December 9th - 16th

As part of helping deal with stress the week prior to the finals I thought we identify a week for Anti-Stress. 

Monday ...  Stress Relief Activity

• Capturing a Daydream
• Close your eyes and let you minds wander for a few minutes. During this time daydream while you sit and relax in a comfortable position.
• Follow these directions:
• Then take a big breath in, hold it for a count of five, and now, begin to exhale very slowly. As you exhale, blow away all of the tension in your body. Now breathe normally and stay relaxed. All you have to do for the next few minutes is daydream. You may visit strange places. Just relax. Try not to control your thoughts. Then after a few minutes open your eyes.
• Something you can try time to time when you feel stress coming on.

Tuesday ... Stress Relief

• Keeping the Fires Burning
• Burnout is one of the most serious problems that we face in education, and it’s a main cause to stress. The key to fighting success is the Small-Change Principle, which is, like all good principles, quite simple: “SMALL CHANGES CAN HAVE BIG OUTCOMES.”
• Case study:
• Maryann had been an administrative assistant for five years, but gradually she had grown to hate her job. She felt that she was consistently treated unfairly, blamed for things that weren’t her fault, and put under more pressure than she could bear. A consultant discovered that Maryann made an average of ten trips to the photocopy room each day, where she often encountered long line or broken machines. Her boss was not very sympathetic, even though she told him about copy problems many times. The entire image she had of her job seemed to revolve around problems related to the copy machines. Rather than lose her, her boss agreed to provide a small copier for Maryann’s workstation. She felt vindicated, and, more important, the patter of her workday changed dramatically for the better.
• Now look at the small stuff that really was the problem for Maryann. What small stuff is causing problems in your workplace? What can be done to fix them? If it’s in your power why not try?

Wednesday ...  Stress Reliever

• A Little Help From My Friend
• This will involved a little writing. You will be asked to write a “MST Plan”, which outlines how colleagues in the workplace might work together to help each other cope with and reduce stress.
• No one feels more alone then a person with stress. So lets look at a Mutual Support Team. This is an informal team created to provide mutual support among its members. It works positively and constructively to increase the stress-management skills of its members, to reduce sources of stress, and to provide mutual support in time of stress.
• On a sheet of paper, write down names of individuals who could serve on your support team. Then write down possible dates, times you could meet. Even write down some specific activities, functions and goals your team could have.
• If you do this, you could share your ideas and develop one MST for the group.

Thursday ....  Stress Reliever

• The Nirvana Room
• Let’s take a look at your classroom. The best workspaces can create a sense of calm, while keeping productivity high. Look over these five principles:
• The Irritation Principle: Stimuli that irritate the senses can cause stress. Examples: loud noises, echoes, clashing colors.
• The Soothing Principle: Stimuli that soothe the senses can relieve stress. Examples: soft music, dim lighting, silky textures, garden scents.
• The Over stimulation Principle: Over stimulation can cause stress. Examples: several people speaking simultaneously, the sound of many machines operating.
• The Minimal Principle: Low stimulation can relieve stress. Examples: being alone in a quiet room, being alone on the shore of a lake.
• The Colorful Principle: A soothing color scheme can relieve stress. Examples: low-saturation colors, “cool” colors (in the blue-green range), and Baker-Miller pink.
• Now take a look at that list and apply it to your classroom. Can you find one thing that could be changed to help with the stress?

Friday .... Stress Reliever

• Punch That Pillow!
• One way to get the body back into a relaxed state is to do some relaxation exercises, but another may be to act out the hostility in a non-destructive way. I’ve place a number of items in the work room today feel free to use them by yourself or with others. Notice that some of the items actual have names so feel free to punch away. If you really want to relieve stress step in the ring and have your way with a fellow staff member.

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oldfashion (flv file)

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