Understanding and Utilizing Stress

According to a recent study, Hawaiʻi ranked last when it came to teacher salary and support. Also, a quick Google search will get you many resources about demoralization, depression, and demands for better conditions. As teachers, we all know that our students deserve our best, but sometimes our best is hard to come by when we ourselves are barely staying afloat. Dealing with and capitalizing on stress, therefore, can be a great thing for educators and students.

The goal of this course is to provide learners with knowledge and skills in managing and utilizing the stress that can come with teaching. As one moves through the modules, they will learn about the positive and negative effects of stress as well as the techniques, tools, studies, and strategies that can be applied to deal with stress and perhaps avoid teacher burnout. There will also be information shared about different ways to support individual and institutional stress. The course will be taught in a mostly asynchronous format, with some required synchronous online sessions.

This presentation describes the instructional design process in the creation of the course. It will discuss course rationale, project management, and reflection. Course standards, objectives, content, and assessment will also be shared.