Wellbeing tips for teachers

In this short bonus episode, teachers Magdalena Balica, Kawita Thani and Sanja Vičević Ivanović share their tips for supporting teacher and student wellbeing in the classroom. Magdalena Balica and Sanja Vičević Ivanović, who were guests on the full episode about teacher wellbeing, suggest using mindfulness techniques for stress relief, cultivating the social side of wellbeing, and focusing on your purpose and meaning as an educator.

Practitioners also shared with Nina the following ten ideas for slowing down and nurturing wellbeing in the classroom.

1. Guide students through some deep breaths as they sit comfortably. Inhale for 4 counts, hold for 4, and exhale for 4. It can help young students to suggest smelling a flower for 4 counts, freezing for 4, and then gently blowing out a candle for 4.
2. Lead the class in some simple body stretches to release tension. Include neck rolls, shoulder shrugs, and side bends.
3. Ask students to tense and relax their muscles. Inhale for 4 counts, tense all the muscles for 4, then exhale and relax all the muscles for 4. Repeat 4 times. On the last go, tense all muscles to their maximum. For a variation, guide them to breathe in while moving the neck to one side, and breathe out coming to a neutral position. Repeat the exercise using different parts of the body.
4. As students inhale, they draw the breath with a crayon. When they exhale, they move the crayon in a different direction.
   For a variation, students draw a circle whenthey inhale, and a line when they exhale. Start with 10 breaths or set a timer for 3 minutes.
5. Ask students to concentrate on the sensory details of something in nature, ideally outdoors. If you’re indoors, provide something from nature such as a flower. Ask students to observe and feel the texture, the colours, the patterns, the smell etc. 
6. Read a story aloud for 5 minutes each day or play an engaging audiobook.
7. Challenge students to find and count items of a certain colour or shape they can see in the classroom within 2 minutes.
   For a variation, ask students to close their eyes and focus on the sounds around them for 1 minute. They can share them with the class or keep them in a journal.
8. On a rainy day, or as you play the sound of rain, ask students to close their eyes for 30 seconds as they concentrate on the rhythm of the rain. In pairs, one student gently taps with the tip of their fingers on the wrists of their partner, mimicking the rhythm of rain falling. Each partner does this for 30 seconds.
9. In pairs, students lay on their backs, placing a small stuffed animal or a book on their stomachs, focusing on the item rising and falling with their breath.
10. What am I doing well (in my life, at home, in school, anywhere?) Write a note of appreciation for yourself in the centre of the page - what are you doing well in life, at home, in school, or elsewhere? Scribble a continuous line around it, twisting and turning, in and out, left and right.

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Guests and resources

Magdalena Balica on LinkedIn

Sanja Vičević Ivanović on LinkedIn

Kawita Thani