforteachers on Facebook and Instagram. This episode is sponsored by Katrina Bourke Coaching, helping caring professions create a life of balance and flow. Find out more at www.katrinabourkecoaching.com.au and evolve, transform, thrive.

In this episode, I interview Clare Crew, a mother, teacher, speaker and host of the Thriving Children podcast. Clare shares with us some of the ups and downs on her journey of parenting and integrating that with her role as an educator, being still a great teacher while having some energy left for your own children. She experienced post-natal depression in her shift into motherhood, and I really wanted to have her on the show because of course teaching is still a predominantly female workforce and many still think of it as a very family-friendly profession, but it isn't always the case. Obviously every parent's story will be different and there is no one-size-fits-all but as you probably know by now, I think it's important to talk about mental health challenges and also to share a range of different career options for teachers at any stage of life. Clare talks in this episode about the different choices she's made in her teaching career since becoming a parent, and how that's still evolving. I also particularly love her point about superheroes being fictional characters and that we shouldn't compare ourselves to them, or to anyone else for that matter. I hope that you enjoy this interview with Clare Crew from Thriving Children. Find the show notes for this episode at www.selfcareforteachers.com.au/podcast and connect with Clare at www.thrivingchildren.com.au or on Facebook @ThriveEducationAndWellness This episode is brought to you by Daniela Falecki's teacher wellbeing cards. These 52 cards give you simple daily reminders to help better support your wellbeing. Find them and Daniela's other resources at www.teacher-wellbeing.com

Welcome back and thank you for bearing with me in my couple of weeks intermission of Season 4 of the podcast. In this episode, I interview a teacher friend of mine, Miranda, who I think has a really empowering story for lots of people. She has made a shift away from full time teaching, but she's now teaching in a lot of different contexts. Miranda shares that it was a really difficult decision for her at the time but I really like the way she made some choices based on her values and what would be sustainable and effective for her long term, but also bu looking back at what her original goals were and why she became a teacher in the first place. She figured out how to still meet those goals without being in the traditional full-time school teacher context that most of us think is 'being a teacher'. I hope you enjoy this episode and Miranda's story, I think there's a lot in it for us all to learn from. Find the show notes for this episode at www.selfcareforteachers.com.au/podcast and connect with Miranda @kickstartmartialartsandyoga or @kickstartnimbleninjas on Facebook This episode is sponsored by Katrina Bourke Coaching, helping caring professions create a life of balance and flow. Find out more at www.katrinabourkecoaching.com.au and evolve, transform, thrive.

No podcast episode this week, just a little explanation of the break in programming, and a reminder that you can support the show by leaving a rating and review in your podcast app of choice, or by contributing at www.patreon.com/selfcareforteachers As always, remember you are a person first and a teacher second and you are worthy of your own care! See you next week when we resume normal programming.

Daniela Falecki from teacher-wellbeing.com.au has been called the 'Keep-it-real Teacher' because she is passionate, energetic, funny and most importantly realistic. As a teacher for more than 20 years, she knows all too well the stress, frustrations and struggles teachers face. You might remember Daniela from Season 3 where she shared her journey from teacher to coach to PD presenter in Episode 2. She's also one of the sponsors of the podcast so I'm thrilled to welcome her back as a repeat guest! In this episode, Daniela shares how teachers are faring at the coal face, what she is hearing from teachers around Australia and some really valuable advice about time management. She also explains some important questions you need to be asking in order to support yourself, as well as evidence-based strategies for your wellbeing, and some great resources too. Find the show notes for this episode at www.selfcareforteachers.com.au/podcast and connect with Daniela @teacherwellbeing for Instagram and Facebook, @dfalecki on Twitter and LinkedIn. This episode is brought to you by Daniela Falecki's teacher wellbeing cards. These 52 cards give you simple daily reminders to help better support your wellbeing. Find them and Daniela's other resources at www.teacher-wellbeing.com

In this episode I share a teacher story from high school teacher and side-hustler Vince. We discuss the importance reflecting on your mistakes and weaknesses, and how you can learn from them to improve the next time around. Vince also shares how useful it was for his teaching career to take a two year break and do something else for a while. We then talk about the power of hobbies and how his side-hustle has not only improved his life but also his experience in the classroom. You can connect with Vince on LinkedIn or check out his blogs and podcasts about innovation and teaching entrepreneurship over at vincemassara.com This episode is sponsored by the Self-Care for Teachers Resource Room: an online hub for teachers to learn about health, happiness, wellbeing and burnout prevention. Check out the library. It's a collection of free resources that you can use to be proactive about your self-care and wellbeing. Find out more atwww.selfcareforteachers.com.au/library

Listen to part 2 of my interview with Gigi Langer, an author, speaker, teacher and educator of pre-service teachers. Gigi has a really powerful story about her journey with fear, worry and substance abuse, which she shares in her wonderful book 50 Ways to Worry Less Now: Reject Negative Thinking to Find Peace, Clarity and Connection. This is a 2-part episode because Gigi and I had so much to talk about. This episode is part 2 of the interview where Gigi shares some of the excellent techniques in her book, including the best acronym I've ever heard, and some fantastic book suggestions too. Find the show notes for this episode at www.selfcareforteachers.com.au/podcast and connect with Gigi at her website www.gigilanger.com and Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/worrylessnow/ This episode is brought to you by Daniela Falecki's teacher wellbeing cards. These 52 cards give you simple daily reminders to help better support your wellbeing. Find them and Daniela's other resources at www.teacher-wellbeing.com

Listen to part 1 of my interview with Gigi Langer, an author, speaker, teacher and educator of pre-service teachers. Gigi has a really powerful story about her journey with fear, worry and substance abuse, which she shares in her wonderful book 50 Ways to Worry Less Now: Reject Negative Thinking to Find Peace, Clarity and Connection. This is a 2-part episode because Gigi and I had so much to talk about. This episode is part 1 of the interview where Gigi shares a bit about her background and her journey, and how she came to be writing a self-help book, as well as some tips to help you increase your health, happiness and wellbeing at work and in life. Find the show notes for this episode at www.selfcareforteachers.com.au/podcast and connect with Gigi at her website www.gigilanger.com and Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/worrylessnow/ This episode is sponsored by Katrina Bourke Coaching, helping caring professions create a life of balance and flow. Find out more at www.katrinabourkecoaching.com.auand evolve, transform, thrive.

In this episode I share with you some of the results of the Self-Care for Teachers Annual Survey that I did in June 2018. The report is still forthcoming, but today I thought I would share with you a bit of an overview and what I've got so far. In the survey, I asked a whole bunch of questions, and I don't go through all of them today, but I do cover a bit about physical and mental health, workload, wellbeing practices and what respondents said is happening in their schools in terms of support for staff wellbeing. Stay tuned for the final report, once I've finished sifting through all the free-form answers. There's a lot to do and I want to do it properly, so I appreciate all your patience. If you're not already, make sure you subscribe to the podcast in your podcast player, sign up to the newsletter and come over to follow me on Facebook or Instagram (my handle is @selfcareforteachers ) because that's where you'll get the updates. Find the full show notes at selfcareforteachers.com.au/podcast This episode of the Teacher Wellbeing Podcast is sponsored by the Self-Care for Teachers Resource Room: an online hub for teachers to learn about health, happiness, wellbeing and burnout prevention. Check out the library: a collection of free resources that you can use to be proactive about your self-care and wellbeing. Find out more at selfcareforteachers.com.au/library

I speak with Ben Weir about his journey from classroom teacher to clinical psychologist, and the power of self-compassion. This was a really interesting conversation that aligns with the ethos of Self-Care for Teachers. Having followed his love of learning into the primary school classroom and also into yoga, he now works at New River, an organisation that aims to build capacity for positive change in individuals, school communities and community organisations. As part of his Masters of Clinical Psychology, Ben is researching teacher wellbeing via the Teacher Stress and Self-Compassion Study, which he would love you to participate in. Find out more about New River on their website, follow Ben's research on Facebook or to participate, go here: http://bit.ly/2zP7hhcTeacherStressCompassion This episode is brought to you by Daniela Falecki's teacher wellbeing cards. These 52 cards give you simple daily reminders to help better support your wellbeing. Find them and Daniela's other resources at www.teacher-wellbeing.com You can also get a free 30-day trial, including one free audiobook, from Audible. I recommend 'Self-Compassion Step by Step' by Kristin Neff. You can download your pick or another audiobook free by trying Audible today go to audibletrial.com/TeacherWellbeing Remember also to sign up for the free webinar and 30-day Self-Care September Challenge over at www.selfcareforteachers.com.au/september