I enjoyed =
teaching college classes. One semester I taught a class of future =
teachers about “classroom stress management”. Applies =
to teachers AND students. And parents. And me . . =
.
I used an old =
example I’d learned, with a simple glass of water. I asked the =
students how heavy they thought a glass of water weighed. Answers =
varied from ounces to pounds.
Then I =
reminded them that from my view, the WEIGHT of the glass didn’t =
matter as much as the LENGTH of time I had to hold it. =
For 60 =
seconds, it was no big deal. For 60 minutes, it would cause my fingers =
and arms some aches and pains. For 12 hours straight, my hand and arm =
would cramp up, become numb, and I’d drop it for certain sure. =
The weight =
didn’t change, but every minute I held it, the heavier it =
felt.
Stress and =
worry are part of being a teacher. You will be surrounded by =
problems (often with a child’s name attached). Focus on the =
issues for a minute and it’s no big deal. Think about them longer =
and you begin to ache a little. But fret and stress all day and you will =
become numb, not capable of doing anything else.
Learn to =
manage the certain stress that will come in small bite-sized increments. =
Don’t let them build up and become too heavy to bear. Not =
the weight but the length.
~~
Dr Bob Griffin =
[email protected] =
www.grif.net
"Jesus =
Knows Me, This I Love!"