Healthy Teachers.

I have recently read a good piece of information on teachers' health. The following are some of the great ideas from the story/article.

COPING WITH TEACHER STRESS:
A RESEARCH SYNTHESIS FOR PACIFIC EDUCATORS

by Zoe Ann Brown and Denise L. Uehara*

Teaching can be a stressful occupation. The daily interactions with students and coworkers and the incessant and fragmented demands of teaching often lead to overwhelming pressures and challenges, which may lead to stress. Where work stress is unrelenting, some negative physiological, psychological, and behavioral consequences may result. (DeRobbio & Iwanicki, 1996, p. 1)Many teachers would agree. Teaching is not only hard work, it can be full of stress. Pressure due to school reform efforts, inadequate administrative support, poor working conditions, lack of participation in school decision making, the burden of paperwork, and lack of resources have all been identified as factors that can cause stress among school staff (Hammond & Onikama, 1997).
Teacher stress
Teacher burnout
“When a qualified educator is absent from the classroom, student achievement is negatively affected.”
Woods & Montagno,
1997Once causes of stress have been recognized and identified, preventative measures can be taken. Bunce and West (1996) demonstrated that participants can become empowered through various stress-management activities. After helping employees identify primary stressors, employers can provide training in counseling skills so that staff members are able to offer support and guidance to colleagues who are facing difficulties at work.
Physiological Training
Biofeedback—Electronic measurement of mind-body functions (muscle tension, intestinal activity, blood flow, breathing, heartbeat) and techniques to control those functions.

Muscle relaxation—Self-regulated, progressive body relaxation that puts the respondent in an extremely restful state.
Focused meditation—Perhaps the oldest of all mind-body techniques. There are many meditation techniques; the most current and popular form involves focusing on a “mantra” (single word, number, or phrase) for about 15 to 20 minutes.　

Breathing techniques—Learning how to breathe for relaxation purposes; typically combined with other coping strategies. Simple exercises include closing one’s eyes; counting backwards from ten to one; inhaling while saying to oneself, “I am…,” and exhaling while saying “…calm and relaxed.”

Aerobic activity—Any type of activity that raises the level of one’s pulse rate. Suggested exercises include bicycling, swimming, or jogging. And this blogger’s minute addition. I take three packets of this a day (Airborne or Emergen-C) and it works wonders for my immune system! Here’s a picture of the Raspberry flavor.

Most successful stress-prevention programs also provide training in physiological coping strategies such as the following: is defined by Kyriacou (1987) as “the syndrome resulting from prolonged teacher stress, primarily characterized by physical, emotional and attitudinal exhaustion” (p. 146). is defined by Kyriacou (1987) as “the experience by a teacher of unpleasant emotions, such as tension, frustration, anxiety, anger, and depression, resulting from aspects of work as a teacher” (p. 146).