Stefania Vaclavikova shares her 2025 PD Day experience

Stafania Vaclavikova had an early morning mindfulness pop-up session where teachers shared tough moments and challenges, then explored how to turn them into gifts and opportunities. One teacher even spoke about losing a close family member, yet still chose to see herself as lucky. We were amazed by the strength of teachers’ mindsets and reminded how fortunate students are to learn from them.”Perspective is everything,” says Stefania. “We agreed that mental fitness means strengthening your mind so you can face challenges with clarity, balance, and confidence, and pass that strength on to your students”.

 

This is what Stefania shared with us about her afternoon session at 13:30:

“Teachers today are under a lot of pressure. They work long hours, face many demands, and often feel stressed and tired.

In our session, called Your Mental First Aid Kit, we learned a simple four-step routine to handle these pressures. The session was very interactive, with teachers sharing real examples from their lives.

We talked about the 10 “saboteurs”,  negative voices in our head that make life harder. Teachers could see which ones showed up most for them. One said she often feels she isn’t a good enough teacher because grammar is hard to explain. Another said she feels stressed because she jumps from one thing to another without finishing.

We also tried quick 10-second resets, like taking a mindful breath, putting a hand on the chest, or listening to one sound. These short exercises are like a mental first aid kit, tools teachers can use anytime they feel stressed, whether in the classroom, in meetings, or in busy moments.

Teachers left with three things:

  1. A four-step routine for everyday challenges.
  2. A clear idea of how saboteurs affect their lives in negative ways, often without them even noticing.
  3. At least one quick reset they can use anytime, anywhere.

At the end, some teachers said, “This was exactly what I needed.” A few even asked me afterwards for the Saboteur Test so they could find out which saboteurs affect them most. That shows real commitment to taking care of their mindset”.