Seven strategies for managing anxiety
We wanted to look at the different effects that the COVID pandemic has had on teachers and how they now teach. So I started googling different things to do with this. One of the first articles I found was teachers dealing with COVID anxiety and teaching in this new way. He gives 7 tips that teachers can do to help reduce their anxiety
Writing down your worries can help them become more manageable and less overwhelming
Analyse the evidence for and against the worry
Do some problem solving to help decide where you are able to take action
Allocate, and boundary, specific worry time so that you don’t worry throughout the day
Get enough sleep.
Choose your news sources carefully and ensure that they are trustworthy and reliable
The amount of news and information available can be overwhelming:
Allocate a time for catching up with news and information, rather than reviewing a constant drip feed
Limit the amount of time spent on news.
Limit the conversations or contact with people that make you more anxious.
Let close friends or family know if they do things that make you feel anxious.
Limit your consumption of social media, unfollow or mute people or groups that make you more anxious.
Talk things through with trusted friends and loved ones, tell them how you are feeling regularly.
Everything feels challenging at the moment and it is easy to start to catastrophise (think the worst case possible)
Notice negative thinking patterns – can they be challenged?
Identify positive things that have happened today to balance the negative thinking e.g. keep a gratitude diary.
The education profession is highly social and so in lockdown you may be particularly affected by the loss of connection with colleagues and students:
Get a routine to avoid bad habits and boredom which can increase anxiety and affect your mental health
Get up, get dressed and eat regularly
Schedule your day
Keep contact with friends and relatives regularly
Keep active and exercise regularly
Do something you never had time for before e.g. writing, gardening, photography etc
Relationships during lockdown will be challenging so acknowledge this
Plan family meetings
Anticipate conflict and agree how to manage it
Have a routine and structure for kids
Be honest with kids about what is going on and how you are feeling
Schedule screen time
Occupy kids and get their input on what activities they want to do
Reducing the need for certainty will reduce your worries. It is an uncertain world we live in all the time not just during this crisis.
It is ok to feel sad at the loss of your normal life and social interactions
It is ok to feel angry that you cannot see friends and family
Realising that your feelings are normal will help you accept them
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed education forever. This is how
I found another article online that talks about how teaching has changed forever because of the COVID19 pandemic as many schools went online.
1.2 billion children in 186 countries affected by school closures due to the pandemic. In Denmark, children up to the age of 11 are returning to nurseries and schools after initially closing on 12 March, but in South Korea students are responding to roll calls from their teachers online.
There was already high growth and adoption in education technology, with global edtech investments reaching US$18.66 billion in 2019 and the overall market for online education projected to reach $350 Billion by 2025. Whether it is language apps, virtual tutoring, video conferencing tools, or online learning software,