EDUA 5706 Achieving a Work-Life Balance
ACHIEVING A WORK-LIFE BALANCE IN TEACHING
Attaining a work-life balance means feeling engaged, effective, and satisfied in each aspect of life. A stressful job, like teaching, can often lead to an imbalance that leads to job dissatisfaction, a lower quality of life, and less time to devote to personal pursuits and family and friends. Between paperwork, lesson planning, grading, meetings, classroom and behavior management, test prep, managing parent relationships, and, of course, classroom instruction itself, teachers can easily become physically, mentally, and emotionally overwhelmed. Learning the skills and techniques that support a work-life balance is paramount for teachers; work-life balance means being able to effectively manage the demands of teaching while still having time to spend quality time with friends and family, pursue personal interests, and generally be able to "shut off" during non-working hours.
This course provides both new and veteran teachers with a set of practical, customizable strategies that involve working smarter, not harder. Time management, organizational skills, and emotional groundedness are key factors that define teachers who feel calm, in control, and able to focus on their students. Through a focus on improving physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing and on gaining time management and organizational skills, this course helps teachers focus as much on their own wellbeing as on the concrete demands of the job. After finishing this course, teachers will be able to increase their productivity at work and feel more satisfied with their lives both in and out of school. A balanced teacher is a teacher that can connect with, inspire, and help his or her students achieve personal and academic success.