On August 21, 2020, we gathered on Twitter, through the #teslONchat hashtag, to discuss self-care with Patrice Palmer – @positiveupside
Patrice has 25 years of experience as an ESL teacher, trainer, and writer in Canada and spent seven amazing years in Hong Kong. She has taught students from 8 to 80 in a variety of programs. Her experience with professional burn-out in 2015 prompted her to reflect on her lack of self-care and adopt positive psychology strategies which she shares with other educators and administrators.
In 2019 her book titled The Teacher Self-Care Manual: Simple Self-Care Strategies for Stressed Teachers was published by Alphabet Publishing. The book is available on Amazon. Check it out today! You can also connect with Patrice through her LinkedIn Profile and Instagram.
Questions Discussed
These were the questions discussed on August 21, 2020:
- What is self-care?
- What does teacher self-care look like?
- What are the warning signs of teacher burn-out?
- What are some ways that we can create a culture of self-care at our schools?
- How can we make self-care stick?
Please read the tweets of the evening that were collected using the advanced search settings on Twitter.
#teslONchat’s Evening Highlights
- The overall consensus is that self-care looks differently for everyone, but it should be something that you enjoy and recharges you.
- A major point of discussion of the evening was to set healthy boundaries at work. Though we didn’t fully discuss how to set boundaries in the workplace, this article offers some helpful tips for teachers – My Only Resolution This Year Is Not to Grade or Plan Lessons at Home by Megan Panek – from weareteachers.com.
- Patrice also mentioned she might write a blog post about this so keep on the lookout for that.
- We discussed that the warning signs of teacher burn-out might be irritability, exhaustion, and indifference. These feelings could be symptomatic of burn-out and may require you to step back and take a break.
- Patrice emphasized being a self-advocate in the workplace and asking for what you need. This could open doors to creating a culture of self-care at work.
- Another key word that kept coming up was #nature. Being outdoors is a great way to recharge. This article “How to Use Nature for Self-Care (Even When You Live in the City)” by aSweatLife offers some great tips.
- And this article discusses “forest bathing:” a practice common in Japan.
“ ‘Forest Bathing’ Is Great for Your Health. Here’s How to Do It” by Qing Li from Time.com
Resources
Understanding Job Burnout – Dr. Christina Maslach – Video from IT Revolution
Why It’s So Hard for Teachers to Take Care of Themselves (and 4 Ways to Start) – a blog post by Jennifer Gonzalez from Cult of Pedagogy
Learn to shine bright- the importance of self care for teachers | Kelly Hopkinson – TED Talk
A Look At The Self-Care Wheel: Templates, Worksheets and Activities by Jeremy Sutton, Ph.D. from positivepsychology.com
Emotional Intelligence Series by Dorina Sackman – YouTube Series
Join Us
#teslONchat will be hosted on our Twitter page once a month. If you’re interested in sharing your passion or expertise in a specific topic please reach out to us on Twitter – @TESLOntario.
Join us on September 4, 2020 at 7pm ET to discuss EdTech with John Allan – @mrpottz
This summary post was written by Vanessa Nino, manager of TESL Ontario’s Twitter. Find her tweeting over @vnino23
