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Hello edumagicians, and welcome back to another episode of the edumagic podcast. My name is Dr. Sam Fecich, and I'm excited to be with you today because today, we're going to discuss the importance of self-care. This is a topic I wish I knew more about as a future teacher and a new teacher.
As educators of excellence, we have to pour into ourselves first. Then we can pour into others. So let's break it down. We know that self-care isn't selfish, and we've seen that phrase all over social media. But what does self-care mean to us as teachers?
Self-care is not putting our students off to the side or delaying what we need to do.
It is taking care of ourselves first so we can give to others and be the best teacher we can be.
Join me on Twitter for the #pretchat at 4:00 PM EST on Thursday, Sept 3, 2020, to participate in a Twitter chat all about self-care!
We know we have to take care of ourselves, and it does help us to be better educators. When we can take care of ourselves, we can give to others. We know that phrase, "You can't pour from an empty cup," and that's so true. We have to fill ourselves and take care of ourselves. Then we can take care of others. As teachers, givers were helpers, and we need to be able to help ourselves first. When you're on an airplane, you must put on your oxygen mask first before assisting others.
This episode is about putting on your oxygen mask first and assisting others. So let me share a little bit about what self-care means to me and a little bit about my self-care journey. So recently, I'd say in the past year, I've been starting to put myself first, and it's been tough because I feel like there's always stuff on my list. I could be doing this. I could be doing that. Instead, I choose to take care of myself, and while taking care of myself, I try to block out all those distractions or negative self-talk. Some ways I like to take care of myself are getting out into nature and taking walks or spending time with family and loved ones.
Teachers must set boundaries and put time on their calendars to care for themselves. I'm sure we all have a To-Do List or things we need to get done. I encourage you to put things on your list where you're taking the time to care for yourself. So schedule in 1/2 hour or 15 minutes, whatever it might be during the day. Carve out that time to take care of you. Just find something that you can do that takes care of you and gives you joy.
There's a great article by ASCD called five strategies for teacher self-care, and it's written by Jon Harper, he shares:
Trim your list.
So remember, we talked about our To-Do List, and maybe we don't get everything done, so he recommends you make a list of prioritizing those.
I agree with that 100% in the edumagic planner. That's precisely what we have, so we have space for you to dump all of your strategies.
Everything you're thinking of ideas, things you need to get done. Dump it all on your page and then pick three you need to complete.
Prioritize that list and pick two or three things to get done, which are the two or three things you focus on.
There's also a saying called, "eat the frog." Have you ever heard of that? It's about doing the most challenging thing first. That thing that you don't want to do. You have to do it first, so it gets done. We have to get that hard thing done. It gets us over the hump and starts working through the rest of our list.
Allow yourself to stop
So I think that it's essential to set boundaries for ourselves.
So cut out time in your schedule and your calendar to focus on different projects, different assignments, planning, whatever it might be so you can focus on and give yourself time to stop and start a project.
Reach out to experts
So as teachers, we are collaborators. It does take a team to raise each other up to raise students.
We need to reach out to our professional learning networks, reach out to our colleagues, and find support within them.
Ask for help when you need it.
I want you to think about what does self-care look like for you?
Reading a book
Working out
Taking a walk
Taking an extra long bath with lots of bubbles
Cooking a great meal
Gardening
Writing
Journaling
Prayer
Watching your favorite series
Spending time with family and friends
Getting out into nature
There's so much out there that you can do to take care of yourself. I encourage you to try some different things and find what works best. Lastly, it's also essential that we hold each other accountable I encourage you to plan out some self-care activities, morning, noon, and night. Check-in to see how you did with taking care of yourself for that day.
Prioritize self-care and make ourselves accountable for taking care of ourselves. Alright, friends, self-care is not selfish. Get out there, take care of yourself. Please share how you take care of yourself on social media with #edumagic, and tag me @Sfecich. I want to see how you're taking care of yourself.
Until next time friends, you have the edumagic in YOU!
Selfcare resources
Join me on Twitter for the #pretchat at 4:00 PM EST on Thursday, Sept 3, 2020, to participate in a Twitter chat about self-care!
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