pasadena+girls+week+11+PLC


 * Week 11: Teacher Inquiry: Developing as a Healthy Education Professional**

PLC Group Name: Pasadena Girls PLC Meeting Location: Online and In Person Farish Hall PLC Meeting Time: 3 hours

** Hour 1 ** ** ENGAGE ** Teachers wear so many hats: counselor, parent, referee, etc. You nurture others all day long, and sometimes, you’re all out of nurturing ability by the time it comes to taking care of yourself!

We’ve talked about being a better teacher by inquiring into your own practice. Today we are going to talk about teacher well-being. As an anticipatory set for today’s lesson, please begin read the following article. (As with all readings, it is intended to prompt discussion, not intended to be the only authority on the topic.) Teacher Wellness: []

** EXPLORE ** Here is a second reading to explore in order to broaden or deeper member understanding of the concept of teacher well-being.

@http://counselingoutfitters.com/vistas/vistas10/Article_71.pdf

** Hour 2 ** ** EXPLAIN ** 1. Our first year of teaching will be immensely hectic, chaotic, stressful, and who knows what else. It'll probably be an emotional rollercoaster for some of us, so How do you plan on coping with stress and maintaining a healthy well being during the first year of teaching?

2. How can teachers find a balance between job-related stress and stress from their personal lives?

3. How can teachers implement "relaxation" into their daily/ weekly schedule?

4. How can teachers lighten each other's work loads making each of their lives easier? 5. What can teachers do to help each other relax?

6. How can teachers communicate to parents and coworkers how important it is for them to have time to relax and regroup if they are not getting it?

** ELABORATE ** [PLC leaders: Here is where you will present a brief activity for the group to test its collective understanding and to push it into new directions. I’m suggesting something like this as a starting point. . . Your own well-being—how well you manage the work-life balancing act—impacts the climate in your classroom and even your students’ performance. What else could it impact? Could decades of promised education reform be inadvertently thwarted by teachers’ wellness? Or, is this just a bunch of overinflated nonsense? Suggested topics: We found there are opportunities to relax and unwind throughout the day and talked about all the ways that we have seen teachers help each other deal with stress through laughter, standing up for each other, and making sure that they are healthy enough to help others stay healthy.
 * How can teachers get and keep a healthy perspective?
 * How can humor be used?
 * How can you interview your potential jobs to understand they kind of work environment and culture that is at that school, and how that would fit with your own personal needs for success?

** Hour 3 ** ** EVALUATE **

For many members of our PLC, this semester has been one of the busiest and most stressful times in our lives. It’s easy to understand that teachers get burnt out because they are constantly on the go and it definitely feels like there is a constant flow of people asking for our help, time, and attention. We talked about ways that help us relax, and we discovered that all of us do very similar activities when we need to unwind. Taking walks, watching the sun set over the water, listening to some music, and doing yoga were some great ways to help keep our minds and bodies health, plus they are free! We also talked about taking some time with no cell phones to spend with our loved ones as well as how having a dinner with your family together at a table without TV can make a huge difference in maintaining healthy relationships. Technology is great, but sometimes it’s nice to get away from it, even for just the length of one meal.

Another topic that came up that lead to a great discussion was how we can maintain a balance between the need to vent when something is bothering us, and the need to keep our schools, including the teacher’s lounge, a positive environment. It’s very important to us that we work with other professionals that help each other by making sure that responsibility is shared and there is honesty and trust. We all want to have positive relationships with other teachers and staff, which can be accomplished by being respectful by taking care of our responsibilities, and being professional and mature enough to try our best to cooperate and be kind to each other. Lastly, communication is a huge part of staying healthy. We have to be able to communicate when we need some time to take care of ourselves. As a group we made a decision to show that we had learned from this PLC meeting by scheduling relaxation into our schedules so that we can work through this busy time in our lives.


 *  Individually, it is time to register to present at the QUEST Teacher Research Symposium. Registration is simple, and REQUIRED! Just go to this link and enter your name, email, and general presentation topic (your wondering!): []

- please send your “PLC Check” as an email to Dr. Pierson and Caroline: --What/Who worked well in today’s PLC meeting? --What/Who didn’t work so well in today’s PLC meeting?            to format text ||  ||