Highlights from Our Teacher Retreat & Wellbeing Practices to Carry Forward

Last weekend we welcomed educators from Dubai to Nairobi; Cairo to Ahmedabad for our first-ever Teacher Retreat. With all of the stress that has been placed on educators: from the onset of a global pandemic to the challenges of distance learning, we thought we could all use a break.

Wellbeing is important for everyone, but it is especially essential for teachers, whose calm and composure in the face of a crisis paves the way for student success. That’s why we decided to host a wellbeing event for teachers to recharge, connect and laugh together.

In case you missed it, here are a few highlights:

Panel Discussion

We had a panel discussion with four wellness experts: Mufida Al Digeil is a neuro-linguistic life coach and teacher, Louise Lambert is a psychologist and educational developer, Hamza Ghandour is a leader for Initiatives of Change, and Dana Abdel Khalek is a Laughter Yoga instructor and biomedical engineer. They talked about:

• What is needed for teachers and schools to maintain teacher wellbeing and positivity
• Self care and how we can implement it
• Why 50% of teachers leave the field within their first five years
• How positive psychology interventions prevent teachers from leaving
• Why even fake laughter makes us feel better

Find the answers in our panel discussion below!

Speed-dating Event

Socializing with new people feels like a breath of fresh-air, and it’s an important part of self-care. We had a speed-dating event where participants were placed into break-out rooms to socialize and learn about wellbeing from each other.

One of the breakout rooms where participants connected from the UAE to Nigeria and spoke about themselves, their wellness strategies and what makes them happy.

Laughter Yoga

We then had a 30-minute Laughter Yoga and meditation session with wellness expert Dana Abdel Khalek. Laughter is good for your emotional, physical and mental health. Your brain and body need it, so we laughed together.

If you want to try Laughter Yoga, you still can! Just follow along with this video.

Q&A Session

Finally, we had a question and answer session with our panelists where participants were encouraged to take action to learn more about their wellbeing. Our questions ranged from, “How do you build and sustain the right culture in a school that embraces wellbeing for teachers?” to “What can I do during lockdown to maintain my wellbeing?”

Find the answers here!

We all left the event with smiles on our faces and family members or flatmates wondering what was so funny from the next room. We also learned practical tools to implement in the classroom and into our own lives to stay well. We are planning more fun events for this summer, so stay tuned and feel free to reach out.

Do you have any ideas for future events we can do for teacher wellbeing? Drop us a comment or email us: zoe@teacherly.io