Stress Management
One of the key things that I have found is to understand that you will never please everyone. There will always be a student who isn't happy - so figure out if that is really related to you- if it isn't then it shouldn't be a source of stress- you will never please everyone 100% of the time. It is ok to recognize that people will disagree with you, be upset about something and that you can not control the opinions or actions of others. Realizing this can greatly reduce your stress bubble. Accept responsibility for things that you can own, but if you have no control over it- it's generally not a good idea to stress about it.
I tink you have hit the nail on the head on your statement. in life we sometimes feel that when someting goes wrong we typicly feel it has to be something we did in order to get the outcome we got in the first place . but with some practice if we sit down and take an honest asessment of the situation and the outcome then most of the time we realize it was all we could do to acomplish our task . as I said it requires a lot of practice but it gets easier every time we do it . self awarness is important to keep that stress bug from biting us .We have to be honest with ourselfs first before we can expect others to do the same.
So true about getting to the heart of the problem Wendy. Often times, when I first notice a student is distressed, all I can see are the symptoms of the problem. Getting to the cause is key to providing a holistic and long term solution.
I agree. You can't make everyone happy all the time. The most important thing is to find out why the student is not happy. Does it have to do with there professional or personal life.
I so agree and after you have cooled down you realize that the job is not worth it. Sometimes our supervisors get caught up in the moment and without thinking their stress levels exceed and and will act without thinking. Its not worth it and life is too short to deal with these shortcomings.
I agree Matt. We can't make everyone happy all the time. We've got to let some negative feedback go, even if it's hurtful and stressful in the moment.
There are some students that are going to disagree with what you do, your class, the school system, other students... no matter what.
"Let it go" is a good response. Try to get your institutional standards and resources work for you to let somebody else share the burden.
In order to manage stress it is important to accept people for where they are. Some people are miserable...I can't fix them, and I didn't cause their misery. I just do the best i can each day and let it go.
I agree that we can't please students each and every day. Howevever, we can do "our best" each and every day. I try and put myself in the position of the student and identify why the student is angry, non-responsive, or critical. I try to be emphatic and reach out to the student. Generally, the student will open up and it is a sense of frustration in not understanding that makes him/her difficult to deal with in the classroom. Once there is some trust established it becomes much easier to deal with the student. And in turn, I feel rewarded for "cracking" through a hard shell. And this actually reduces my stress. But, I have had students that I have worked particularilly hard to encourage and engage and they have left the class earlier (withdrawl) or simply just stopped trying (submittted no further work) and I just have to say I did my best and let it go.
I think this big picture attitude is spot on Melinda and you are right. We can't make everyone happy all the time - even with our best intentions. Sometimes we've got to come to terms with the fact that we are only human and can only do so much each day.
