The 4 Step Formula to Make Teacher Venting Productive
Teacher venting is a phenomenon we’ve likely all experienced at some point in our schools.
Venting at school getting you down? Not anymore!
Venting can be a sensitive subject because that expression of negativity can impact staff and student moral. Getting in the habit of focusing on the negative can also be a contributing factor to teacher burnout.
But I don’t think venting is all bad! In fact, sometimes venting is necessary.
Venting is the product of an unresolved issue bubbling up in negative emotions. It’s a bright, neon sign that there is something specific that needs to be fixed. And, I believe it’s better to let those emotions out than keep them bottled up. Bottling up negative emotions can lead to negative mental, physical and emotional health over time.
On the other hand, I have definitely walked away from a vent feeling super downtrodden (even if I was only listening to someone vent!). My goal is to give you the tools to walk away from a venting session feeling empowered, not beaten down.
That’s why this week on The Whole Adventure Facebook page I shared a 4 step formula to have a productive venting session. You can check out the video for yourself here:
For my readers, here are the 4 steps:
Choose where you vent wisely. Let it all out for 2-3 minutes.
As I mentioned before, venting is essentially expelling negative energy. If you want venting to happen less at school, then it may not be best to leave that negative energy at school or spread it to your school community. Instead, choose a neutral 3rd party person who is not at all related to the school. They will not be as effected by whatever is bothering you and might even be able to come up with solutions with you because they are not emotionally invested in the outcome. Another option would be journaling. Leave all the negative energy on a piece of paper and tear it up when you are done. That way no one is effected by the negative energy you are letting out. Last tip, at the end of the 3 minutes cut yourself off. It is likely you’ve already expressed the full issue and will start repeating yourself, drudging up the negative feelings again, after that amount of time.
Get to the root of why you are venting.
After letting it all out, you’ve probably gone on some tangents and gotten into some nitty gritty details of things that are bothering you—but what’s really at the root of your need to vent? Get really specific with what is making you angry, frustrated, or worried so that you can move onto step 3 with a focused mind.
Brainstorm solutions to the problem (spend 2-3 minutes).
Now that you are really clear on what the problem is, work with your third party friend, or take time brainstorming some possible solutions. Sometimes the solution will mean having a conversation with a coworker, it may be taking one small step that will lead eventually to fixing the bigger problem, and it might be deciding that there’s nothing you can do (at least right now) and therefore it’s not worth the energy you are spending thinking about it. It will be different depending on the situation, but coming up with an action step, no matter how small, will make you feel more in control of the situation.
Balance the negative with the positive (spend 2-3 minutes).
The reason you may feel worse after venting is because you’ve basically placed a magnifying glass over everything that’s wrong. Now that we’ve done that and come up with some solutions, it’s time to turn the attention to what is going well in your life. There are so many great things that happen to us each day (even if they’re small), but sometimes our sneaky brains focus on the one thing that is wrong. Spend a few minutes going over all the good to start to train your brain to focus on those things instead.
