Teacher's Corner

All of us feel overwhelmed at times, and research shows educators especially are stressed-out these days. So, how do you deal with it? Better yet, how do you rise above it? In this episode, we talk with Lisa Lucas, teacher-educator and author of the new book Practicing Presence: Simple Self-Care Strategies for Teachers about the stress teachers face today, her experience with "overwhelm", and why you may not want to begin your research in the self-help section of the book store.

"We talk about social/emotional skills as being these so-called 'soft skills,' which drives me up a wall because they certainly are not soft in any way, shape, or form. They're foundational to anything and everything that we do."

In the second episode of our podcast series focusing on mentoring new teachers, Shawna Coppola (RENEW!) continues her conversation with kindergarten teacher Laura. In this episode, Laura talks about the challenges she faces when it comes to facilitating students' social-emotional learning without being overwhelmed by behavior charts. Head over to blog.stenhouse.com for the full writeup, transcript, and download.

RENEW! Become a Better-- and More Authentic -- Writing Teacher https://bit.ly/2xwJGfc

Shawna and Laura discuss the enormous, all-too-familiar challenge of "fitting it all in"--particularly with regard to literacy--and how to maintain a daily schedule for her students that is meaningful, engaging, and developmentally appropriate.

Like many teachers, though, Laura finds it difficult to balance building positive, healthy relationships with her students alongside "managing" them as a whole group. One of her biggest challenges is related to planning and making all of the (aforementioned) decisions she must make as a teacher--both ahead of time and "in the moment." She worries about how to fit in valuable instruction around skills that many perceive as "non-academic" or "soft" along with more traditionally-recognized "academic" skills.