Worsening language abilities

[One Step at a Time 2]

I am not currently logged in. My username is One Step At A Time.

I am teaching in a classroom for the first time. I have done this kind of work before in a much, much less formal context. I am (disproportionately) stressed.

And, possibly as a result of the stress, my ability to process and produce (spoken) words is reduced. It's pretty drastic. Someone asks me a question, and I can't tell what they're asking. When I finally parse it, I can't find words with which to answer for several seconds. And then, because I'm (silently) panicking about the silence, I slow down even more.

This job is fast-paced. I feel like this is making me much less effective, and I am losing authority.

Closing my eyes helps, but I can't do that while talking with people. A break in a quiet room during lunch would help, I think, but it would look weird - everyone eats lunch together. Eating better would probably help. I'm working on that.

Any tips? Exercises? Experiences?
What would getting help cost? What kind of help would I be looking for?

 

[grit]

Simple things to do is just watch your breathing rather than focusing your "inability" to have vocabulary or the stress. The other thing is if people ask you things, it is OK to say, I am sorry John, I am little spaced out or sorry I did not understand what you said or let me think about it for a second. All OK and good to have a moment to recover.

Our shame is unbearable but even the healthiest of people do this cause no one is perfect all the time.

Just take your time, and be honest you are a bit distracted or stressed out. That is OK.