Survival Hacks for Teachers -Part 2
This is the second part of Gabbie Stroud’s summary of a recent webinar she delivered titled “How Am I Going to Last the Year? Survival Hacks for Teachers”. Hack seven: Get professional help If you’ve found yourself wishing for ‘a touch of Covid’ so you could have a week off work, your head’s not in a great place (even though it’s an understandable thought). See a psychologist to talk through your feelings. A psychologist is better than a friend because they can offer objective opinions, possible solutions and you don’t have to listen to their problems! It can be hard to get in to see a professional but it’s worth the effort. Start by seeing your doctor and requesting a…
Survival Hacks for Teachers -Part 1
If you’re already feeling burnt out, demoralised and exhausted (and it’s not even Term 2), you must remember that ‘it’s not you’ or something you did or didn’t do. The education system is currently overloaded and expecting more from teachers that can ever be delivered. It’s not you – it’s the system! This is a two part summary of Gabbie’s recent webinar titled “How Am I Going to Last the Year? Survival Hacks for Teachers”. Remember also that this advice is ‘teacher to teacher’ and is not based on research but on Gabbie’s lived experience of trying to survive the last two years of her teaching career. Hack One: Have a “work binge” Pick a night or a couple of…
Who’s Managing Your Mojo?
Cambridge Dictionary defines ‘mojo’ as a quality that attracts people to you and makes you successful and full of energy. When you have your mojo you have self-confidence, self-esteem and self-efficacy. Having your mojo is therefore very important. Once it is lost it can take some work to rediscover. Whilst we all know what we SHOULD be doing to look after ourselves, having someone keep us accountable for the decisions we make, can help. We’ve recently nominated Sam, a colleague, the role of Mojo Manager for our team. The role involves regularly asking our merry little band questions to discover just how merry we are. Questions like: How are your stress levels, out of ten? How much exercise have you…
To CC or Not to CC: Managing Email in Schools
Email was intended to be a fantastic means of easy, two way communication. However, it has inherent weaknesses that need to be considered, especially in schools. One of the key benefits of email SHOULD be that the messages are there waiting for you when YOU have time to look at them. Email was intended to reduce the number interruptions into your day eg phone calls, intercom, visitors to your door with notes etc. To attain this benefit, email alerts need to be switched off or the arrival of an email WILL interrupt you. Be aware that email is addictive. Most users check their email numerous times each day. This distracts their focus (even briefly) from the activity they are currently…
Real World Classroom Management
Good classroom management is essential. Here are some ideas for you to reflect on how you manage behaviour from US Principal, Lisa Brumfield on The Principal’s Desk. Be succinct in your instructions. Most students can follow two-step directions at best. With this in mind, limit multiple requests. For example, if you say…“ I need all of you to take out your book and put them on my desk, put your homework in the red tray, put your journal in the blue basket, place your excursion form on my desk, sign in your attendance, choose a book and sit at your desk” you will be lucky if you see any homework in that red tray. Keep redirections short. Good Example: “Jacob…
Effective Parent-Teacher Meetings
Parent-teacher meetings can be a stressful time as they often add to our existing workloads. Not only do they usually occur before or after a busy day of teaching, many teachers feel uncomfortable dealing with parents. Changing formats and modes brought about by COVID may be adding to the stress. Planning and preparation are essential to increase effectiveness and reduce stress. The need for social distancing (when we are actually meeting face-to-face with parents) make setting up the environment for the interviews even more challenging. You should have a clear space to meet with the parent/s. Ideally you should be seated alongside the parent so that you can discuss and look at examples together. This may not be possible with…
Can Optimism Be Learned?
We are certainly experiencing challenging times in schools. Being optimistic that we will successfully get through this is more helpful and productive than doom and gloom. However, some people are more positive than others. In the accompanying quote Nelson Mandela says he didn’t know if his own optimism was due to nurture or nature. In the book ‘Deliberate Optimism – Reclaiming the Joy in Education’, the authors argue that optimism can be learned, developed and maintained. They aren’t talking about blind, Pollyanna ignorance that everything is wonderful but a positive outlook that things will get better and ultimately will be okay. They quote the key to success in developing optimism is Chinese philosopher Lao Tsu’s saying, “Thoughts lead to actions,…
A Weekend Routine That Sets Up Your Success
Whilst we all love to relax on the weekends, what we do on the weekends can have an impact on our working week. If you start the week feeling exhausted and stressed, it might be time to think about your weekend routine. What small changes could you make that might set you up for success? Whilst most of us love a sleep in on the weekends, research suggests that significant variability in our sleep and wake times may be having a negative impact on us. Waking up at around the same time each day helps to set your body clock. Sleeping in on the weekends can make it harder to fall and stay asleep the following night. Not getting enough…
The Competence-Confidence Loop
To feel satisfied and happy in our work in schools, we need to feel both competent AND confident. If these are unbalanced, we can become doubtful, frustrated, unmotivated and could end up mentally and emotionally drained. Being too confident without competence is delusional. However, people who are competent but don’t have confidence, are filled with self-doubt and are likely to be anxious. As we learn new skills, we gain competence and as we gain competence we are more confident to try more, which again grows our competence. You may have experienced this as COVID has forced us to rapidly take on new skills. Becoming aware of how competence and confidence are both impactful and interrelated, as well as learning how…
5 Secrets to Improving WORK-LIFE Balance
We’re all BUSY! We all have lots of things that we must do, should do and could do with every second of every day! Despite the amazing technology that is available to us, almost all of us are busier than ever before. Aim for WORK – LIFE Satisfaction NOT balance For most people the term ‘balance’ immediately brings to mind thoughts of balance scales. Many people visualise our work commitments on one side of the scales and the commitments in the other aspects of our lives on the other side. We seem to constantly add more tasks to the WORK side and feel guilty that we need to create more time and space for the LIFE side to regain…
Starting the Year Well
The start of a new school year should set the tone for the rest of the year. Most people start the year with renewed energy, focus and vigour. They have enjoyed a well-earned break and are ready for another challenging year. Whilst it is important to ‘hit the ground running’, we need to guard against ‘going too hard, too fast and burning ourselves out’. This can be a fine line. Establishing systems and good habits are essential at this time of the year. Our intentions are good and hopefully our reserves are replenished. However having good intentions aren’t enough. It is our actions that count. Whilst organisation is one of the keys to time management, many staff in…
The Ripple Effect
Working in schools you make a significant difference with your everyday actions. All of the little things you do in every moment of your work can ripple out to create endless changes in the lives of your students. If you don’t believe this, then just ask the parents of your students. They are very aware of the inspiring ripples that you can create in their children’s lives. A ripple is the inside-out release of energy generated by your thoughts and actions that eventually affects the lives of other people in some way. This energy connects with the ripples from the thoughts and actions of others to create all of the daily events on this planet. It is important…