How to Maintain High Energy Levels as a Teacher

An article by Richard James Rogers (Award-Winning Author of The Quick Guide to Classroom Management and The Power of Praise: Empowering Students Through Positive Feedback). This blog post has been beautifully illustrated by Pop Sutthiya Lertyongphati.

Accompanying podcast episode:

In the classroom, we are expected to be entertainers, facilitators and imparters of knowledge. This requires high amounts of energy on our part, every single day. Maintaining energy levels is no easy task for a teacher – it involves dealing with challenges outside of school, along with facing the obstacles that present themselves to us inside the classroom. Being a high-energy teacher requires a whole-life overhaul, and in this blog post I’ll tell you exactly how to make it happen!

Deal with what’s outside the classroom first

I think I owe it to my readers to be as brutally honest as possible – you deserve to know the truth. And the truth about what makes a teacher have high enough energy to cope with a day of teaching is often not presented in teacher-training courses, books or even through the official social media accounts of top influencers in this space.

The truth is that if you have dilemmas going on outside of school, then that is going to cause you to bring your worries, anxieties, stress and negative thoughts into the classroom. Whilst so many teachers are covering up their personal woes with a cheerful face and the facade of fake enthusiasm, that act can only go on for so long before burnout happens. We MUST deal with our external issues first, and they typically include:

1. Money: credit card debt, poor finances, the cost-of-living crisis and a general feeling of living ‘paycheck to paycheck’ can be one of the biggest energy drainers out there. Everyone’s financial situation is different, but we all share one common challenge – we must deal with our money issues, and we all CAN deal with our money issues. Newsflash – your school is not going to bail you out of this, and throwing more money at a problem (especially in the form of loans) is only a way of temporarily holding back the waters of catastrophe before the damn bursts! Seek help. Learn money management. Cut down on luxuries. Keep track of what you’re spending. We should all aim to have at least ONE YEAR’S salary in the bank – imagine how energized you would feel in that situation! A good book I recommend for starting on this journey is The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason.
2. Relationships – toxic people lead to toxic emotions. Toxic emotions lead to poor teaching. It really is that simple, unfortunately. Where possible, avoid people who deflate you, and surround yourself with people who uplift you. A good place to start if you’re navigating a challenging relationship is this great article by HelpGuide.org.
3. Health – the inevitable burden of ageing is that it becomes more difficult to maintain a healthy body and mind as we get older- yet the state of your physiology is a CRUCIAL factor in determining your energy levels for the day. Monitor the food you eat – what energizes you? What tires you? These days I unfortunately have to skip lunch – lunch makes me drowsy in the afternoon, and skipping lunch also acts as good way to help me maintain a healthy weight. Only you know your own personal health issues, and only you are responsible for your body. In short – take care of yourself. Seek medical advice and help if you’re unsure about any health issue you are noticing within yourself. SLEEP PROPERLY – the best preparation for a day of a teaching will always be a good night’s sleep.
4. Logistics: Are you travelling for an hour every day in dense traffic to get to school? That’s going to affect your mood. Are you waking up, ironing your clothes that morning and rushing out of the house, only to arrive at school in the nick of time? Maybe you need to set up a morning ritual that lets you get everything done. Look at all of the ‘systems’ you’ve got going on in life and see if you can streamline things.

Then….deal with what’s happening at school

When life outside of school is good, and you have a significant financial cushion should things go wrong, that’s going to be the best energizer you can have. Beyond that, however, there are things inside school that we can control to some extent:

1. Plan every lesson really well: Time invested in planning ALWAYS pays dividends in terms of your energy and enthusiasm when teaching. Read more, here.
2. Learn strategies for managing student behavior, if that’s an issue. This blog post is a great place to start.
3. Stressed out due to marking load, lesson issues, conflicts with your boss or other things? Deal with it all professionally. This blog post outlines some strategies.
4. Ask for help from your colleagues – they are often the best experts on whatever issue you are facing. Learn how to do this, here.
5. Consider utilizing more live marking, peer-assessment, self-assessment and automated assessment strategies. You find that this drastically reduces your marking load, which will naturally lead to a boost in energy levels.

Conclusion

Teaching is such a people-centered profession that our entire holistic state – mental, emotional, physical and personal – all feed into our energy levels. Most teacher-training providers do not discuss the personal stuff – i.e. what’s going on in your life outside of school. However, this ‘domain’ of existence must be expertly managed if you want to be a highly energetic teacher. Deal with what’s going on at home first, then focus more on what’s going on at school. You’ll be amazed at the transformation that ensues!