The Power of Pausing: Why Rest and Reflection Make You a Better Teacher
Rest is not merely a reward; it is an essential requirement for educators to thrive in their demanding roles. In this episode, we delve into the significance of intentional pauses and reflection, emphasizing that these practices can significantly enhance our effectiveness as teachers. We discuss the imperative of maintaining equilibrium between professional obligations and personal well-being, highlighting that without adequate rest, educators risk succumbing to burnout. By embracing mindfulness and creating mental space, we can rejuvenate our creativity and patience, ultimately benefiting both ourselves and our students. As we explore various self-care strategies, we aim to underscore that the path to becoming a better educator begins with recognizing and honoring the power of pausing.
The discourse surrounding the potency of pausing within the educational realm unveils critical insights into the indispensable role of rest and reflection in the teaching profession. The Be a Funky Teacher Podcast, hosted by Mr. Funky Teacher, posits that rest should not be regarded merely as a reward; rather, it is an essential requisite for educators striving for excellence. The myriad responsibilities that accompany teaching—ranging from meticulous grading and lesson planning to the nuanced management of diverse student needs—can easily lead to the oversight of one’s own well-being. This episode accentuates the necessity of incorporating intentional pauses into the daily and weekly routines of educators, which serve to restore both emotional and creative energies essential for effective teaching.
Furthermore, the podcast elucidates that resting is not synonymous with laziness; it is, in fact, a manifestation of leadership. By demonstrating the importance of self-care, educators can foster a culture that prioritizes mental health within the classroom. This cultural shift is particularly crucial in combating the widespread issue of teacher burnout, as integrating rest into one’s routine can serve as a proactive measure to prevent exhaustion. The narrative underscores that moments of pause allow educators to attune themselves to the needs of their students, thereby enhancing their responsiveness and facilitating teachable moments that might otherwise go unnoticed.
In addition, the episode delves into the symbiotic relationship between rest and reflection. Mr. Funky Teacher articulates that reflection is not merely an afterthought but a fundamental aspect of professional development. However, the capacity for meaningful reflection is often compromised when educators are physically and mentally fatigued. By prioritizing rest, teachers create the necessary mental space to engage in reflective practices, which in turn fosters self-awareness and facilitates the identification of patterns that either invigorate or deplete their energy. The overarching message conveyed throughout the podcast advocates for a transformative approach to educational practices—one that recognizes rest as a cornerstone of resilience and growth for educators and their students alike. Through this lens, the act of pausing becomes an empowering tool, enabling teachers to recharge and, consequently, to inspire greatness in their students.
Takeaways:
- Rest is an essential component of effective teaching, facilitating both creativity and emotional sustainability.
- Incorporating intentional pauses into the daily routine can significantly enhance a teacher's ability to connect with students.
- Reflection, spurred by moments of rest, allows educators to gain insight into their practices and improve their teaching methodologies.
- The act of protecting pauses in a fast-paced educational environment is crucial for preventing burnout and promoting overall well-being.
- Educators must model the importance of rest and reflection, demonstrating to students that these are integral to resilience and growth.
- Understanding the necessity of rest enables teachers to provide better support for their students and maintain a healthy work-life balance.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Be a Funky Teacher
Transcript
Yeah, he's Mr. Funky.
Speaker A:He's Mr. Funky Teacher.
Speaker A:Mr. Funky Teacher inspires greatness, makes you feel good.
Speaker A:Like your favorite playlist.
Speaker A:Keeping that fresh and funky.
Speaker A:Yes, he does.
Speaker A:He got some funky cool ideas to share for all you teachers.
Speaker A:He can empower others, students and teachers.
Speaker A:It's all about hard work and creativity.
Speaker A:He brings out the kindness in everyone.
Speaker A:He's got the passion to teach.
Speaker A:You hear it when he speaks.
Speaker A:He knows how to build strong relationships.
Speaker A:If you're seeking the best bunkiest, he is it.
Speaker A:He will empower you to improve.
Speaker A:You'll be helping others and loving it too.
Speaker A:He's Mr. Funky Teacher.
Speaker A:Yeah, he's Mr. Funky Teacher.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:This is Mr. Funky Teacher with Be a Funky Teacher dot com.
Speaker B:I'm coming to you with another Be a Funky Teacher podcast.
Speaker B:Welcome back, everyone.
Speaker B:Today's episode is the Power of Pausing.
Speaker B:Why rest and reflection make you a better teacher.
Speaker B:That's what we are going to be focusing on.
Speaker B:But before we get into it, let's talk about three things that I'm thankful for.
Speaker B:First thing I'm thankful for is rest.
Speaker B:I'm thankful for moments to just rest and reset.
Speaker B:Those pauses give me clarity, patience, and the strength to show up again with energy and purpose.
Speaker B:Rest doesn't have to.
Speaker B:It doesn't have to mean sleeping.
Speaker B:Sometimes it's quiet solitude or simply just not rushing.
Speaker B:Second thing I'm thankful for is time to work on my dad's house.
Speaker B:I'm grateful for the time and ability to help my dad with his home projects.
Speaker B:That kind of time reminds me of how important it is to slow down and invest in family.
Speaker B:And one thing I want to say about that also is that physical work can be its own form of rest.
Speaker B:Shifting my focus and getting out of my head where I can just focus on the project at hand could really make a difference and kind of give me kind of like a mental break in a way.
Speaker B:Third thing I'm thankful for is safety measures.
Speaker B:I'm thankful for systems and safety measures that project they protect people, whether at school, at home, in the community.
Speaker B:I'm thankful for those safety measures and they remind us that being prepared in another way to care for ourselves and others, that matters, those things make a difference.
Speaker B:So safety measures.
Speaker B:I'm thankful for the safety measures that that are out there.
Speaker B:All right, let's get into the meat and potatoes of this episode where we are focusing on the power of pausing.
Speaker B:Why rest and reflection make you a better teacher?
Speaker B:That's what I want to be focusing on.
Speaker B:So first Things first.
Speaker B:Rest isn't lazy.
Speaker B:It's leadership.
Speaker B:I think sometimes we as humans get told that, hey, if you have to rest, it's being lazy.
Speaker B:Or sometimes there's people in our lives who kind of give us a message that, hey, if you got arrest, you're being lazy.
Speaker B:No, it's not.
Speaker B:Rest isn't lazy.
Speaker B:It's leadership.
Speaker B:Teaching requires emotional and creative energy, and both need rest to recharge.
Speaker B:See, leaders who model.
Speaker B:Let me say this so leaders who rest, they.
Speaker B:They model sustainability, not weakness, because we want to.
Speaker B:We want to be able to sustain ourselves.
Speaker B:In the world of education, the best educators aren't those who never stop, but those who know when to stop, y'.
Speaker B:All.
Speaker B:And rest prevents burnout before it starts.
Speaker B:We.
Speaker B:We don't want to have.
Speaker B:When you have to play damage control around being burned out, that makes it still more likely that you could leave the field of education, which isn't good.
Speaker B:So anytime we can incorporate rest into our daily routines, weekly routines, monthly routines, incorporate rest somehow.
Speaker B:It can help us.
Speaker B:It can help prevent burnout before it starts.
Speaker B:And see, when you.
Speaker B:When you slow down, you notice things.
Speaker B:You notice students, students and their needs.
Speaker B:You.
Speaker B:You notice teachable moments.
Speaker B:You notice your own limits.
Speaker B:When you slow down, you notice things.
Speaker B:You know, when, when you know, I. I come coming in after, you know, if you've gotten some extra rest in an evening, you come in the next day and you've taken maybe some extra rest, that can give you just what you need.
Speaker B:It can influence your patience, your sense of humor can all return.
Speaker B:If you've maybe taken an extra rest and pause for yourself, where we're not necessarily just sleeping, but just maybe doing nothing.
Speaker B:Maybe where.
Speaker B:I mean, sometimes resting can be just staring at the wall and just kind of not you.
Speaker B:Not using your mental bandwidth that says sometimes necessary.
Speaker B:See, you can't pour from empty.
Speaker B:You cannot pour from an empty cup, but you can refill an empty cup intentionally.
Speaker B:And when you give yourself moments of rest and pausing, see, that's what you're doing.
Speaker B:You're refilling your cup.
Speaker B:But if, but if you're.
Speaker B:If your cup is empty and you're trying to pour from it, nothing's coming from it.
Speaker B:You've got to refill that cup.
Speaker B:So the next thing that I want you to think about is reflection brings renewal, y'.
Speaker B:All.
Speaker B:So rest gives you space for reflection.
Speaker B:One of the, One of my big, big threes that, That I think are so important for teaching, like the.
Speaker B:The three big secrets, is rest but not rest.
Speaker B:I Misspoke there.
Speaker B:Relationships, reflection, resilience, Those are three big things that I believe in education for teachers to be successful.
Speaker B:And so reflection is so important.
Speaker B:I, I try to reflect every single day.
Speaker B:I try to, to, to reflect on what I've done, what I could do better, how could I improve?
Speaker B:I'm constantly reflecting.
Speaker B:Here's the thing, though, like, if you're physically exhausted, reflect.
Speaker B:Reflection is not happening at a very high level, or maybe not at all because it's not necessarily a priority.
Speaker B:So rest gives you space for reflection and reflection gives direction.
Speaker B:Taking a few moments at the end of a long day to say, hey, what went well?
Speaker B:Reframes everything, all right?
Speaker B:When you reflect, you turn exhaustion into insight.
Speaker B:Reflection builds self awareness.
Speaker B:You begin to see patterns in what fuels or drains you.
Speaker B:And so part of resting is you need to analyze.
Speaker B:Hey, you got to take our, You've got to analyze yourself and say, hey, what's, what's going well?
Speaker B:What's not going well here?
Speaker B:What's, you know, maybe this part, this way I'm teaching is not serving my students, not serving me.
Speaker B:You've got to rest.
Speaker B:When you rest in that space, you can reflect and really anal analyze or think about, hey, what's going well?
Speaker B:What's not going well?
Speaker B:We educators have to do that.
Speaker B:I teach my, When I, When I work with college students, I teach them that all the time.
Speaker B:It's, it's, it's.
Speaker B:Reflection builds self awareness.
Speaker B:You, you can see patterns in what could really make a difference in our, in your teaching.
Speaker B:Sometimes reflection is simply celebrating that you made it through a tough day.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:You've been there.
Speaker B:I've been there.
Speaker B:Sometimes saying like, whoa, whoa, that was a tough day.
Speaker B:I'm so thankful I made it through it.
Speaker B:Where things just like, you just have to take a deep breath and say, I made it.
Speaker B:Let's be real.
Speaker B:We've, we've all had those days.
Speaker B:And you don't necessarily need a, like a fancy journal, you know, a sticky note or, or.
Speaker B:Yeah, I'm trying to think here.
Speaker B:How do I want to say this?
Speaker B:You don't need fancy notebooks.
Speaker B:Not necessary.
Speaker B:Or like a fancy journal, you, you could write.
Speaker B:You write some notes down on a, on a sticky note on a.
Speaker B:And a.
Speaker B:Just.
Speaker B:It could be you drinking, drinking a, A cup of coffee and just thinking about it, closing your eyes and thinking about it.
Speaker B:It doesn't have to be super fancy here.
Speaker B:That I, I guess that's my, my big point that I want to stress here.
Speaker B:Ultimately, reflection reminds you that even small Steps forward matters, y'.
Speaker B:All.
Speaker B:Third thing that I want you to think about is protecting the pause.
Speaker B:In a fast paced world, schools never stop moving bells, meetings, deadlines.
Speaker B:So you have to protect the pause on purpose.
Speaker B:Protect the pause on purpose.
Speaker B:That should be in a T shirt right there.
Speaker B:Protect the pause and purpose.
Speaker B:Schedule.
Speaker B:Schedule breaks in your calendar the same way you schedule lessons.
Speaker B:Teach students.
Speaker B:Teach students the same skill like before tests, presentations, or transitions to give them permission.
Speaker B:Give students permission to pause and to breathe.
Speaker B:Here are some quick reset ideas that you can share with students.
Speaker B:You can maybe step outside for a minute of fresh air.
Speaker B:Teach students the power of nap.
Speaker B:Teach students to sit alone in silence for 60 minutes after dismissal, where or, or like when they get home.
Speaker B:You know, like, you as a teacher can like sit, just sit in the classroom for 60 minutes.
Speaker B:You can tell students that, say, hey, you know what?
Speaker B:How I already said is I just kind of sit and quiet.
Speaker B:And I encourage you when you go home, maybe just sit and kind of pause when you get at home before you get going with your evening activities, maybe listen to some music, right?
Speaker B:Like listening to some music or while doing some homework, you know, while we're grading, maybe we could listen to some homework or listen to some music.
Speaker B:So you're giving students some ideas is what you're doing of like what you do.
Speaker B:A lot of times, if we can share with students what we are doing, it can be impactful.
Speaker B:So once again, like teaching students to enjoy a breath of fresh air, sit in silence or listening to music while we're doing work, those things can make a huge difference, y'.
Speaker B:All, they can.
Speaker B:But you, we've got to be purposeful in sharing those with our students.
Speaker B:And so I, I encourage you.
Speaker B:I, I even think of like when I, when I was working at my dad's house just recently, the feeling of working at my dad's house, there's some physical effort tied into it, but the mental calmness, you know, that, that taking time to do that, because that's a priority in my life right now.
Speaker B:And you know, sharing that with students.
Speaker B:So I'm always trying to share with students little nuggets of advice for taking care of their mental health.
Speaker B:Part of mental health is that rest and pause.
Speaker B:And so, but we got to take our own advice.
Speaker B:We can't tell students, hey, you need to take care of your own mental health.
Speaker B:And then we don't ever take care of our own mental health and our own mental space.
Speaker B:We've got to do both.
Speaker B:So rest will help.
Speaker B:Definitely help us in our reflection.
Speaker B:And reflection is one of the most critical things we can do as an educator.
Speaker B:Reflection, protecting the paws.
Speaker B:Protecting the paws and actually recognizing that it's not lazy, really.
Speaker B:As we wrap things up here, big takeaways.
Speaker B:Rest restores your strength.
Speaker B:Reflection renews your direction.
Speaker B:The pause is where the growth begins for teachers and students alike.
Speaker B:Y', all, you can't give your best.
Speaker B:If you never give yourself a break, you're gonna burn out, y'.
Speaker B:All.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And I don't want.
Speaker B:I don't want funky teachers out there burning themselves out because then you're not good for anybody.
Speaker B:You can't be.
Speaker B:You're not going to be able to show up for your family.
Speaker B:You're not going to be able to show up for your students.
Speaker B:It's just not a good place to be in.
Speaker B:So big key takeaway here is that when you pause on purpose, you teach students that rest is part of resilience, y'.
Speaker B:All.
Speaker B:Well, if you found this episode valuable, jump on over to Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcast and hit me up with five star and give a review.
Speaker B:And I hope you found value in this episode.
Speaker B:Remember to inspire greatness in young people.
Speaker B:And don't forget to be a funky teacher.
Speaker B:Bye now.
Speaker A:He's Mr. Funky Teacher yeah he's Mr. Funky Teacher yeah, yeah, yeah.
