Checking Your Teacher Battery

My phone is my life line when traveling. It holds the boarding pass for my flight, my rental car information, and my hotel reservation. Most importantly, it’s my navigation device. I’d be in big trouble if my phone battery died while on the road. Luckily, I can always see how much charge is on my phone, and I get a notification when the charge is getting low. As teachers, our ability to complete important tasks and stay engaged in our work requires energy, just like our phones require energy for all those apps. But it’s more difficult to see how much charge we have on our teacher batteries, and we don’t get a notification when our batteries are getting low. As teachers, we spend our days pouring into others, juggling lesson plans, responding to student needs, and supporting colleagues. But how often do we pause to check in with ourselves? It’s tempting to just keep pushing through, but if we’re not careful, we can end up completely depleted. Taking a moment to reflect on our physical, mental, and emotional well-being isn’t just a luxury—it’s a necessity.

Benefits of Checking In

Regularly checking in with yourself throughout the day helps you stay attuned to your physical, mental, and emotional needs. This practice not only prevents burnout but also fosters resilience. The American Psychological Association defines resilience as the process of adapting well in the face of adversity and significant sources of stress. In simple terms, resilience helps us move through challenges with greater ease and bounce back better and faster when challenges knock us down. Resilience involves behaviors and practices that can be learned and developed. By practicing regular battery checks, you can identify small stressors before they become overwhelming. Here are some specific benefits of regular self-check-ins:

Increased Self-Awareness - Taking time to check in helps you notice what’s happening in your body and mind. Are your shoulders tense? Is your mind racing? Becoming aware of these signals allows you to address stressors before they escalate.

Stress Reduction - When you pause to acknowledge your feelings, you activate the relaxation response. This reduces cortisol levels, helping you feel calmer and more centered, even on the busiest days.

Better Emotional Regulation - Identifying your emotions as they arise allows you to respond thoughtfully instead of reacting impulsively. This can help you navigate challenging interactions with students, parents, or colleagues.

Physical Health Benefits - Checking in with your body reminds you to adjust your posture, stretch, hydrate, or eat. These small actions can prevent physical strain and boost your energy levels.

Improved Focus and Productivity - Brief moments of reflection can clear mental clutter, allowing you to focus on what truly matters.

Stronger Relationships - Self-check-ins make you more aware of your emotional state, enabling you to respond to others with greater empathy and patience.

Checking Your Charge

How much charge is on your educator battery right now? The only way to know is to pause for a moment, tune out what is going on outside, and tune into what’s going on inside. For educators, trained to constantly be aware of what’s happening around us, this is no easy task. On a scale from zero to ten, with ten being fully charged and zero being totally depleted, what number would you give yourself? Perhaps it would be helpful to consider capacity. Think about the demands still ahead of you today, both in your professional and personal life. Do you currently feel like you have the capacity to meet those demands? If you know you don’t have the juice, don’t fret. In this case, knowledge is power. Your battery is rechargeable, and we’ll get to the how of recharging. First, let’s find a way to make a quick battery check a regular part of your day. You could schedule a check in to coincide with a regular activity, like taking your class to lunch. Or, you could just set reminders at intervals throughout the day. I know your schedule can be unpredictable and can change, but you can squeeze in a check any time, any place.

When you check in, you can identify drains in your physical state as well as your thoughts and emotions. Your body (physical well-being), your heart (emotional state), and mind (mental well-being) are connected, which makes a quick check in all three areas ideal. Use the questions below to check your body, heart, and mind:

Body Check-In

How does your body feel right now? Start at the top of your head and scan down to your toes. Do you feel any areas of tension, pain, or discomfort?

How is your energy? Do you feel sluggish or overly aroused?

Are you thirsty or hungry? How have you taken care of your physical needs so far today?

Heart Check-In

How am you feeling emotionally right now? Can you name the emotion?

Try to describe the emotion. What color would it be? What shape?

Is the emotion comfortable or uncomfortable? Does it feel heavy or light?

Mind Check-In

What thoughts have been most prominent in your mind today?

How are your thoughts influencing your emotions?

Have you been focused or scattered?

How is your mental load? From a 1 (ease) to a 10 (totally blown), where are you related to overwhelm?

Recharging Your Battery

Our phone batteries deplete automatically as we use them throughout the day, but recharging requires plugging in. In the same way, our educator batteries deplete as we move through the day, but recharging requires intention. If you notice signs of depletion when you check in, try these quick chargers:

Physical Chargers

Take 3 slow, deep breaths.

Gently stretch or hang like a rag doll to release any tension or stress.

Drink a glass of water. It’s amazing how much hydration helps!

Emotional Chargers

Take 3 slow, deep breaths.

Create a quick drawing or write a few sentences about your emotional state. Exploring your emotions helps you regulate your emotions more quickly.

Remind yourself that emotions are just information. Try to identify what need your emotion is illuminating.

Mental Chargers

Take 3 slow, deep breaths. Sensing a pattern here?

Try visualizing unhelpful thoughts typed on strips of paper and floating away.

Assess whether unhelpful thoughts are grounded in truth or your interpretations. Identify what you know for sure to be true.

Your Recharge Plan

My tech savvy friend once tried to explain how I could optimize my phone battery. Our internal, educator batteries are even more complex and much less standardized. That’s why, in addition to adopting a regular practice of checking your battery, it’s useful to cultivate an awareness of what charges and drains you. This season, in the Teacher Recharge Blog, we’ll be exploring battery chargers and depleters. You can create a plan for keeping your teacher battery charged so you can stay longer, grow stronger, and keep making ripples.

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