Category: teacher burnout

Linda Markley

Permission Slips

Introspection, Learning Lessons, Maslow before Blooms, overwhelmed, Spirit of teaching, Spirit practices, Strategies, teacher behavior, teacher burnout, teacher choices, teacher mental health, teacher self-care, teacher struggles, teacher support, teacher value, teacher vulnerability, teacher well-being, Wholehearted teaching

Do you remember when there were permission slips in school?

A permission slip is a document used by schools, clubs, or organizations to obtain formal, legal consent from a parent or guardian for a minor to participate in specific activities,

In my book, Learning Lessons, I talk about using permission slips in our daily lives in a less formal or legal way to give consent to ourselves whether or not to participate in certain activities.

I even have a “form” to fill out that looks like the picture above.

And there is more explanation in Chapter 14 of my book, pp. 115-124 on how to use these to give ourselves permission to do or not do something.

Very simple, yet powerful.

First, they raise awareness.

Secondly, they prompt action to make a choice.

And finally, they have an emotional charge behind them.

The word “permission” is related to the word “permit” which is from the Latin permittere “let pass, let go, let loose; give up, hand over; let, allow, grant, permit” 

These are all great words to describe the goal of a personal permission slip, but I want to look at the word as a compound word PER + MISSION.

When we make decisions to take action or not to take action and decide which actions to take to move forward, it helps if we ask the bigger question:

Does this action align with my values, goals and how I want to show up in the world?

Is it PER my MISSION in life?

Everything is just about choices and how we align each choice with our bigger mission in life and who we want to be and how we want to show up for ourselves and for others.

So, what permission slip(s) do you need to write yourself for today?

Teachers: What are you going to write on your SUMMER permission slips?

Then, what will you write on your SCHOOL YEAR permission slips?

Are they the same or different? (more…)

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Linda Markley

Summertime FUN!

Essential questions, Joy, Maslow before Blooms, Spirit of teaching, teacher burnout, teacher mental health, teacher self-care, teacher support, teacher well-being

Do you remember the Beach Boys song entitled “Fun, Fun, Fun”?

You can refresh your memory here, and you don’t have to own a T-Bird to relate!

There are a lot of teacher conferences that happen over the summer, and my social media feed has been full of posts from teachers having “fun, fun, fun” at these conferences.

Summer is for fun, and I hope that everyone is finding something that they enjoy and find fun to do.

The word for fun in Spanish is “divertido”, related to the words “divert” and “diversion”.

The etymology of fun is from the Old English word fun meaning “to cheat or trick”.

So, to have fun means…

…to do something that is a diversion from the ordinary or from what we normally do.

…to do something that diverts our attention from our troubles, sorrows, preoccupations, etc. and directs us more toward things that will relieve us of these burdens.

…to do something that cheats time and tricks our minds into a state of bliss and mindful musings.

What is fun to one person may not be fun to another.

So, what are some things we can do to have fun?

(more…)

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Linda Markley

Teacher Mental Health

professional development, Spirit of teaching, Spirit practices, Strategies, teacher burnout, teacher mental health, teacher resources, teacher self-care, teacher struggles, teacher support, teacher vulnerability, teacher well-being, Wholehearted teaching

As a long-time attendee of teacher conferences, I can say that the topic of teacher mental health was never a topic for a session of professional development.

This has certainly changed in the past decade, especially after the pandemic!

The number and variety of sessions on teacher mental health and well-being as well as teacher burnout has increased tremendously and, quite frankly, are quite well-attended at conferences.

I,  myself, present often these days on this very topic, and as a result, have gathered quite a bit of research on the topic.

  • 21% of teachers report poor mental health (American Federation of Teachers) 
  • 75% of teachers experience stress (Education Support) 
  • 41% of teachers experience anxiety (American Psychological Association) 
  • 44% of teachers report feeling burnt out (National Center for Education Statistics) 
  • 25-74% of teachers experience clinically significant burnout (ResearchGate) 
  • Teachers are more likely to experience burnout than other professions
  • 68% of teachers feel overwhelmed by their job (NEA) 
  • 48% of teachers are dissatisfied with their job (EdWeek Research Center) 
  • 55% of teachers plan to leave the profession earlier than expected due to burnout (Education WalkThrough) 
  • Teacher mental health has been declining in recent years 
  • The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated mental health issues among teachers 
  • Younger teachers are more likely to experience mental health problems 

And it is just getting worse by the day.

The mental health of teachers is declining. The Spirit of Teaching is committed and dedicated to helping teachers with the struggles and the challenges that they face every day in the classroom.

Here is how we are helping. (more…)

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