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Teacher Mental Health

9 Things To Do During the First Month of School

by Brain Ninjas

Getting back into the school year is an exciting time, but there is can be so much to do that it can be difficult to prioritize what needs to be done first. Come read through our must-do list during the first month of school in your upper elementary classroom and we'll help you out.

As a student, I never appreciated the first month of school. It always seemed like we didn’t get too deep into the content and spent a lot of time playing games and doing art projects. It wasn’t until I became a teacher that I recognized how much work teachers do during the first month of school. While we created a list with nine of the most important, there really are so many more that could be added.

[Read more…] about 9 Things To Do During the First Month of School

Filed Under: Classroom Tips Tagged With: Back to School, building relationships with students, Classroom Community, Classroom Organization, Classroom Set Up, communicate, communicating, communicating with parents, communication, communication with parents, First Year Teachers, first-year teachers, Holidays and Seasonal, Math Worksheets, new teacher, new teachers, Professional Learning, Teacher Mental Health, Teacher Organization, Teacher Wellness, Teacher Workload, Worksheets

7 Amazing Team Teaching Tips

by Brain Ninjas

Have you ever had to share a class or classroom with another teacher? Team teaching can be a challenge even when you get along well with another teacher. We've got some advice and strategies to get you through a year of team teaching. Come have a read.

If you’ve ever shared a class or a classroom with another teacher, you might have called yourselves co-teachers or team teachers. What’s the difference between co-teaching and team teaching? We’ve discovered that most people use these terms interchangeably, but we’re going to challenge you to think about it in a different way. Do you like sharing a classroom with another teacher?

Sometimes team teachers are thrown together whether they planned it or not. Here are some ways to make the most of your team teaching situation.

[Read more…] about 7 Amazing Team Teaching Tips

Filed Under: Classroom Tips Tagged With: Co-teaching, mentor teacher, Teacher Humour, Teacher Mental Health, Teacher Stories, Teacher Wellness, Teacher Workload, Team Teaching

Are You an Overachieving Teacher? Read This Now

by Brain Ninjas

Is your need to be an overachieving teacher hurting you overall mental health and productivity? Is being busy more important than your own happiness? It's hard for us people pleasers to balance our need to please with healthy boundaries, but come see some of the ways we've learned to let it go and live happier.

Even writing this post, I recognize that my overachieving personality is going to make sure it’s perfect and it will never be as perfect as it needs to because I am an overachieving teacher.

It’s just who I am and I know this, so I actively try to not be me (and sometimes I even overachieve at that). Some people call it being uptight. Others think I’m a perfectionist. I just feel like I like things done right. And to be honest, it hasn’t served me well.

If this resonates with you at all, then read on.

[Read more…] about Are You an Overachieving Teacher? Read This Now

Filed Under: Classroom Tips Tagged With: productivity, Teacher Mental Health, Teacher Wellness

When to Quit Your Teaching Job and Why It’s Ok

by Brain Ninjas

There are lots of reasons to quit a teaching job and none of them have to do with the teaching part. It's ok to change your teaching job. Come read this list of reasons to quit and how you can start the process (spoiler alert-none of them mean walking away from teaching completely).

If you’re anything like me, you were playing school with your dolls, neighbours or siblings as soon as you could walk. Teaching is just part of my soul, but there might come a time in your life when you should quit your teaching job and that’s ok.

If you are looking for a post that will tell you it’s ok to quit your teaching job to run away with the circus, this isn’t really that kind of post. This isn’t what you can do instead of teaching.

Instead, this post is about knowing when it’s time to change the teaching job you are currently doing. That could be a change of subject matter, grade level, locations, training or type of school position. Change is a good thing. It can breathe life back into your calling.

Read on to find out when you should quit.

[Read more…] about When to Quit Your Teaching Job and Why It’s Ok

Filed Under: Classroom Tips Tagged With: quitting your job, Student Teachers, Teacher Mental Health, Teacher Stories, Teacher Wellness, Teacher Workload

How to Reconnect From Your Teaching Island

by Brain Ninjas

Is teaching making you feel isolated and disconnected? Come read through some of the strategies that may help you through the tough times. Your mental health is much more important than your teaching job, so let us help.

Teaching has always been an isolating profession. We spend all day in a classroom with little people who get our jokes. The adult conversations we get happen during recess or staff meetings or in the bathroom line waiting for a toilet. It can leave anyone feeling disconnected.

My husband has a joke about teachers, they can seek each other out anywhere in the world. It never fails that when we travel to another country and meet another couple, one of them will be a teacher. He calls it teacher radar.

And it’s true. When two teachers meet in the wild, they talk about teaching. Because it’s another human in the world who actually gets it.

I mean, Mr. Ninja tries to be supportive, but unless you’re in the trenches, you don’t really get it.

How do you connect with other teachers? Come read about our struggles and some of the solutions.

[Read more…] about How to Reconnect From Your Teaching Island

Filed Under: Classroom Tips Tagged With: Covid-19, first-year teachers, new teachers, Pandemic Teaching, Student Teachers, Teacher Mental Health, Teacher Wellness, Teacher Workload

How to Get Your Classroom Set Up in One Day

by Brain Ninjas

Are you stuck in a time crunch with one day to set up your classroom? Yes, it can be done. Get down to the basics and leave everything else for later. Come read about how we've set up our classroom in one day.

It was the first day we were allowed to reenter the school after a major renovation. It was a disaster. Before the end of the previous year, we packed up everything and carefully labeled it. Nothing was returned to the classrooms. Students would be arriving in ONE day! Yup! You heard that right.

What a nightmare! Fortunately, we worked with the most amazing staff on the planet. We planned out a solution to bring everyone’s anxiety level down to a manageable level. We hosted a walking set-up bus.

What is a walking set-up bus? Keep reading to find out.

[Read more…] about How to Get Your Classroom Set Up in One Day

Filed Under: Classroom Tips Tagged With: Back to School, Classroom Organization, Classroom Set Up, Holidays and Seasonal, Setting Up Technology, Staff and Faculty Activities, Teacher Mental Health, Teacher Wellness, Teamwork

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