Teacher Wellbeing

Last week our Prime Minister recorded a message for teachers and I think it's fair to say it had a mixed reception. Today I have a message for teachers that I hope will resonate. I have been hearing from a lot of you in comment sections, in PMs and DMs, and in coaching sessions over the last month and I’m seeing some themes arising that I want to speak to. Some of you began Term 2 last week, some...

Hi everyone and welcome to this bonus episode of the Teacher Wellbeing podcast. Today I’m talking about teaching in the time of covid-19. So I am recording this not with my regular mic and it’s just raw, imperfect, in-edited and un-produced, because I want to get it into your earbuds as soon as possible. This is being recorded at a very particular moment in history. It’s lunchtime, Monday 23rd Mar...

The Teacher Wellbeing podcast turned 3 last week! And to celebrate I released a bonus episode of the podcast this week, detailing 4 things I’ve learned from 3 years of hosting the show! I also talk about the things I’ve learned about myself and running Self-Care for Teachers in the process. Plus, I share an amazing story about some action a teacher took after listening to the podcast last year tha...

Hello everyone, and welcome back to the teacher wellbeing podcast, and welcome to 2020! The new school year is about to begin and I know that means many of you are in the midst of inservice, professional development, student free days and setting up your classrooms. We're still between seasons of the podcast but in this bonus episode, I am sharing with you the audio from a Facebook live video I di...

Recently on the Teachers Thriving Lounge Facebook Group , Trudy from TeachersThriving.com and I spent a good 45 minutes discussing the very important but under-researched topic of teacher sleep, and some strategies you can use to help you get a good night's rest. As Trudy says, "Sleep is the sleeper topic for educators. No-one really is talking about it but it is a big issue." So we know it's a hu...

This is a replay of a Facebook Livestream I did today, which I wanted to share with you because I know some of you are only following me on the podcast, and may not get updates otherwise. The audio quality isn't amazing, but it's good enough and the episode will self-destruct in about a week so listen now while you can! I have half updated my website with my new programs, but the tech is causing m...

First up, this episode will self-destruct in about 7 days, so you wanna listen right now while it's available in your player. I have a couple of time-sensitive updates and then a special invitation for you. Teacher Self-Care September. If you're not already playing at home, join in at Facebook or Instagram and see the overview post here Supporting resources for the #teacherselfcareseptemberchallen...

Lessons from 4 years of Self-Care for Teachers, and my vision for the future (Season 5 finale) is an adaptation and update of of this blog post. Find all the links mentioned there. See you next season! Sign up for the Self-Care for Teachers newsletter here .

In this episode I have a brilliant conversation with fellow teacher wellbeing enthusiast, Jessica Terlick from Lead and Inspire Community. Jessica shares her story with us and it’s one I think you’ll relate to. She tells us about her experiences as a preservice and early career teacher and how she fell into the trap that so many of us fall into, which is living and breathing the job and letting wo...

I’m deliberately doing this episode directly after Gabbie’s 2 part episodes because I know they may have stirred up a lot for some of you. The content of Gabbie’s book Teacher and the content of our conversation, while really important, also touches on some real sore points for teachers. I know because you tell me and I know because they’re sore points for me too. So I want to say right up front t...

I think this week’s episode is an absolute must-listen for any teacher today. It’s Part 2 of my conversation with Gabbie Stroud, author of the best-selling book ‘Teacher’, and if you haven’t yet, I do recommend you go and listen to Part 1 of this interview which is the previous episode on the podcast. In that episode Gabbie told us a bit about her story, we talked about the expectations on teacher...

I’m so excited to bring you this episode of the podcast with a woman who I’m sure needs no introduction! Gabbie Stroud is a freelance writer, novelist and recovering teacher. Her critical commentary of Australia’s education system was published in Griffith Review’s Edition 51 Fixing The System. Links to the essay went ‘viral’ on social media and the essay was viewed 24 000 times within the first t...

It is great that schools are providing wellbeing strategies and services to their staff, but they often seem to cover only half of the wellbeing equation. Positive Psychology + Positive Physiology = Wellbeing Sign up for the Self-Care for Teachers newsletter here .

In this episode you will hear Part 2 of my interview with Elise. If you haven’t yet, go back and listen to Part 1 so that this half to he conversation makes sense! In Part 1 she tells us about some serious health challenges she’s faced, including a really, REALLY important message about vocal care, plus how important a culture of wellbeing is in a school. So while in Part 1 we talked a lot about s...

In this episode we hear another teacher story, this time from Elise. Elise tells us about some serious health challenges she’s faced, including a really important message for teachers about vocal care. We cover so many great points and it was such a good conversation that it actually went for nearly an hour, so I’ve split it into 2 parts. This episode, part 1, focuses on workplace stuff, the wellb...

Despite the jokes that teaching is 9 - 3 with 12 weeks holiday a year, we know it to be otherwise. We know that the work starts well before 9am, finishes well after 3pm and that large parts of those holidays are usually spent working too. We also know that workload has been increasing over the last 10-20 years. The introduction of new improvement measures such as Professional Standards for Teacher...

In this episode I interview Kelsey, a teacher from the United States. She shares with us her wellbeing challenges of being consumed by the job in her first year, and losing her identity as a person. Kelsey then tells us how she has overcome this through intentional personal growth and self-care. We talk about decision fatigue, the power of rituals and routines, and learning to switch off at night....

In this episode I speak with Linda Back from Zest Natural Therapies. Linda works with a lot of teachers so I felt she was a great guest to cover this topic because she really does have a good understanding and appreciation of the kind of work that we do and the demands of working in a school that are different to other workplaces. We talk about all things to do with gut health and the immune syste...

I share 5 steps to changing your health habits and improving your wellbeing as a teacher. When I’m coaching teachers, running live webinars or presenting workshops and retreats, you tell me that your habits are something you know undermines your wellbeing, especially as the busy times of term set in. So hopefully this episode will be quite timely for you and will help you cultivate wellbeing habit...

This is the last episode of Season 4, and I'm talking about three thinking traps that sabotage your wellbeing as a teacher. I see these all the time and I experience them myself, so don’t feel like you’re alone in it. Of course it’s not an exhaustive list, but these are the top three that I see and I think it’s useful to identify them so that we can get out of the trap. I’ve heard Katrina Bourke s...

In this episode, I interview Clare Crew, a mother, teacher, speaker and host of the Thriving Children podcast. Clare shares with us some of the ups and downs on her journey of parenting and integrating that with her role as an educator, being still a great teacher while having some energy left for your own children. She experienced post-natal depression in her shift into motherhood, and I really w...

Welcome back and thank you for bearing with me in my couple of weeks intermission of Season 4 of the podcast. In this episode, I interview a teacher friend of mine, Miranda, who I think has a really empowering story for lots of people. She has made a shift away from full time teaching, but she’s now teaching in a lot of different contexts. Miranda shares that it was a really difficult decision for...

Daniela Falecki from teacher-wellbeing.com.au has been called the ‘Keep-it-real Teacher’ because she is passionate, energetic, funny and most importantly realistic. As a teacher for more than 20 years, she knows all too well the stress, frustrations and struggles teachers face. You might remember Daniela from Season 3 where she shared her journey from teacher to coach to PD presenter in Episode 2....

In this episode I share a teacher story from high school teacher and side-hustler Vince. We discuss the importance reflecting on your mistakes and weaknesses, and how you can learn from them to improve the next time around. Vince also shares how useful it was for his teaching career to take a two year break and do something else for a while. We then talk about the power of hobbies and how his side...

Listen to part 2 of my interview with Gigi Langer, an author, speaker, teacher and educator of pre-service teachers. Gigi has a really powerful story about her journey with fear, worry and substance abuse, which she shares in her wonderful book 50 Ways to Worry Less Now: Reject Negative Thinking to Find Peace, Clarity and Connection. This is a 2-part episode because Gigi and I had so much to talk...