How to Create a Positive Classroom Space & Improve Your Teacher Mental Health
Let’s talk about teacher mental health. Is there any job more exhausting than teaching?? How do you combat the everyday fatigue that comes with educating energetic children? Heads up: this post is loaded with FREEBIES, so keep an eye out for links as you read!
My husband and I frequently joke about the phrase “it’s all about finding that balance.” We think it’s the perfect generic response in just about any conversation. Helpful, but open for personal interpretation. For example:
Is your friend struggling to get her toddler to go to sleep? “It’s all about finding that balance.”
Do you have a coworker who constantly complains about being stressed? “It’s all about finding that balance.”
Has your sister asked for relationship advice about her loser boyfriend? “It’s all about finding that balance.”
See? The perfect advice for any situation, including teachers struggling with maintaining a positive mindset. We have to find and maintain a positive mental state in order to improve teacher mental health for all educators! It’s all about finding that balance.
Finding My Balance
Four years ago, I was a third-year teacher struggling through the emotional trauma of an impending divorce. My home had become a dark and negative environment full of contention, anxiety, and sadness. I had never experienced such extreme emotional pain, and I was struggling with my mental health. Three main things got me through that time: my faith, my family, and reaching outside of myself to help students every day.
Since I had little control over my home environment, I turned my focus to my classroom. I needed to improve my mental health. I needed a more positive space where I could feel safe, happy, and healthy! But I didn’t have a lot of energy to create it.
So I started small.
With each little step, I felt more and more light returning to my life. These simple efforts made a huge impact on my healing and enabled me to move forward through times when I felt ready to quit.
Four years later, I now have a happy and healthy marriage to the best guy in the world. Every day I feel light, hope, and health both at home and in my classroom. As I look back on those dark times, I think of others who are trying to find balance through difficult life experiences. I hope that these simple tips can help you to find positivity and health through whatever challenges you are facing in life.
Take the time to take care of yourself. I became a better educator as I focused on my own teacher mental health.
#1: Add Your Happy Place to Your Classroom
What can you do to make your classroom Look happier?
This first change was one of the most impactful for me personally. I needed to bring my happy place into my everyday environment. It began with a little self-assessment.
Ask yourself some questions: Where is your happy place? Where do you feel the most peaceful and relaxed? What is it about that place that makes you feel so happy?
For me, it’s being in nature with the people I love most, floating the rapids on a river rafting trip. Or carving some steezy turns on the ski slopes with my hubby.
Ah, nature!
The calming rush of the river, the gentle flapping of wings and birds chirping overhead, the muffled silence of a snow-covered slope, the soft smell of pines, the wintery taste of snowflakes!
I feel better already, just thinking about it!
So I added pieces of those happy places to my room. And it was easy. And it made SO MUCH DIFFERENCE. So think about your happy place, as you read my suggestions for simple ways to add YOUR happy place to YOUR classroom:
Change the background on your computer
Every time I look at my computer, I get to see my favorite snow-covered slopes and I feel a little happier inside. Students often ask me about my background picture, so I get to talk to them about rafting and skiing, my two favorite topics!
Hang photos around your classroom.
Now, I envisioned these as dope action shots of me shredding some gnar.
But I’m not a photographer, and I’m cheap.
Thankfully, my colleague had the brilliant idea to buy a calendar online and laminate the pictures! Hers had beautiful photos of the Italian countryside and mine had national parks.
You can get these super cheap by purchasing calendars from previous years.
The one I bought was under $5. It isn’t available anymore, but here’s a link to a similar one of the same brand. The pages are a little thin, but the colors are vibrant! It brightened up my classroom physically and figuratively.
Make space on your desk for you!
Clear a space for some framed photos.
While I like to keep my private life separate from school, sometimes you just need to see the face of someone you love! Let them bring you a little joy when you’re feeling overwhelmed.
#2: Create Easy Opportunities to Be Positive
What Can You Do To Make Your Classroom Feel Happier?
When that one kid is pushing your buttons on purpose and you feel your fists clenching, it’s important to have built-in systems for refocusing on the positives.
My first year teaching, I drew a plus sign on a sticky note and hung it on the back wall where nobody noticed except for me.
As time has worn on, I’ve learned some even better strategies.
My Happy Quote Jar
One day I started collecting my favorite positive and motivational quotes. I printed them out and threw them in a glass jar. Anytime I need a pick-me-up, I go to the jar and read a quote.
Sometimes I share them with the class, and other times I read them just for me. I print them in different colors so I know which ones are more for me. See the preview below!
Get your free copy of my favorite quotes plus the “Happy Thoughts” jar label by clicking the button! This is an editable Google Doc, so you can add your own favorites too!
Positive Postcards/Notes
End each day by writing a few positive notes to your students and/or their parents!
I made it a goal to write 3 positive cards and mail them home to parents every day. I wasn’t perfect at this goal, but it was such a good exercise to train my mind.
It helped me look for students throughout the day who might need some extra encouragement.
Click the links below to download my free generic postcards in English and Spanish!
Thank you note drawer
Create a space where you keep those cute and funny notes that students give you!
I have a drawer in my desk where I keep them, and I pull one out when I’m feeling unappreciated. They are always a great reminder that we are making a difference, even if it doesn’t feel like it at that moment!
Brain Breaks
Everybody needs a break sometimes, including you! Keep some pre-made ideas for break activities handy. I write mine on popsicle sticks and pull a random one each day.
Get my brain breaks & everything you need to use them here >> 25 No Prep Brain Breaks!
Service
Help out another teacher. Share a lesson plan with them, take them a treat from your snack stash, or just be a listening ear.
Help yourself feel more positive by lifting others.
#3: Improve Teacher Mental Health with Snacks and Hydration
How can you make your classroom Taste Better?
I know this one may sound a little weird, but when your mouth tastes better, you feel better!! Better physical health = better mental health.-
Snack drawer
I don’t know about you, but when I start getting hungry at school, it’s FAR too easy to start pounding candy and junk food. Set yourself up for physical success by buying your favorite easy snacks in bulk. Almonds, fruit leather, dried mangos, granola bars, whatever will keep you from digging into that candy!
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Water Bottle
Buy yourself a good water bottle!! I know I am more likely to drink it if it’s cold, so I bought this vacuum sealed kind that stays cold all day (or hot for my occasional winter hot chocolate day). Also, it doesn’t drip condensation onto my desk and papers. I’m way too cheap to spend $50 on a trendy Hydroflask, so here’s a link to a great knock-off brand that I’ve used. -
Ditch the Diet Coke
I know, I know, but hear me out! Replacing just one can of soda with water will improve your health dramatically. I’m not telling you to stop cold turkey if you’re a caffeine addict, but just gradually increase your water intake. As you stay better hydrated, your body will have less need for the sugary drinks, and I promise that you will look and feel better! Plus, treating yourself to a coke on a hard day will feel so much more special! -
Gum or Mints
- The covid-19 masks really highlighted how necessary this one is for me. When your teeth feel like they’re wearing sweaters, or that onion bagel from lunch is lingering, a little minty goodness can really refresh you!
#4: Improve the Mood with Music
How can you make your classroom sound better?
- Play music for students – Get your favorite tunes playing as students enter, work on projects, during transitions, etc! Quality tunes make everybody happier to be there, including you!
- Play music for you – Turn on your favorite band while you grade papers on your prep period. It’s sure to get you in a better mood!
- Play music for volume regulation – If they can’t hear the music, then the class is too loud. I use this strategy all the time, and it is highly effective. If I want minimal noise, I turn on soft jams at a low volume. If they’re doing some group work, I crank some Beatles. Because if there’s one thing I know about society today, it’s that kids these days need more quality time with the Beatles.
#5: Get Rid of The Teenage Hormone Stink
How can you make your classroom smell better?
- Wax Warmer. Smells are so powerful. Since I love the smell of pine trees, I spent $5 on a Scentsy wax. The kids love it, and so do I. Plus, it helps cover the stench of teenage hormones. I’m too cheap to buy a fancy wax warmer, so I just dumped the wax in a beaker and heated it on a hot plate. Science! But if you want a fancy wax warmer, here’s a cute one for around $15.
- Air freshener – Get yourself out of the special stench of Lucifer that is junior high, and stock up on Febreze!! Nothing feels grosser than wafting around in a gaseous pool of teenage flatulence, body odor, and overpowering Axe body sprays.
- Windows – Let in some fresh air! It’s revolutionary. Also, wield your seating chart powers to place particularly odorous teens by the windows. I know you all know what I’m talking about!
Improving Your Teacher Mental Health
In summary, taking care of the teacher’s mental health is just as important as taking care of your students! You can improve your own teacher mental health and create a more positive classroom space by adding positive stimuli for all of your senses.
Choose one item to apply from each category, and I promise you will find yourself thriving more happily in your classroom.
Teaching can be all-consuming. We are used to giving our students all the time and energy that we have, often at our own expense. I’ve watched so many teachers move on to new careers because they felt their own lives draining away as they tried to keep kids afloat.
It’s time to change the narrative about teacher mental health.
It’s time for teachers to turn off their computers at the end of the work day, and go home and live their lives guilt-free. As educators, we must prioritize our own needs. Don’t get me wrong, I love my students. But in order for me to be my best self in the classroom every day, I need to take care of ME. And you need to take care of YOU. For them.
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