Teachers have one of the most stressful jobs in the world. Anyone who hasn’t wrangled a room full of excited students or stayed up all night grading homework or had to respond to the emotional needs of 20-plus children and their parents might underestimate the energy it takes to be an educator. In fact, according to some surveys and studies, teachers are more likely to feel job-related stress than those in any other profession, and about 1 in 5 teachers feel stressed about their jobs the majority of the time.

As if it wasn’t challenging enough already, the COVID-19 pandemic put additional strain on the education profession as changing regulations, standards and processes caused educators to pivot again and again to protect student health and their own. Many educators have been teaching virtual classes since the beginning of the pandemic, nearly a year ago, and are finding that remote learning comes with its own set of complications and difficulties.

According to a recent RAND report, teachers who are still conducting class virtually are reporting slower student learning, less work completion and higher absenteeism than teachers who are back to managing in-person classrooms. These online-only teachers also reported that they required more support in planning lessons than their colleagues who were teaching classes face-to-face. That means that online-only teachers are not only taking on an additional burden, they are also making less progress with students, which can be extremely frustrating and lead to burnout and job dissatisfaction.

Luckily, there are some tools and strategies that can ease the burden for educators who are teaching remotely during the coronavirus pandemic. If you are an educator, here are 10 ways to make virtual teaching easier and more enjoyable.

  1. Schedule breaks. Although it may be tempting to work through lunch or late into the night, overworking is a recipe for burnout. Make sure you are building breaks into your daily teaching schedule and consider abbreviating your online lessons to allow more time for rest and recovery between virtual sessions. You can utilize these breaks as an opportunity to stretch, rest your eyes, practice deep breathing or simply let your brain be relaxed and unfocused for a few minutes. Encourage your students to do the same during their time off screen.
  2. Rest your eyes. The pandemic introduced us to the concept of “Zoom fatigue.” Unfortunately, since our eyes didn’t evolve to stare at brightly-lit screens for large portions of the day, uninterrupted screen time can lead to headaches, fatigue and trouble focusing. If you are spending hours of time on Zoom or other video conferencing software each day, compensate by resting and caring for your eyes after you are through working and during breaks. Experts recommend taking a 20-second break to view something 20 feet away every 20 minutes and using blue-light-filter glasses while on your computer.
  3. Invest in tech. Over the past year, educators have learned a lot about the virtual teaching space and how to maximize student learning online. One easy way to upgrade your virtual classroom experience is through the use of new software and technology. New York Magazine recently published a list of must-have technologies for educators who are teaching remotely, including items such as document cameras and writing tablets. These innovations can save time and energy while leading online lessons.
  4. Invest in your home office space. When your work-from-home space is the same as your living space, it can feel like you’re always on the clock and can contribute to fatigue and burnout. To resolve this issue, create a boundary between work and play by distinguishing your indoor spaces and making your “office” area feel as comfortable and inviting as possible. Your mental and emotional health are worth the investment in a comfortable chair, ergonomic desk, better lighting or even a room divider that separates your office space from your living space.
  5. Create a social account for your class. Teachers need to think creatively about how to keep students and parents connected when working remotely. Creating a private classroom account on a social media platform can keep students and their families engaged and also build a sense of continuity and cohesiveness. When you can’t be together with your students in person, a social media account will help classmates connect with and support each other and might also make them more willing to connect with you.
  6. Create longer, student-driven assignments. More assignments and worksheets means more papers to grade and more opportunities for students to forget instructions, misplace materials or fail to turn something in. By designing lessons around longer assignments that can be largely student-driven, you will make it easier on both your students and yourself. This also encourages students to become self-sufficient and increases their attention span.
  7. Auto-grade homework. Creating assignments, quizzes and tests online gives teachers the option to auto-grade homework. By using certain software, teachers can enter the correct information for each assignment answer and choose to auto-grade answers, which means less time checking over each individual assignment.
  8. Create FAQs. Create written or video answers to frequently asked questions from students. This will save you from answering the same question from multiple students or parents. If one person has a question about something, it is likely that others will as well, so try to anticipate this and proactively answer questions.
  9. Use email organization tools. It is likely that teachers will receive a lot more emails from students and parents because in-person communication is limited. By using plug-ins and tools to organize inboxes, teachers can prevent needless searching and sorting to find important information.
  10. Take a lunch break. When working from home it can be tempting to snack throughout the day in lieu of a sit-down mid-day meal. “Working through lunch” might sound more appealing without the option to chat with coworkers in the break room or walk to a nearby restaurant. However, taking a lunch break has been shown to improve productivity, creativity and mental well being.

TeachPar is the online platform that keeps teachers organized, parents informed, and students on track. With a modern, intuitive, responsive interface, TeachPar seamlessly connects parents and teachers for improved student learning and better organization.