You can’t just talk about your teaching-related stress. You have to do something about it.
You have to make changes.
Hoping it’s going to be better this year isn’t a solution. Only action will yield results. The power is in the doing, not the wanting or wishing.
And now is the time, before the pressure of the new school year takes hold. Waiting until the elephant jumps on your back is too late and too hard to shake loose.
So what follows are 13 ways to keep the heavy gray burden at bay.
1. Follow your plan.
This is by far the most important. Nothing comes close to alleviating stress more effectively than allowing your classroom management plan to do its job curbing misbehavior.
2. Say no.
Saying no to anything and everything that draws your focus away from your classroom will save time and lessen your emotional strain. It takes discipline and boldness, but is so worth it.
3. Cut the fat.
You can make your life a lot easier and your teaching more effective by examining everything you do with an eye toward becoming more efficient. Shorten, reduce, remove, and simplify.
4. Limit your talking.
Speaking less saves time and energy, improves listening, and makes you more interesting. It also frees you to observe and supervise closely, which all great teachers do.
5. Decide.
If you make a conscious decision every morning before school to keep your cool both inside and out, no matter what happens, amazingly, you will. It’s so simple yet so powerful.
6. Breathe.
Remembering to breathe through your nose while exhaling fully, and nothing else, will keep your stress level and blood pressure down from morning bell to dismissal.
7. Visualize.
Seeing yourself in your mind’s eye doing your job calmly, which only takes a minute or so before school, will give you a feeling of relaxation and confidence that will last the whole day.
8. Be only pleasant.
By removing the possibility of ever reacting in anger—striking it from your repertoire entirely—you’ll experience an enduring relief that can’t otherwise be taken away.
9. Be a referee.
Enforcing consequences can be stressful unless you view yourself as an ever-watchful referee committed to maximum fairness and learning protection for every student in your class.
10. Give yourself less time.
By limiting the time you allow to prepare for class, and thus forcing a heightened level of focus, you’ll amaze yourself not only what you accomplish but how much better the quality is.
11. Shift responsibility.
Most teachers take on, at least to some degree, what should be their students’ responsibilities. The more you hand over to them, however, the better for them and their progress and less stress for you.
12. Tidy your room.
A tidy classroom is a great stress reliever, for you and your students. It also increases focus, reduces excitability, and reinforces your call for excellence.
13. Get away.
Having interests outside of school that are more important to you than teaching—like certain hobbies, faith, or family—keeps your work life in balance, thereby reducing stress.
Take Action
I’ve written about each of the stress-lowering strategies above extensively, which is why I didn’t include details about why they work.
If you want to read more, I recommend typing “stress” or “calm” into the search bar at the top of the page. You can also check out The Happy Teacher Habits, which offers a complete approach to eliminating stress and enjoying your job.
Teaching with minimal stress is doable. It really is. You don’t have to be a martyr for your students. You don’t have to count the days to vacation or schedule an appointment with a shiatsu masseuse. But you do have to take action. You do have to use the strategies.
Practice them. Perfect them over time.
The idea, however, isn’t to have more things to check off your daily list. It’s to turn your new skills into habits you no longer have to think about.
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Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I haven’t commented before, but I can’t not show gratitude any longer. I have been using your Smart Classroom Management System for a few years now, and as it became more clear and I implemented it more correctly, it has changed my life and my career. I am happier at work (and at home) more than ever and I enjoy teaching more than I ever have. Last year was the best year of my career and I look forward to every day with my students. I have experienced most of the struggles I hear from others. I have felt the stress, the fear, the anxiety. I have felt like quitting and finding another career multiple times. I have blamed the students and the culture. The Smart Classroom Management system is the most important and most valuable information I have learned in my career. I believe in it 100% and now I get to share it with others. My teacher team started using it last year and they already see the value. Other teachers are now coming to us for help because they see how happy we are at work. Other schools in the district are starting to implement it school wide and I get emails or texts asking for links to your site and books every week. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do in providing such an amazing resource for us educators. Sorry for the lengthy post, but I just have to express my gratitude to you Michael and let others know that this works. God bless you and have a wonderful year!
That’s awesome to hear, Jonathan. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for all these great pieces of advice:I have been reading all your articles and really puttingng them into practice since a few years already and they do work!
Keep up the amazing work that you do because we all need reminders from time to time to get back on the right track of managing our work and personal life, too🤓
I feel so grateful to have found you after many years of teaching. You have been blessed with a quick mind and great insight. You take the busyness and almost insanity of teaching and make it not only doable but a pleasure. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are my most treasured resource.
Thank You! I have read your books and I definitely needed all of these reminders. This is definitely a year of action towards less stress for me.
Perfect article for me, Michael. I have moved to a school that has more challenging situations but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be a joy to work with my new students.
When I saw your email this morning, the intro made me smile bc this is what I was looking for before our school year starts.
Thank you!
Perfect article for beginning a new academic year.Thank you
Less Time for planning – SO TRUE! I began teaching 30 years ago and would spend hours planning and grading. I would use one whole day every weekend on planning and grading. I eventually learned that if I scheduled dedicated blocks of time to these activities, I would get it all done! Somehow I had convinced myself that an 8 hour planning/grading session was required every weekend. I’m older and wiser and have learned that blocking short planning periods (with a timer) really works 🙂
Thank you so much.
Just what we need to keep the balance of Ying/Yang. Prepare- Direct- Breathe- Reflect and Refresh!
Hi Michael,
I find SCM absolutely amazing. I read the book The Smart Classroom Management Way about a year ago and it has transformed my teaching, the atmosphere in my classroom this past year was so positive without an ounce of conflict or negativity and I loved going to school every day so thank you!
I’m wondering are routines and rules 2 separate things? You talk about having approx 4 rules in your classroom management plan but adding together the different parts of each routine can give about 100 different rules to follow at different times of the day.
Would you say that if a student doesn’t follow a small part of a routine, that breaks the umbrella rule of ‘Not following directions’ which could be 1 of four rules on a classroom management plan?
Would really appreciate clarification on this point as we start the new year. Many thanks!
Hello Roz,
I think I read Michael talking about this in one of his articles or books. The gist of what he said was that you should have routines for everything the class does regularly, and that they should be trained in them. If the whole class forgets them, then retrain them; if a few children are misbehaving and spoiling the routine, then apply sanctions to them.
My thinking is a lot like Amy and Laura’s. Each of the articles was informative even if it had already been addressed. They are helpful and informative. Good classroom management is always a concern. There can’t be enough ever said.
Thank you so much for the information you share! It has really helped me to have a more peaceful year, but also, a more peaceful life. ☺️