Said It Here

How to deal with strict school rules when you're naturally relaxed

Being naturally relaxed creates daily stress because school leadership cares about administrative rules and expectations that you do not personally prioritize, leaving you feeling like they are constantly on your back. Finding a balance requires learning how to be stricter in a way that feels natural and deciding which specific standards are actually worth your energy.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    Blaming strict rules on admin and school policies rather than personal strictness
  2. 2
    Allowing minor infractions to slide initially but establishing private or gradual intervention plans
  3. 3
    Implementing personal classroom policies and boundaries that offer some grace while maintaining a paper trail

In their words

Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.

“I'm naturally a little too relaxed about things sometimes and I'd love some tips about how to be a little more strict in a way that feels natural”source ↗

“My biggest stressor on a daily basis is that I feel like school leadership cares about more things than I care about, and I don't want them on my back about it.”source ↗

VanillaPepper · r/Teachers · 3 upvotes

“i’ve been thinking about this exact thing lately and you put it into words when i couldn’t”source ↗

kitkatz15 · r/Teachers · 3 upvotes

“Commenting to come back. Been in the profession for almost ten and have the same problem....”source ↗

SUNYlaker · r/Teachers · 2 upvotes

“I was in the same boat. I didn’t care about certain things so now I really decide what I consider important.”source ↗

jinklmun · r/Teachers · 1 upvotes

Where this came up

r/Teachersclassroom managementschool administrationteacher stress

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