Teachers spend most of their time thinking about ways to motivate
their students, and not enough time thinking about how they can avoid teacher burnout and keep themselves motivated.
When you spend most of your day looking into the eyes of the future
it’s hard to focus on yourself. With such an alarming turnover rate in
the education field, we as teachers can’t wait for the school
administration to motivate us: It has to come from within. Let’s face
it, longevity in this field is largely dependent upon on us, the
teachers. If we want to avoid teacher burnout and have a long career, then we need to the take time out to focus on ourselves, and use our inner strength to stay motivated.
There are many ways that teachers can motivate themselves, here are a few of my favorites.
Avoid Teacher Burnout by Setting Intentions
Instead of just flying by the seat of your pants every day, set some
intentions for yourself. Have a purpose or plan in mind for each day. As
soon as you wake up each morning before you even get out of your bed,
set some intentions for your day. What is your plan, what do you want to
happen for that day? For example, before you get to work you can intend
to stay calm when the students get loud. Or, before your parent/teacher
conference you can intend to be open to what the parent has to say. Be
clear about your intentions and check back with yourself to make sure
you did what you set out to do. By setting intentions you are in turn
motivating yourself.
Starting Fresh Each Day
Being a teacher offers you the opportunity to be able to start fresh
each day, while in other professions it’s hard to stay motivated after a
bad decision or meeting. Teachers, too, can have bad days, but
fortunately, the next day is a brand new day and children are very
resilient. If a lesson didn’t go well the day before, or your students
didn’t have a good day behaving, you always know that the next day will
get better. Even if you are having a bad year, you always know that next
year you will have a whole new group of kids and can start off with a
fresh outlook.
Control Your Work Space
Teachers have the ability to control their work environment and make
it a place that makes them feel good. Imagine if you were in another
profession and had to come work and sit in a cubical or desk all day.
Teachers can surround themselves with everything that makes them happy,
from pictures of their family to inspirational messages and decor,
teachers are able to create a space that motivates them.
Show Off Your Talents
Sometimes just by showing the world what you are good at, can help
you to stay motivated. Luckily, the Internet and social media have made
this very easy. Teachers can post their fabulous classroom crafts and
ideas that they worked so hard to come up with. They can connect or
reconnect with old students or coworkers. They can even show off
everything that they learned in college by mentoring a new teacher. All
of these things can motivate one to feel confident in themselves, and
know that they are making a difference in the lives their students.
Use Motivational Quotes
Do not underestimate the effect of inspirational and motivational
quotes. Listen to song lyrics, turn your radio on to motivational
speakers like Joel Osteen and Rob Bell, or go online to search for
motivational media messages. All of these things can help you stay
motivated and remind you why you are at the job that you have chosen.
Motivated teachers are successful teachers. Unfortunately, like I
said before, we can’t always wait for administration to give us the pat
on the back that will help us to stay motivated. Set intentions each
day, and surround yourself with the things that inspire you. Only then
will you see that self-motivation is the best motivation of them all.
How do you motivate yourself throughout the school year? Do
you have tips or tricks that work well for you? Please share with us in
the comment section below, we would love to hear your ideas.
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