Teachers explore the importance of taking care of their mental health and well being

Transcript

Mike Conrad [00:00:00] You know, a lot of people listening: I know you have your own issues in your own things that you're going through with your, working in the profession of education and teaching. And I think one of mine is and I don't think it will ever change…which is that I don't know of another job, another career where you take as much home with you as you do in this job. Thinking about the kids who are struggling, dealing with parent communication, trying to figure out all the time that I have in my day to do planning and evaluations that are coming due. And it has nothing to do with homework or schoolwork, but it has everything to do with being a teacher. Now, that being said, I'm having a great year. The kids are fantastic.  But I just never feel like I can catch up. Oh, you know, I'm gonna catch up, you know when? June 15th. Oh.

[00:00:53] From PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs, this is Teacher Reporting Labs, where we're shaking it up by putting educators like us behind the mic to report back on a mix of topics, triumphs, challenges, all the things we face in the classroom with some great candid conversations. I am Mike Conrad.

Michael Kaufman [00:01:09] And I am Michael Kaufman, and together we are, “The Mikes.” All right, well, all right, let's start talking about what's going to happen on this episode…

[ music ] 

Teacher 1 [00:01:21] One thing that's affecting my mental health personally as a teacher is just seeing the struggles that students are having bouncing back after the pandemic.

Teacher 2 [00:01:32] There are times when this all feels really lonely. I was acutely aware of it during Covid, but even post-Covid, I feel like I don't fit neatly into a content area team.

Teacher 3 [00:01:41] The expectation of having to teach so many different types of classes just to stay full time, and the expectation of having to do it well. This led to me having a panic attack on the freeway and developing panic disorder, to the point where I had trouble getting out of the house. 

Teacher 4 [00:01:55] It definitely, affected sleep patterns. It's definitely affected the amount of spirit I have for other parts of my life.

Teacher 5 [00:02:04] As an educator for over 20 years, something that has only recently taken a toll on my mental health is the increasing apathy in students. Their lack of motivation or desire to learn just drains the positive energy out of the room. It's not only frustrating, it's contagious.

Teacher 6 [00:02:18] I love my job, I really do. But it's not just about teaching students. My job doesn't end there. It's not all rainbows and sunshine and summer breaks, but we're teachers and we have to learn to deal with it, right? Because we're doing it for the kids.

Teacher 7 [00:02:31] The loss of three students to murder on separate occasions, and two dying from tragic situations during my first year of teaching has been an incredibly challenging ordeal. Every day, I grappled with the whirlwind of emotions while trying to maintain composure in the classroom. But through it all, I've learned the importance of seeking support, both from colleagues and mental health professionals, channeling my grief into a renewed commitment of supporting the well-being of my students and myself.

[ music ]

Michael Kaufman [00:03:05] So those are just some of the teachers from the SRL community sharing some real life challenges, difficult situations, and basically overall frustrations that occur on a daily basis can really tear us apart.

Mike Conrad [00:03:17] So the roller coaster that we go on as educators...the emotional roller coaster that we go on, I think really, really can affect our mental health. And that's what today's episode is here to focus on. On educator mental health and well-being.

Michael Kaufman [00:03:29] Yes. And today's episode is just slightly different. We're still going to hear from two educators from this topic. And then we invited a psychologist to chat a little bit more about this, since we know there's not a lot of resources available. And let's face it, there is an enormous need for some more discussion surrounding this topic, especially getting some support from a professional.

Mike Conrad [00:03:52] But before we get to her, I would like to introduce a couple of the teachers that are part of our SRL Student Reporting Labs community. Today, we're going to toss into the conversation with Nancy Frazier and Miriam Townsend. They actually met just last summer, at SRL's teacher workshop in the podcast training room, which is great. So this is a nice little reunion for them.

Michael Kaufman [00:04:09] Yeah. And, here's a little bit about Nancy. Nancy teaches art, broadcast journalism, Python coding, and yearbook. She's also the art department chair, and she's the title one coordinator and the Eld coordinator for her school site. She teaches 11th and 12th at Tierra del Sol Continuation High School in Bakersfield, California. It's a lot, Nancy. 

Mike Conrad [00:04:32] Yeah, I mean, talk about being overwhelmed.

Michael Kaufman [00:04:34] Yeah.

Mike Conrad [00:04:34] And Miriam Townsend serves as the CTE Career Technical Education Department chair. She's at a public high school in Saint Louis, Missouri, teaches multimedia classes to junior and senior students, and serves as the advisor of two clubs.

Michael Kaufman [00:04:46] Oh my gosh.

Mike Conrad [00:04:47] All right, so let's take a breath. 

Michael Kaufman [00:04:49] I’m overwhelmed.

Mike Conrad [00:04:51] Let's take a breath and hear what they have to say on educator mental health and well-being. Take it away.

Miriam [00:05:03] Many of our listeners know teaching can be very demanding on just so many levels. What are some of the daily challenges you faced in California as an educator that take a toll on your mental health and well-being?

Nancy [00:05:18] Even though a student has a right to fail, I don't want to see that. I don't want to see a student fail in my world. I want to see a student succeed. A lot of times I've tried to get students motivated and trying. A lot of times students, it's hard to get them engaged and some students don't want to be engaged. And then in my heart, I feel like I failed. I'm always trying to help the students and it does wear on me. I hadn't even I hadn't even thought about how much that wears on me. It gets hard.

Miriam [00:05:47] I think, for me, on a daily basis is just the nuance with knowing that, like, I teach three different classes in one day, so we have a four block period. So I'm planning for three different types of classes, on phone calls with parent, or in a meeting with the parent and the admin...and God forbid if you are a coach where I have been a coach before, or if you are sponsor of a club and you're trying to prepare students to compete, you know, dealing with kids that might be getting bullied, you know, I've had to deal with that situation. How it can disrupt the classroom and actually disrupt the learning environment. Not only is that a challenge, but that mentally affects you. I know I've come home some evenings and I'm just tired. Like I didn't do anything physically but mentally, I am tired. Yes. And when you're dealing with teenagers, you know, teenagers that aren't your children. And they talk to you with their hormones that are going helter skelter. And you have to maintain that level of professionalism. So there are so many challenges that it can take a toll on you. And that's where you really need to know who you are. And, you know, have that sense of grounding. You know, you're grounded in something, whether it's your religion, your spirituality, your mindfulness, journaling. You know, those are all challenges that on a daily basis…teachers: we’re facing.

Nancy [00:07:31] Oh, I do mindfulness, I do, and I will also stop my class and have my entire class do mindfulness. I will have my class take part in as well. Sometimes I'll say, okay, we're just gonna take a deep breath and they look at me, okay? We're going to breathe deeply and they think I'm crazy. And that's okay.

Miriam [00:07:48] Yeah, mental health is definitely a big factor in our district. And for me personally, my spirituality is kind of what keeps me grounded. So every morning I start off with, you know, prayer, and reflection on the day ahead as well as, you know, what has transpired, you know, previously for me, that's the, the, the grounding that makes me go into my day calm. I also listen to calming music, whether it's jazz, whether it's gospel music that helps me take care. And then, of course, I have some wonderful friends. I keep telling them to send me their therapist bills. But these are friends I've had for years, for decades. And so they keep me; they help with my mental strength. You know, they remind me of who I am, what I've done. You know, that I can get this. You know, I can go through this. And then my family, of course, is also very important to me. How do you take care? You're in sunny California. You know, I like everything's happy.

Nancy [00:08:52] Oh, yeah. You know, it just depends. A lot of times for me, it's with with life in general. It's sometimes I've had tough days. I've got some, you know, sometimes my kids can be really tough, and I try to put on always put on a positive spin. I always try to be upbeat for my students. I find a lot of times my students are kind of my I don't know, it's they've gotten me through so much of my life. Believe it or not. My husband recently passed away and I used to always go home and talk to him because he too was an educator. And so we would have these wonderful conversations and that always sometimes he would ground me. I'd go home, oh my God, this kid's driving me crazy. And he’d go, okay, honey, back up. I want you to think about what you just said, because now what is going through that students mind and life. And that's something I really miss with him being gone because of—he was truly the person I always went to, but it's trying to find that time for myself. It's been kind of hard to find that time, and in the last year I've been kind of in survival mode and, but I've come through I've come through it actually, thanks to a lot of my students because it's like when I'm struggling, they and I'll let them know, hey, I'm having a bad day and I and it's not like a horrible day, but I'm kind of struggling and, they understand. So I really feel like my students helped me through one of the most difficult times of my life, because they were supportive. I had one day where I had an entire entourage of all these kids that just kind of came up and gave me a hug, said Mr. Frazier: we’re here if you need us. I just stood there and of course, and of course I'm crying. They go, stop crying. We're gonna start crying. Of course, they all started crying. I love my students and I love being here. And I think when you're real with them and authentic with them, which I am: you get that back from them. Jared. Jared from Beaverton Academy of Science and Engineering in Beaverton, Oregon, did also ask: on a daily basis, how can we feel a sense of completion with a job that's never done?

Miriam [00:10:45] Oh gosh, you're absolutely right. The job is never done. I know I was at an event and a student came up to me and was like, are you Miss Townsend? I'm like, yeah. And then I recognized her. I remembered her name. And it had probably been at least, you know, six years. And she was like, oh, I'll graduate in, you know, in the spring. And actually I only have one class, but I'm working now. I'm a nurse or. Yeah, senior or whatever. She was working in the hospital.

Nancy [00:11:15] To me, even though it's a job that's never done, that is so rewarding. And knowing that that I made a difference in someone's life, it's like, you know, that's the joy of teaching, is knowing that we both make we make differences in students lives. And I, you know, we have hard days and tough days, and it is a job that never ends. Seeing those students, it kind of it comes full circle.

[ music ] 

Mike Conrad [00:11:44] It is a job that never ends. And I know that Nancy and Miriam have a pretty positive outlook on it all. They surround themselves with some great students and some great affirmations. And you all know, and I know that there are days out there were some teachers, and I know a lot of these teachers who really just feel like that, that are at the end of their rope.

Michael Kaufman [00:12:02] Yeah.

Mike Conrad [00:12:02] And need more than positive affirmations to get through what they're going through right now.

Michael Kaufman [00:12:06] 100%. But what we really need is someone who can give us some tools, right? Because when things fall apart, what do you do? You build them back up. And what do you need? You need tools. So, Conrad, you had an amazing conversation with someone who can give us those tools. I did. Doctor Melanie Schwartz is a licensed psychologist and the owner of Viewpoint Psychology and Wellness here in Michigan. So let's take a listen.

Mike Conrad [00:12:32] I think in our building, what I see is, you know, we do mental health days for the students. We do, wellness weekends where there's no homework, but nothing tossed the teachers way saying, okay, we understand that you're going through a lot as well. How do we step back and take care of ourselves?

Dr. Melanie Schwartz [00:12:47] I will keep saying it. Mindfulness. And I know it was said between the teachers too. And when I say mindfulness, I mean being able to look at yourself and identifying how you're thinking and feeling in any given situation at any moment. Mindfulness is key, because if you can't look at yourself and understand what you're thinking and what you're feeling both physically and emotionally, then you're just going to keep doing it. You're going to keep running the rat race. You're going to just keep going forward, going forward, going forward until it's too late. So it's really very important to look at yourself and say, what am I capable of doing? Okay. If I what is my measure of success? Not what everyone else is telling me my measurement of success is, but what is my measure of success? Okay, so you have to ask yourself that. And if you're not where you feel like you need to be, what do you need to do to change that? And the answer is learning to set boundaries and to say no. Okay. Now, whether that's professionally or personally, that's one way of self-care is learning. And what comes from that is, unfortunately, perfectionists often have that I should statement that goes into their mind, I should do this. I have to do this. I need to do this. That's just your own irrational thinking that's there, that's making you feel guilty or have some anxiety towards something that's not healthy for you, which is kind of going above and beyond, and it's going to end up hurting you more than anything else. If you're going above and beyond too much, and it's impacting you to a point that you're not helpful anymore, you're hurting yourself and you need to be able to step back.

Mike Conrad [00:14:18] And then it's okay to say no. Like saying no is okay.

Dr. Melanie Schwartz [00:14:21] And that's good to teach the kids that that it's good to say no.

Mike Conrad [00:14:24] I know that as teachers, we are told consistently to understand and appreciate and recognize that students come to our classroom every day with baggage, something that's going on in their personal life that is affecting their learning that day. And I think as teachers, we forget that we are coming to the school day with our own baggage from stressors from the day before. It could be financial, it could be personal, it could be something with the house. And that's going to affect our delivery of that instruction for the day.

Dr. Melanie Schwartz [00:14:51] Absolutely.

Mike Conrad [00:14:52] So how can I say no? How do I do that when my personal life is coming into play, into my teaching life? Because setting boundaries and saying no doesn't work?

Dr. Melanie Schwartz [00:15:00] That's a good question. Yeah, we all okay. Sometimes it is hard to separate out the two things. It is because, you know, there there are certain things that like I said, we don't control, right? Stuff happens, life happens. It does affect how we work, what we do. You're coming in with all these stressors and you're coming in with whatever's gone on that morning or the day before or whatever it is. That is why I can never stress enough the importance of therapy. Yeah. Find a therapist to have somebody there continuously to help you through these difficult situations. Just in this day and age alone, not having somebody on your side to listen, who's not going through what you're going through, you know, it's it's it's difficult. And so just and people say, well, I don't have time for therapy. Well telehealth is a great option. So you can always make time okay. And you know, people work on the weekend. There's therapists and there's always a time to meet with a therapist. It's an excuse that people use, but if you want to make time for it and make time for yourself and start to feel better with what you're going through, there's always that option. You know, it really does also come back to that support, that peer support to have some people around who have a little bit more space to help the teachers who are struggling a bit more and to recognize that and to say like, hey, what can we do to to help you? I think it's just being able to talk about it and see where the struggles are and hopefully get people to listen and that there is a solution to the problem. It doesn't have to keep going on, or pretending that it's not there to be able to make some changes and and create a healthier environment for what everyone has to go through right now. Then it will make for a better work environment, better teaching environment, better everything. It's just people having to be open. To the idea.

Michael Kaufman [00:16:51] Wow. There was a lot to unpack there. I mean, in general, the trick is one set some boundaries to two. No, if you need two and three if you really need to see a therapist.

Mike Conrad [00:17:03] Yeah. And you know what? There's actually so much more to that conversation that I had with Doctor Schwartz that we're going to take that and package it up into a bonus episode that's coming soon. Because there's such a lack of resources out there. Doctor Melanie Schwartz provided so many more insights that I think it'll be great for you all to hear, especially as we approach the end of the school year.

Michael Kaufman [00:17:22] Seriously. It's a balancing act and teaching that gets just completely overwhelming for so many of us. So stay tuned for that bonus episode.

Mike Conrad [00:17:29] And for now, this wraps up episode three and our pilot season of two Teacher Reporting.

Michael Kaufman [00:17:35] Yay! Oh my God.

Mike Conrad [00:17:39] This episode was produced by Community Engagement Manager Emily Hope Dobkin. Also known as Dobz, edited by Evan Gulock with support from lead podcast producer Briget Ganske. 

Michael Kaufman [00:17:49] And many thanks to SRL editorial director Marie Cusick and Executive Producer and the O.G. of SRL, Leah Clapman.

[00:18:03] I can't believe that this is the end. To conclude, I brought Conrad a small gift, and it was a mug. And it was in a box. And then my wife went downstairs and grabbed keys. So you can't get my box, you have to put it in a bag. So she goes, she gets his bag and gets all the fluffy things to put in a bag. And I'm like, no, no. I went to Cub Scouts. I know how to put this together properly. So I grab some paper, I put it around the box, I tie it up really neatly and I show it to my wife. And, you know, I tell her, I say, now that. Oh, wow.

Mike Conrad [00:18:37] I was wondering where you're going that.

Michael Kaufman [00:18:40] I thought you were going to join me. I didn't know that was it.

Mike Conrad [00:18:43] You caught me off guard. I didn't know that was it. Oh, that was a good one.