Stressed Out
There can be many stressors in the life an instructor. One of the big ones for me is not having enough time to be as fully prepared as I would like. When I walk into a classroom and I don't feel prepared, then I become stressed, and I feel like the class doesn't flow the way I would like it to. We have also experienced some changes to our curriculum recently, and I think this had created some increased stress, for me anyway. This means that even subjects I have taught before now need to be redone to accommodate the new curriculum. What I find helps me de-stress is using guided imagery techniques I have learned, listening to music for a bit, playing the flute and piano, or going for a walk. Getting away from the class preparation for a while clears my head and makes me ready to take on what needs to be done again.
Ha! What a great way to turn things around Bennett. I like your approach. We could use more of this kind of thinking. .
One of the things that stressed me was each class preparing for the power point presentation and having "those doddlers" that would draw on the paper instead of taking notes. Very stressful.
However I made lemonade out of these lemons...
I now have the doddlers use their skills to draw on the power points and have everyone in the class watching the power points to see what is going to be drawn next.
Very satisfying!
Indeed. Sometimes we can only take care of the immediate tasks we must address and planning for a better future falls off our list. Look to those times when things slow down just a little to get ahead on making your courses better.
I get this feeling every once and awhile. There is so little time during break week to get everything done that needs to be done to prep for the next quarter; it's crazy. I make my task lists, but there are times where looking at course materials to make the course better is going to have to wait.
Debra,
I completely agree with you. I like to be well prepared and organize. That is one of my main stress factors at work. I like to be focus for my class so that I can answer their questions effectively. I have long classes in the morning and at night in Monday and Wednesday. It did not take me long to realize that to be more effective and relive some stress, it was helpful for me to leave the building for at least 30 minutes. In other words, take a breather and switch out of instructor mode.
