5 Positivity tips for teachers during the January lockdown

Here are 5 positivity tips for teachers amid the latest Covid-19 restrictions and school closures.

There’s a lot that we can’t control at the moment. And as a teacher or school governor, you’ve demonstrated incredible resilience over the past year. But we know that things continue to feel tough, challenging and exhausting. So we’ve compiled a few tips for teachers to lift your spirits and help you focus on the future.

At Promote Your School, we create bespoke Wall Art for schools. Our murals are designed to boost morale, improve wellbeing and raise a smile from pupils and teachers. So we’ve taken inspiration from some of our Wall Art projects to get your New Year off to a great start!

Monday motivation

How do you start your Mondays? One of the best positivity tips for teachers is to use visual motivators to set up your mood and mindset for the week. We’ve shared some of our favourite motivational quotes before – you can find these here.

Print out a few and stick them on your walls, write them down or say them out loud. You’ll be amazed at the impact of some positive affirmations to raise your spirits!

If you have a social media account, you can find hundreds of motivational quotes by searching for #motivationalquotes or #mondaymotivation.

Transform your home environment

If you’re teaching remotely from home, your visual environment matters!

Your home environment should be clean, and well ventilated. It also helps to incorporate as much natural daylight as possible. You might like to designate a working space and transform the surrounding area to be calm and positive. Teaching a Google Classroom lesson, when you’re surrounded by dirty dishes or laundry, does not create an inspiring visual environment.

Take some time to clear the space around you. Perhaps even light a scented candle and arrange some houseplants around your workspace. You’ll be amazed at what a difference these simple actions can make to your mood.

You can even arrange something fun or silly in the background of your remote lessons.  For example, Joe Wicks famously re-arranged items in his living room during his daily PE classes in the March 2020 lockdown. This can create interest and excitement for pupils and keep them engaged in their daily lessons!

Add cheer to your classroom

Your class might be made up of a handful of key-children, or you may be teaching the entire class remotely. But that doesn’t mean you can’t give your classroom a community feel!

Add a bit of positivity to the classroom with some colourful, Covid-safe displays, photos, motivational quotes and positive visual imagery.

Music is a surefire way to bring movement to the room and give a feeling of atmosphere in the absence of a bigger group. Anything that takes your, and your pupils’, mind off the latest news, infection rates and fears will help inject a bit of positivity into your day!

Turn to your school values

A positive tip for teachers? Your school values!

Your school values aren’t just designed to give rules to children. In fact, they’re an unwavering beacon of stability at a time of change and uncertainty. They’re a reminder of the community you belong to, even if you’re not with your colleagues, peers and pupils in person. Finally, they’re an aspirational guide to the kind of teacher you can be – perhaps even a reminder of why you became a teacher in the first place?

Get reacquainted with your school values and remind your pupils about them too! You might like to create a game or competition for children to write a story or song featuring your school values. Or why not set an example and write one yourself? Sharing and connecting is key to your wellbeing and happiness throughout this pandemic.

Your school values no doubt feature a collection or powerful and inspiring words. Now is the time to use them, believe them and live them with a sense of purpose!

Look ahead

Imagine yourself, a year from now. Are you standing in front of your class, relieved to be back in the classroom? Perhaps you’ve finally booked that dream getaway now that international travel has reopened? Or, you might simply be grateful for what you have and proud of your resilience over the past year.

During this dreary, grey January lockdown, it can be difficult to focus on the future. But, that’s exactly what the last of our tips for teachers is all about!

Now is the perfect time to start planning for a great year ahead. Whether you’re keen to tackle those school improvement plans you’ve had to put on hold. Or, you’re keen to inject some colour and vibrance into your learning environment, there’s no time like the present. And we’re here to help!

The majority of our design process can be done remotely and we’ll take care of every aspect of your project. There’s nothing like a new project to give you a renewed sense of purpose and passion for the incredible job you do.

Get in touch

Contact us to arrange a free, Covid-safe site visit. Or visit our Case Studies section to see more of our work!