Website design By BotEap.comPicture this. Your district supervisor walks in the door ten minutes before classes start for the day and requests an on-site inspection visit to see how you handle stress at the school. You get up from your desk and confidently lead the way.

Website design By BotEap.comLeaving the office, you see hallways flowing smoothly with students. She hears gentle voices in the air and feels a comfortable peace. Despite the smile tugging at the corners of your mouth, you maintain your dignity as you lead the supervisor down the hall. In each room, he pauses, opens the door, and presents a serene atmosphere. You don’t even hesitate in the bathrooms, sure that none of the five senses will be offended.

Website design By BotEap.comYou are in a dream, right?

Website design By BotEap.comNo, it’s reality, the kind of reality I learned to create when I myself had the privilege of serving as principal and managing stress at school.

Website design By BotEap.comInnovative ways to manage stress in schools

Website design By BotEap.comPrincipals must manage stress in schools, but how can they do it? With drugs, weapons, and a host of other common stressors, how can you be expected to handle stress in schools? How can you even master all the techniques for managing stress in schools?

Website design By BotEap.comLet’s look at some innovative ideas to help you get started. For the sake of global readers, I will use plain English on purpose.

Website design By BotEap.com1. Courage of convictions

Website design By BotEap.comThe main directors have the courage of their convictions. They strongly believe that a principal must manage stress in schools. They exercise the courage of that conviction.

Website design By BotEap.comMake it a priority to manage stress at school. Set a goal for when and how stress will be managed at school. Let nothing and no one stop you from achieving that goal.

Website design By BotEap.com2. Be proactive

Website design By BotEap.comThinking principals are proactive in learning to manage stress in schools. They don’t wait until stressors create massive anxiety. They expect to manage stress and they intend to do so.

Website design By BotEap.comTake steps to control stress before it is born or in childhood. Find ways to avoid stress. Meet it head on. Enlist school staff and students in proactive efforts.

Website design By BotEap.com3. Manage your example

Website design By BotEap.comSuccessful principals manage personal stress and hope to control stress in schools. The best way to help students and school staff manage stress is to practice stress management techniques yourself.

Website design By BotEap.comGet control over your schedule and workload. Force yourself to take a 5-minute break every hour to stretch and breathe deeply. Keep an orderly office with peaceful images and soft peaceful music.

Website design By BotEap.com4. Manage your environment

Website design By BotEap.comCapable principals recognize the importance of a positive atmosphere in managing stress in schools. They know that noise and confusion are stressors that need to be controlled.

Website design By BotEap.comReduce noise in hallways and bathrooms by streaming quiet classical music through your PA system. A school that introduced classical music to a building full of rude and rowdy students dramatically reduced the noise and brought a tangible peace to the daily atmosphere. Use positive words and phrases on signs, calming wall hangings to manage stress at school.

Website design By BotEap.com5. Manage security

Website design By BotEap.comWise principals recognize that one way to manage stress in schools is to provide safety and security. They seek to address all areas, including but not limited to bullying, hazing, drinking, terrorism, violence, drugs, and playground or campus safety.

Website design By BotEap.comAssess the security needs of your school. Ask students to anonymously list security issues that concern them. Ask parents for their perspective. Have an independent consultant evaluate your school. Then take steps to control security inside and outside the school. Reducing safety issues is a great way to manage stress in schools.

Website design By BotEap.com6. Clarify expectations

Website design By BotEap.comDistinguished principals, like great corporate CEOs, clarify expectations for students, teachers, and other school personnel. They provide written job descriptions in addition to regulations, knowing that when everyone knows what to do, it helps manage stress in schools.

Website design By BotEap.comStudents, especially, are likely to respond positively to written job descriptions, rules, and schedules. Draw a parallel to the world of work and point out that your school is a workplace for everyone involved. When everyone does what they’re expected to do, according to their job descriptions, things move smoothly and you manage stress in schools.

Website design By BotEap.com7. Control of Concessions

Website design By BotEap.comIntelligent principles know that a vital human desire is control. Lack of control is a stressor. The more control you can give students and school staff, within reason, the better you will be able to manage stress in schools.

Website design By BotEap.comIt grants a measure of control in matters such as discipline. Let students choose between staying after school, tutoring a younger student, or reading to very young students. Grants a measure of control over academic goals. Students who set their own goals with guidance will work with less stress than those who have goals imposed on them.

Website design By BotEap.com8. Make neon boundaries

Website design By BotEap.comAs leading experts, you know boundaries are vital. As much as students may feign annoyance, they are more peaceful with boundaries. They don’t have to be fences or walls, but make behavioral boundaries glow as brightly as if they were tall, tangible walls painted in neon.

Website design By BotEap.comCourageously set inescapable limits on unwanted behavior. Practice zero tolerance with love: tough love. Students and teachers who have clear boundaries and stay within them have less stress. It takes a firm hand to erect these boundaries, but they will prove invaluable in your efforts to manage stress at school.

Website design By BotEap.comThe eighth point is perhaps the most powerful tool in your effort to manage stress in schools.

Website design By BotEap.comYou are probably aware of the “boundaries” study done many years ago with a kindergarten class. The school playground in the studio was surrounded by a chain-link fence. The children were allowed to play anywhere in the playground, and they did so, right down to the fence itself. Every day, they ran and played happily, using every inch of the large playground.

Website design By BotEap.comThen the fence was removed. The children went out to play as usual, but soon became stressed. They sat or stood near their teacher. When he urged them to run and play, some moved away, but not far. Some began to cry and clung to their teacher. When he again urged them to run and play, several did, but none left the teacher. The large playground had become terrifying because they no longer knew where the limits were.

Website design By BotEap.comHow do principals deal with stress in schools? There are a plethora of ways, but these should get you started.