Dear teacher friends! Normally you find teaching ideas on our blog, but this year we want to also send you some monthly encouragement! It has been a really tough past few years, so we can all use some encouragement, right?
This month, the month of love, we want to encourage you to LOVE YOURSELF! I know, I know…you’ve heard that a million times. But do you really do it? After all, you are in a service profession. You give your all to others all day long. If you are a teacher mama or dad, you give your all to others 24 hours a day! We see you! Maybe not with our eyes, but with our heart! We see our teacher friends’ red eyes from crying, and yawns from exhaustion when we pass THEM in the hall. We see that their buckets are empty!! And we think of YOU too! To add to the stress, teachers are now told to fix the student’s SEL as well! On top of that, admins and district people are talking the talk but not walking the walk. You aren’t getting the support you need. We KNOW! So it is all the more important to love yourself. PLEASE DO IT! You are loved and so important to so many people. So go ahead and love yourself!
Here are some ideas to help you when you are so exhausted you can’t even think of how to do that!
- Put sticky notes on your bathroom mirror with positive words of encouragement to get your going in the morning. Here are some: You are amazing! You are a beautiful person! You have so much wisdom to get you through! No one else can take your unique place in this world! You are an amazing teacher! You ARE perfect the way you are now!
- Play happy music on the way to work.
- Play happy music on the way home.
- Play calming background music in your classroom.
- Have more two minute dance parties…at home or school.
- Play calming music at home after a long day of work.
- Hug your family more.
- Hug your pets more.
- Take a mini walk around your yard and notice the details in nature there.
- Look at funny memes and posts during your lunch.
- Walk around the parking lot at school during lunch. It’ll energize you for the afternoon.
- Make a list of what makes your heart happy, and read it a few times a day!
- And one last idea, feel free to print out this blog, cut out the “LOVE YOURSELF” pictures, and stick them up in places that you will see them each day. They are a good reminder that you have permission to Love Yourself!
So…make yourself a priority and love yourself a little each day! You are so worth it!
YOU ARE LOVED! YOU ARE IMPORTANT! YOU ARE VALUED!
Have a love-filled month teacher friends!
With gratitude for all you do,
Kristin and Lindsey