How Teachers Can Ditch the Negative Self-Talk

Hey, Teachers!

Are negative thoughts creeping into your classroom teaching experiences? Teacher negative self-talk is destructive and can spiral out of control. 🌀

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Teaching is tearing some of us apart. We face angry administrators and parents. Students are more unruly and difficult to teach. And we're feeling low about our teaching jobs overall.

How are you going to survive this school year and get more positive about it? 😣

Following are FIVE WAYS TEACHERS CAN DITCH THE NEGATIVE SELF-TALK to get back on track.

1. Get Back to Basics

Why did you become a teacher? Have you let the ENTHUSIASM you once had get trampled by all the negativity in your teaching world?

You likely didn't start out this way.

Find the teaching philosophy you created (or create one if you don't have one), and focus on WHY you are in the classroom. To help students learn. Because there was something about this gig that was appealing. Because in good faith measure, most of us truly care what happens to kids, right?

No matter what someone is saying about you that's demeaning, hurtful, or challenging (true or not), that's NOT who you should let yourself be.

Create a list of why you chose teaching. Refer back to it every day. Those are the basics. They are also the positive foundation of what you're doing. Reframe your perspective on what's going on in your teaching world...TODAY. You can start changing how you think about yourself by remembering what brought you here in the first place, and the people then who were cheering you on as a talented teacher.

You can still be that person.

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2. Identify the Source of the Negativity

Who or what is causing all this turmoil in your heart and mind? Determining the source is imperative to eradicating its negative influence on you. You can't change someone else. And you can't change difficult, ugly policies or cutthroat expectations.

But you can change how far you let the negativity seep into your day--and your willingness to grow.

Once you've identified the "who" and the "what", put those negative influences on the OUTSIDE of your teaching world, not the inside. This means objectifying the culprit (which can be hard to do). Negative thoughts can encircle us like vultures. You might find yourself thinking about this threatening person or situation every single day. And if the threat is your students, figure out what you can do to remedy the situation instead of letting the situation ambush you. 

How can you more POSITIVELY take the lead?

It's all about power. Your power as a person and as a steward over your classes.

The way to get control of your negative thoughts is to take your INTERNAL power back. You can change your thoughts if you change how you are responding (or even reacting) to the emotional stimuli. Although many circumstances can be painful, how you think about them and what you do about them is a choice.

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3. Affirm, Affirm, Affirm the Positive

You are your greatest cheerleader. You tell yourself what to think and how to get through any circumstance. If you've allowed the negative self-talk to take center stage, kick it out of the play. And start playing with the right dialogue. If you're playing the villain, that's how people will see you. If you're playing the victim, that's also how people will see you.

Affirming the positive means telling yourself EVERY DAY that you are: worth it, valuable, a treasure, a good teacher, caring, able-minded and able-bodied, knowledgeable, capable of change, willing to improve, a team-player...and ALL THE GOOD STUFF you want and need to hear. And if you're not there yet on some of those aspirations, start believing your worth and dedication to the job into fruition.

And then go find people who can support you in these improvements.

Start each day and end each day with positive affirmations. Say them out loud. Write them down. Post your favorite affirmations where you can see them.

Believe in what you're saying and posting about yourself. Eventually, these positive affirmations will become a part of who you are, and can replace the negativity that's been bringing you down. 

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4. Avoid Being Unprofessional

How are you dealing with your negative self-talk? Are you allowing it to muddy your reputation? Are you talking about other people negatively on the job? Now is the time to get some self-control so you don't ruin your standing at the school (or your career). We're all human, but we need to handle our emotions and internal dialogue professionally. 

Consider ways you can be more mature about the negativity in your teaching world. Retaliation, non-compliance, threats...or worse: breaking your teacher professional code of ethics or the law are all off the table when it comes to handling negativity.

Your professionalism is a priority no matter what's going on.

If you're finding your professionalism is at stake, take a mini-assessment of how far you've gone from "being professional". Cut the gossip. Avoid showcasing your personal or job challenges to anyone who will listen. And super important: work with your administration to let supervisors know you are serious about meeting all expectations and job duties (whether you agree with them personally or not). 

Demonstrate the professional roles you want others to recognize and appreciate.

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5. Stop Complaining (it's a snowball that grows and grows and grows) 🌨

How do you deal with the stuff at work that is eating at you? Talking about it with a trusted companion is one thing. Ruminating over the situation endlessly is another. If your negative self-talk is taking over your day, your relationships, and you can't seem to cut back on the constant upset, it's probably spiraled out of control.

What once was a snowball might now be an avalanche in your teaching world.

The first step to getting some self-control over the negative self-talk is to stop the complaints. You simply can't change what you can't change. And you probably don't like it when your students constantly complain. Be a better example.

We all have to learn to deal with tough realities. And some of it is heartbreaking, especially when we didn't even have a say in the rules we're asked to follow. 

Complaining gets us nowhere. 

Positive action is the only way to ensure success. It's okay to recognize our frustrations, but avoid letting them take over your thoughts. How you think about what's bothering you, and how you put those "bothers" in their place, makes a difference in ditching the negative self-talk.

Where to begin?

Start with today. ☀️

What one small change can you make with POSITIVITY in mind? That's always the first step toward a brighter tomorrow.

STOP PUTTING YOURSELF DOWN. BOOK YOUR FREE DISCOVERY CALL WITH DR. SHEA

Snag Your: 5 WAYS TO STAY RESILIENT IN THE CLASSROOM FREE DOWNLOAD