Ten Cs for teachers to stay well while staying at home for work :) Part 3

And to finish this blog series of 10 Cs to stay well while staying at home for work. The focus this time is on our mindset. 

Challenge:

At the moment we have been presented with an opportunity for us to learn new things and to do things differently, we may not have chosen the circumstances but we can choose to embrace the opportunity to stretch our brains. Our brain does love to be challenged- this will come from taking risks and making mistakes while we learn, just like we ask our learners to do in our classrooms every day!

We might have the challenge of creating a work space in our homes, as a wee tip I am fond of using my ironing board at times as a substitute desk 😊 (it doesn’t get used for much else very often to be honest!) We might have the challenge of how we work with our own children needing us as well, I’ve been getting my boy to join in on the challenges I set my class and occasionally film him doing things to share with the class, he also sometimes joins in on my songs or listens to me read the novel I am for my class. We have the challenge of what to do for our classes, how much work to set and how to meet all the diverse needs in varying circumstances. My suggestion is to start off by keeping it simple and going slow, we are all new to this.

Contribute: 

We all offer value and I encourage you to share your gems with others, and there are so many ways you can! You don’t have to learn all the new things, share the load by sharing the wisdom with your colleagues. Even when we work from home we have the capacity to collaborate, there are tools we can use to help us do this more easily and we might even come up with ways to work together effectively that we can use after all this is over!

Also consider the unique skills and talents that you have and how you can use these to connect and engage with your learners- you might record yourself singing favourite songs to share with your class, you might write poems or stories for your class about things that you know will appeal to them, you might create art or do cartoons, you might be great at sewing or crafts and you can share examples of what you are making… the only limit is your imagination.

Change:

Let’s be honest teaching shifts and changes all the time so teachers are not strangers to change! Change by its very nature can cause uncertainty and be distressing. It can also lead to excitement, energy, and growth.

We are in a privileged position to support our learners to navigate this very different learning environment by being champions of change. We can show them how to embrace change, how to be calm and connected when faced with uncertainty.

Working from home is a change for many of us, it has a range of benefits as well as challenges, as with any changing circumstance.  What are you going to focus on?  

Choice: 

In every moment we have the power to choose, I know it is a bit of a cliché but I’ll say it here again because it is a useful mindset to adopt, we cannot choose our circumstances but we can choose our attitudes.

We can choose to see all the problems we are faced with in the coming weeks; we might be feeling overwhelmed or stressed, which are perfectly normal emotions especially now, but if we feed this negative energy then all that we do will be coloured by this negativity, instead of rose tinted glasses we'll be wearing grey, gloomy lenses instead. We can choose to see the opportunities that come from setbacks; the opportunities to create something new, the opportunities to learn new things, the opportunities to give positive energy at a time when many people may be struggling, the opportunity to continue doing our important work.

A shift in perspective doesn’t mean denying our feelings, it means giving ourselves time to feel our feelings and then making choice about how long we are going to give any particular feeling the floor. If watching news or social media feeds fuels our anxiety then choose to switch off. If you are feeling uncertain (and who isn’t at the moment) choose to focus on what you can control, even just one little thing. 

Working from home can be seen as a burden or a privilege. We haven't chosen it but we can choose to make the best of the circumstances. 

1. Focus on creating a healthy internal environment for your work- create calm, act with caution around negative habits, and make sure you make time to chill out. 
2. Focus on your work- remember your can-do-ness (you've got this!), let yourself get creative and connect with others regularly. 
3. Focus on your mindset- face challenges with a sense of optimism, contribute and collaborate, be a champion of change and always remember the power of your choice. 

Take care out there everyone.