MAKING IT EASIER TO BE A BETTER TEACHER

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

Here’s our weekly roundup of interesting education stories from around the world. Click each link to dive deeper:

• Here’s why kids (and you!) should be encouraged to travel during the school year.

• Some Canadian students have missed more than 1 month of school - you’ll never guess why.

• Honest students who are accused of AI-cheating are starting to get angry.

BRAINY BITS

Why does meaningful work matter for mental health?

As another school year hectically winds down, you may find yourself reflecting about your career more than usual.

Why do I show up everyday to class?

A 2023 study has resurfaced and become more popular, as it suggests that when our jobs feel purposeful, our well-being improves - even over just a couple of weeks.

The Study: Tracking Meaningful Work and Well-Being

Researchers recruited 292 workers from Germany from a handful of different types of roles via an online panel. 

Participants completed surveys at two points, two weeks apart, answering questions like “I enjoy my work” and “My work adds to my sense of purpose,” alongside a standard five-item mental well-being index (e.g., feeling cheerful, calm, active). 

Structural equation modeling then tested whether higher meaningful-work scores at time 1 predicted better well-being at time 2 (and vice versa) while accounting for gender and job type.

The Results

Across all participants, feeling that one’s work “adds to a sense of purpose” at the first survey reliably predicted stronger mental well-being two weeks later. 

By contrast, baseline well-being didn’t influence perceived meaning at the follow-up. 

When researchers broke the data down, the effect was especially pronounced for women and white-collar employees. 

In other words, boosting a sense of purpose on Monday can translate into better mental health by Friday - particularly for classroom-based staff.

In Your Classroom:

As teachers, we pour our energy into supporting students, often sidelining our own sense of purpose. 

Yet this study reminds us: when work feels meaningful, mental health benefits follow swiftly. 

Even small boosts in purposeful engagement can ripple into stronger resilience, especially during stressful grading periods or parent–teacher conferences.

So how can you bring this insight into the start of summer vacation?

Strategies

• Highlight “Why” Moments: Regularly remind yourself (and each other) of concrete successes - like when a student grasped a tough concept - to reinforce purpose.

• Build Community: Encourage brief staff check-ins about what makes each day worthwhile. Shared stories of classroom wins nurture collective meaning.

• Embed Reflection: Set aside five minutes weekly to jot down one thing that felt meaningful in your teaching - this simple habit reinforces purpose.

By actively cultivating meaningful experiences, no matter how small, you’re not just enriching others’ lives; you’re also safeguarding your own mental well-being.

TECH TOOL

You survived the year. Now what?

It’s officially summer (or almost for many of us). 

You’re out of the classroom… but somehow still waking up at 6 a.m., mentally organizing tasks, and wondering if you should start next year’s seating chart. 

Rest is important - but after months of sprinting, teachers often struggle to shift out of “survival mode” and into healthy habits that stick.

What you need isn’t a total productivity overhaul but a gentle reset that helps you feel human again.

The Solution:  Strides

Strides is a clean, intuitive goal and habit tracker that helps you rebuild (or discover) the daily rhythms that fuel a balanced life. 

Whether your summer goals are to walk 30 minutes a day, drink more water, start journaling, or finally finish that personal project, you can track your progress with flexible routines, daily streaks, and customizable goals.

You can choose from four tracking styles - habit, target, average, and project - and even set reminders that don’t feel like nags. 

The interface is clear, not cluttered. Progress is visual. And for once, you’re the one assigning the checklists, not receiving them.

In Your Classroom:

Burnout doesn’t just end in June. Many of us educators feel that pressure of “I need to do something with this time” during summer break.

Here’s how you can use Strides to combat that this year:

Strategies

• Pick Just One Daily Habit. Whether it’s “Read 10 pages” or “No screens before bed,” choose one habit that makes you feel better and track it for a week.

• Set a Gentle Summer Goal. Use the “project” tracker to finally outline that side hustle idea, organize your photos, or prep next year’s syllabus - on your terms, with no deadlines.

• Use It to Ease Into the School Year. As summer winds down, track goals like “Sleep 7+ hours” to transition smoothly without burnout.

Strides is available for free for iPhone and is coming soon for Android. 

It isn’t about becoming superhuman - it’s about making space for the things that help you feel like yourself again. 

Whether your summer goals involve hammocks or highlighters, this app helps you set the tone for a healthier, more intentional return to school. 

Because teachers deserve habits that heal - not just hustle.

REFERENCES

This week’s issue adapts information from the following sources:

Tech Talk:

Strides (2025). Track all your goals and habits in one place. Retrieved from https://www.stridesapp.com/

Brainy Bits:

Herr, R.M., Brokmeier, L., Baron, B.N. et al. The longitudinal directional associations of meaningful work with mental well-being – initial findings from an exploratory investigation. BMC Psychol 11, 325 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-023-01308-x