I saw a Tweet earlier today from @HuffPostEdu asking teachers about stress and what their districts do about it.  Only 5 people responded to the tweet, but the combined answer is a resounding “NOTHING.”  It seems as if nothing is being done at the distract level to help teachers relieve the stress of teaching.

What stress?  There’s no stress.  Just ask a non-teacher. Many think our job is a walk in the park.  If that’s so, I invite the non-teacher to Google stress support teachers (just as I did) and watch the plethora of hits that pop up.  Here are a few I found:

Teacher Support has a few good articles about the stress of the job and ways to handle it, including self-hypnosis and how to balance work and life.

Social Support and Work Stress Among Teachers is an article I found on ehow.com.  It discusses the causes and the impact of teacher stress.

My favorite is Teacher Stress by Ken Mrozek.  His piece includes a stress self-assessment, methods of stress management, common stressors teachers experience and even the 10 commandments for reducing stress.  I highly recommend reading this article.  I’m printing out a few copies tomorrow to leave in the staff lounge.

Speaking of my school, we have have a Spirit Committee that works to boost morale in out school.  It’s staff driven and includes activities like Secret Santa, holiday party, theme lunches, grade-level decorating the staff room in different themes.  We’re attempting to host some out-of-work activities such as bowling nights and a hayride. But like I said, it’s staff driven, not district driven.

What are the causes and solutions to your stress?  Does YOUR district do anything to help?  What would you like to see happen?  What do you do to make your day a little brighter?