As a new elementary, middle or high school teacher, you'll most likely encounter stress at some point during your first year. Stress is actually a major factor that can greatly affect teachers early in their careers. Managing that stress is crucial for ensuring your success as a new teacher. Read below for some stress management strategies to help you get through your first school year.

Why First-Year Teaching Is So Stressful

Before diving into specific stress management techniques, it's important to understand why first-year teachers often experience high levels of stress.

The American Psychological Association (APA) outlines some of the main challenges that new teachers face during their initial year. In addition to teaching, new teachers must:

Consistently plan new lessons and class activities

Handle issues with students and their parents

Manage large classrooms

Undergo performance evaluations from school heads and administrators

Work and get along with new colleagues

Needless to say, stress is common for new teachers, and some don't make it past their first year. In fact, one out of ten teachers won't return for a second year, according to a recent study from the National Center of Education. The APA also states that nearly 50% of teachers quit within their first five years of teaching.

Many new teachers realize that teaching is an extremely demanding job and the resultant stress can manifest in a variety of ways.

Teachers dealing with overwhelming stress may become irritable, exhausted and depressed. This may lead to a change in eating habits, an increase in drinking/smoking, social withdrawal, hypersensitivity and sleep problems, according to the APA.

If you're currently experiencing symptoms of stress or want to avoid them before they occur, read on to explore some strategies that can reduce these stresses, alleviate their symptoms and help you better manage your workload, health and sanity as a teacher.

Educate Yourself

There are plenty of stress management resources that focus on the concept of teacher stress. Books, academic papers, research studies and continuing education resources can help you become more knowledgeable about teacher stress management.

For instance, the APA offers a comprehensive video module that addresses the causes of stress for new educators and offers practical coping strategies.

If you're feeling overwhelmed, taking the time to educate yourself about teacher-specific stresses can increase your confidence, manage your stress and ensure your long-term success in the profession. The fact that you're reading this article shows that you're off to a great start!

Try to Relax and Live Healthy

Although healthy living is generally a good idea for people in any profession, maintaining good eating and sleeping habits is essential for acquiring the energy that's needed to teach all day, manage your classrooms and handle other aspects of a busy teacher workload.

A recent article for the National Education Association (NEA) suggests that teachers should eat healthy foods, sleep for at least eight hours per night and exercise regularly. Health.com identifies several foods that can relieve stress, including vegetables, turkey, oatmeal, yogurt and blueberries.

In addition to some of the more obvious health choices, the NEA article recommends that teachers try to relax their minds by taking deep breaths during times of intense stress and practicing basic yoga moves during downtime.

According to the Mayo Clinic, studies have shown that stress and anxiety relief is a major benefit from yoga. To learn some simple stress-reducing yoga poses, check out the Yoga Journal's recommendations.

Find Support Systems

Sometimes practicing healthy habits aren't enough to mitigate classroom stress. Having multiple sources of emotional support can greatly improve your overall well-being and relive your frustrations.

Interpersonal support systems may include spouses, significant others, friends and family who can listen to your concerns, empathize with the demands you face and help make your life outside of class more manageable. The APA emphasizes the impact that positive encouragement, listening and support can have on new teachers, and offers support strategies for friends and families of new teachers.

There are also plenty of online support systems available to teachers. These blogs, forums, websites and articles can help you know that you're not alone in feeling the stress of a new teaching job. One such blog, written by author and experienced teacher Roxanna Elden, provides support to new teachers by offering helpful tips and tricks to make their lives easier.

It's important to know that stress is extremely common for new teachers, and having a supportive group of friends, family and other teachers can help you decompress, commiserate and recharge your emotional energy after a stressful day.

Anticipate and Prepare for Busy Times of the School Year

Like a CPA might experience during tax season, teachers may go through certain periods of the school year that are more demanding and stressful than others.

Granted, as a first year teacher, you'll be experiencing many of these events for the first time, but it's a good idea to know what you'll encounter. A recent NPR article on teacher stress points out parent teacher-conferences, teacher evaluations, high-stakes standardized testing preparation and even the first week of school as particularly stressful times and events for teachers.

Anticipating the times of the year when you're more likely to experience anxiety and pressure may help you better prepare for the increased demands, adjust your lifestyle accordingly and brace yourself for impact.

Ask for Help

In a recent article for The Guardian, teacher and psychologist Marc Smith encouraged teachers to ask for help and not see the search of assistance as a sign of weakness. Help can come from school administrators and staff who may be able to offer resources to make your workload more manageable or specifically address the sources of your stress.

To reiterate, stress is almost inevitable during your early years of teaching; however, it's important to remind yourself that you're definitely not alone in feeling anxious, burnt out or frustrated. As you've seen, there are many resources available that are dedicated to managing teacher stress. Taking advantage of these resources, asking for help and practicing stress relief techniques can help you succeed during your first year of teaching and beyond!