Teacher Wellbeing

In this episode I share the top 5 things that have stood out to me as lessons or themes from the 3 seasons of the Teacher Wellbeing Podcast so far. Of course, you might have a different top 5 list and I'd love to hear it! I also revisit the Self-Care for Teachers mission and share some of my recent reflections on how I'm working to achieve that, including some ways listeners can be involved in supporting the mission. This includes some great new patron-only bonuses for people who choose to support the next season of the podcast on Patreon at patreon.com/selfcareforteachersAt the start of the episode, I share some announcements, including a reminder about the early bird sale of my signature program Prioritise You. It's available for $147 (50% off) until the 25th May 2018. The course begins on 4th June. You can find it, as well as the freebies library at the Resource Room www.selfcareforteachers.com.au/library

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In this episode of the Teacher Wellbeing Podcast, I interview Steve Waters from the Teach Well Alliance in the UK. Steve is a former high school English and Drama teacher, who worked for 30 years in high schools in the UK including as an Assistant Principal. After spending some time in a consultancy role for the district, he began noticing an increasing number of teachers were struggling under the pressures of the job and that wellbeing crises were happening more frequently. He decided to do something about it, and has set up the Teach Well Alliance where he works with schools to help them through a 12-month organisational wellbeing program for staff. The Teach Well Alliance also has a conference coming up in July called Tackling Teacher Burnout, so if you're in the UK keep an eye out for that! In this episode, Steve and I talk about some of the factors that influence organisational wellbeing in schools, the expensive and vicious cycle of high staff absences, and some great tips for early career teachers to help support their wellbeing and practice. You can connect with Steve on Linked In or find out more about his work and the conference at www.teachwellalliance.com
This episode is sponsored by the Self-Care for Teachers Resource Room: an online hub for teachers to learn about health, happiness, wellbeing and burnout prevention. Check out the library. It's a collection of free resources that you can use to be proactive about your self-care and wellbeing. Find out more at www.selfcareforteachers.com.au/library

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In this episode of the Teacher Wellbeing podcast, I had a fascinating conversation with business growth coach Lena West about personal leadership and being the CEO of your own life. We talk about what it means to be the CEO of your life, and how you can use the CEO mindset to help support your health and wellbeing. Lena explains why sometimes we need to reevaluate our levels of self-care and shift out of maintenance mode if there is a qualifying event in our life that means we require more. We also cover boundaries, making life changes and new habits incrementally, and why resilience and reframing are so important. Lena also shares a story of a turning point in her life and how a teacher made a big impact on her, which I found a beautiful reminder of the power we all have to impact the people around us. You can connect with Lena via Facebook or email [email protected] “If your needs aren’t taken care of you don’t have the reserves to even consider someone else’s needs because you’re in a deficit.” ~ Lena WestAt the start of this episode I also make a few announcements and reminders, including about the second in the free webinar series I'm running called 'Preventing Burnout: Managing Stress'. It will be on May 8th 2018 at 6pm AEST and you can sign up at www.selfcareforteachers.com.au/webinarFor full show notes, see www.selfcareforteachers.com.au/podcastThis episode is brought to you by Daniela Falecki's Teacher Wellbeing Cards. These 52 card give you simple daily reminders to help better support your wellbeing. You can use them in staff meetings to build positive conversations, or have them in your desk as little pieces of advice to help you through the day. Find these cards and Daniela's other resources at www.teacher-wellbeing.com.au/shop/teacher-wellbeing-cards ​​

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In this episode, I interview Kelly Hine from Body and Soul Retreats. Kelly has a background as an early childhood educator and university lecturer. She now runs retreats, is a Reiki Master, mindfulness, meditation and self-love teacher. She has an online membership community, Soul Space, which delivers weekly soul-nurturing mini-retreats that blend the best of science and spirituality for a happy, peaceful and meaningful life. I have experienced some of Kelly's meditations at a retreat, and they're just beautiful.
I really resonated with Kelly's story in this episode. She describes her younger self as a workaholic, insomniac, overthinking stress head worrier, who loved her job but lived and breathed work, which really took its toll. In this episode, she shares her health and wellbeing journey from there and how meditation and mindfulness helped her heal and create a life of more wellbeing.You can connect with Kelly at www.bodyandsoulretreats.com or sign up for her free mindfulnessresources at www.kellyhine.com Remember you can also sign up for the next in webinar in the Preventing Burnout series at www.selfcareforteachers.com.au/webinar and book a discovery call to find out if coaching is a good fit for you at www.selfcareforteachers.com.au/coaching. And, if you would like to support the show, you can leave a rating and review in iTunes, or become a patron over at www.patreon.com.au/selfcareforteachers and be eligible for the patron-only bonuses.This episode is sponsored by Katrina Bourke Coaching, helping caring professions create a life of balance and flow. Find out more at www.katrinabourkecoaching.com.au and evolve, transform, thrive.

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Ever feel like a slave to your email inbox or to those little red notification numbers on your social media apps? I do, and it's something I've been working hard to improve over the last year and a half. In this episode, I share with you the digital boundaries I've been setting up and how they've made a difference in my life, helping improve my productivity, my relationships and my sleep. Social media and email is here to stay, and it's a wonderful thing that we can connect to each other through these mediums at all hours and across huge distances. It's not about removing them from your life altogether, nor is it about implementing the exactly list of things that I've tried in exactly the order I share them. I invite you to simply reflect on your experience of the impact of email and social media on your life and wellbeing, and consider approaching these platforms with more intention and less mindless scrolling. I'm confident that when you do, you'll find more enjoyment in the platforms and your life!At the start of this episode I also make a few announcements and reminders, including about the second in the free webinar series I'm running called 'Preventing Burnout: Managing Stress'. It will be on May 8th 2018 at 6pm AEST and you can sign up at www.selfcareforteachers.com.au/webinarFor full show notes, see www.selfcareforteachers.com.au/podcastThis episode is brought to you by Daniela Falecki's Teacher Wellbeing Cards. These 52 card give you simple daily reminders to help better support your wellbeing. You can use them in staff meetings to build positive conversations, or have them in your desk as little pieces of advice to help you through the day. Find these cards and Daniela's other resources at www.teacher-wellbeing.com.au/shop/teacher-wellbeing-cards​​

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In this episode I speak with Meg Durham from Open Mind Education (openmindeducation.com). Meg was a little girl who always wanted to be a teacher and she grew up to be a Science and PE secondary school teacher. However, despite being extremely excited to begin her teaching career, she describes her first year as an "avalanche". The only way she survived was by napping, and putting her personal life on hold until the holidays. It was an unexpected conversation with a student in crisis that put Meg on the path to a Master’s of Student Wellbeing. After a move from Melbourne, VIC to Toowoomba, QLD and from full-time to a 0.7 (or 70%) teaching load, she experienced a marked change to her quality of life, quality of teaching, and life/job satisfaction. One thing led to another and she eventually began Open Mind Education.In this episode, Meg shares about the work she now does with schools, and how she’s found there is no one-size-fits all approach. She then goes on to explain why school wellbeing is like a farm and why teacher wellbeing is like a battery. I never metaphor I didn’t liked and Meg delivers on the metaphor front amazingly well in this episode! We also talk about the barriers to improving wellbeing, and the importance looking at our psychological fitness in a similar approach to physical fitness.“Imagine what life will be like for you if you show up fully charged for yourself and the people around you.” ~ Meg DurhamYou can find more about Meg at www.openmindeducation.com and for full show notes for this episode, visit selfcareforteachers.com.au/podcastThis episode is sponsored by Katrina Bourke Coaching, helping caring professions create a life of balance and flow. Find out more at www.katrinabourkecoaching.com.au and evolve, transform, thrive.

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Are you striving for balance or you do you think it's a dirty word? In this episode, I share what I've learned from my Exercise Physiologist husband about the importance of balance in preventing falls for older adults, and why I think it applies to teachers when preventing burnout. I personally feel that work-life balance is not a myth but that the way balance is often spoken about is unhelpful and set it up to be unattainable.At the start of this episode I also make a few announcements and reminders, including about the free webinar I'm running on April 5th 2018 at 6pm AEST called 'Preventing Burnout: The Missing Link'. You can sign up at www.selfcareforteachers.com.au/webinarAlso, a word of warning: this episode is marked 'Explicit' due to a couple of spots of strong language. Just in case you're listening with kiddies around...For full show notes, see www.selfcareforteachers.com.au/podcastThis episode is brought to you by Daniela Falecki's Teacher Wellbeing Cards. These 52 card give you simple daily reminders to help better support your wellbeing. You can use them in staff meetings to build positive conversations, or have them in your desk as little pieces of advice to help you through the day. Find these cards and Daniela's other resources at www.teacher-wellbeing.com.au/shop/teacher-wellbeing-cards​​

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In this episode, I interview Trudy from Teachers Thriving Magazine (www.teachersthriving.com). Trudy is a former Teacher and Principal who now works in a regional support role in Queensland, and has a lot of wisdom to share from her many years in the education system across a variety of roles. In this interview, Trudy shares her own wellbeing journey, including the juggling act of having a family and a career, and what she did to deal with her working mother guilt. We also touch on the problem many teachers face of having trouble sleeping, as well as why Trudy is seeking work-life satisfaction rather than work-life balance. Of course, we also explore the beautiful Teachers Thriving Magazine, which is not like your standard teacher's journal or professional publication that you might find littering the tables in the staff common room. It's a beautiful and very inspiring read and if you're looking for some holiday reading, I highly recommend it.At the start of this episode I also make a few announcements and reminders, including about the free webinar I'm running on April 5th 2018 at 6pm AEST called 'Preventing Burnout: The Missing Link'. You can sign up at www.selfcareforteachers.com.au/webinar For full show notes, see www.selfcareforteachers.com.au/podcast This episode is sponsored by Katrina Bourke Coaching, helping caring professions create a life of balance and flow. Find out more at www.katrinabourkecoaching.com.au and evolve, transform, thrive.

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One of the things a lot of teachers tell me is a challenge for them in their personal and workplace wellbeing is having to work with a difficult person. It might be a colleague, a parent of one of the students you teach, or one of the leadership team at your school. If you're feeling stressed, overwhelmed or burnt out, your ability to respond rather than react will be even more limited. So what can you do about it? In this episode, I share a personal story as well as some concepts from author Harriet Lerner (www.harrietlerner.com) about the way interpersonal relationships are like dances made up of predictable patterns of steps. As frustrating as it is, all you can control is your next step in the dance."There is nothing wrong with wanting to change another person. The problem is that it usually doesn't work." ~ Harriet Lerner in 'The Dance of Anger'At the start of this episode I also make a few announcements and reminders, including about the free webinar I'm running on April 5th 2018 at 6pm AEST called 'Preventing Burnout: The Missing Link'. You can sign up at www.selfcareforteachers.com.au/webinarFor full show notes, see www.selfcareforteachers.com.au/podcastThis episode is brought to you by Daniela Falecki's Teacher Wellbeing Cards. These 52 card give you simple daily reminders to help better support your wellbeing. You can use them in staff meetings to build positive conversations, or have them in your desk as little pieces of advice to help you through the day. Find these cards and Daniela's other resources at www.teacher-wellbeing.com.au/shop/teacher-wellbeing-cards​

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This is the first Teacher Story episode of Season 3, where I interview early childhood and primary school teacher Katie, who shares her journey from health challenges to wellbeing. We talk about the occupational hazard for teachers around our voice, her experience of moving to a new place for school transfer and the impact that had on her personal and professional wellbeing. She shares some wonderful wellbeing tips, and I think the most interesting part of her story is how teaching wellbeing practices to the students in her class is what transformed Katie's personal wellbeing. Katie also runs See Me, Know Me, Teach Me (https://seemeknowmeteachme.com), which she is setting up in order to share wellbeing tips and strategies for students and children. She wants to support children in their school and home lives, and I highly recommend following her on Facebook too.At the start of this episode I also make a few announcements and reminders, including about the free webinar I'm running on April 5th 2018 at 6pm AEST called 'Preventing Burnout: The Missing Link'. You can sign up at www.selfcareforteachers.com.au/webinar
For full show notes, see www.selfcareforteachers.com.au/podcast This episode is sponsored by Katrina Bourke Coaching, helping caring professions create a life of balance and flow. Find out more at www.katrinabourkecoaching.com.au and evolve, transform, thrive.

Sign up for the Self-Care for Teachers newsletter here.