Ten Keys to Happiness
The beginning of the school year provides us with an opportunity to start afresh. Many of us return from the break rested, recharged and with great intentions. However maintaining momentum beyond the first term can be difficult. I find Action For Happiness movement’s “Ten Keys to Happier Living” useful in providing practical tips and maintaining my focus. For further information visit www.actionforhappiness.org Do Things For Others – rather than waiting for somebody else on staff to take the initiative and do something for staff welfare this year, be that person. Create a roster for special morning teas, birthday celebrations or a once a term social event. Connect With People – focus this year on being a great listener. At times…
Putting Heart and Fun Back into Work
The more we can connect at a heart level with others and inspire them with our character and our behaviours, the stronger a team we forge. CONNECTION – IT’S CRITICAL Emotional intelligence is all about being connected. Connection is a key to all life, let alone work. Research shows us that people who are disconnected from themselves (head and heart disconnected – not knowing yourself) and disconnected from others (heart to heart disconnect – perceived as distant, insincere or unauthentic) will die earlier of ALL causes. Being connected not only helps you live longer and healthier but it improves your work satisfaction. Families value a special connection with your team; if your school has a strong community connection and profile,…
Get A Life: Improving YOUR Work / Life Balance
The first step in improving your work / life balance is to work out exactly what it is that you want. What aspect of your life do you want to be different? What would you like to improve? Whilst your initial reaction may be to ‘work less’, reducing your paid hours, for example working part time, might not be possible. This may be for financial or logistical factors. Try to be as specific as you can about the outcome you would like to achieve. If you could free some time, how would you utilise it? What is it about your lifestyle that you would like to change eg spend more time with my kids, sleep better at night, worry less…
A Teacher’s Most Valuable Asset – Their Voice
A teacher’s most valuable teaching asset is their voice. It is through the voice that the teacher communicates, educates and instructs. Without the use of the voice, the teacher has lost the painting brush to create their art work. Research is revealing that many teachers are struggling with their most basic tool to comfortably get through their teaching day. There are many demands placed on a teacher’s voice; constant talking, pushing the voice, talking with background noise, disciplining students, raising the voice to be heard, yelling over long distances eg in the playground, feelings of stress, frustration, low energy and tiredness will tense the vocal apparatus and when constantly talking, restricts vocal ease. Some of the symptoms teachers experience include; …
What Motivates Us?
According to best-selling author and motivation guru Daniel Pink, there are three key drivers of motivation- PURPOSE, AUTONOMY and MASTERY. Each driver contributes to our motivation. PURPOSE – Keeping the BIG picture in mind is important in keeping us motivated, especially in challenging times. Our work in schools can be very busy and stressful. One of the factors that contributes to our stress level is dealing with people. You never quite know what is going on in other people’s lives. Our work in schools is important and has purpose. As schools are at the hub of the community, all staff who work in schools have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others. As well as looking…
Resilience Research
Why do many people turn out as well as they do despite adverse life circumstances? Instead of being crushed by adversity in their personal life, somehow use it as motivation to grow. Why do people at work, instead of becoming negative and resistant to change, simply accept what is out of their control and make the best out of a tough situation? The answer is, I believe, people’s resilience – our ability to bounce back when faced with adversity. Part of the current thinking on resilience is that it is innate – most people are naturally programmed to survive and recover even after major setbacks. It also appears that our resilience is determined by the interaction between Risk Factors that…
Meditation to Calm the Mind
Many societies use meditation as a means of calming the mind from the busyness of everyday life. You don’t have to go to a rainforest, a health retreat or a temple to gain the benefits. Taking just 5 minutes from your busy day to focus on your breathing and calm your mind can have great benefits – see the left hand column for a 5 minute exercise. What is meditation? It is a practise of focusing your mind on one part of your body and working towards a state of peacefulness. If you have never practised or participated in meditation before it can be an interesting step forward in life for you. Where did meditation first begin? Meditation first began…
Motivation in the Classroom
It’s important to reinforce student self-motivation on a regular basis: Praise Effort and Specific Actions If we only praise students in general—”You’re very smart”—many will then try to avoid taking risks and stretching themselves. They will focus more on maintaining their image and believe that they will embarrass themselves by making mistakes. Praising effort— “You worked really hard today”—or praising specific actions —”Your topic sentence communicates the main idea”—can make students feel that they are more in control of their success and that their success is less dependent on their “natural intelligence”. Build Relationships Staff in schools build relationships with their students by showing that they care about them and by learning about their lives, dreams and challenges. This is…
Getting Better Sleep
Often the affects of stress are compounded by problems of not getting the sleep we require. Our active minds and negative self-talk can keep us awake or wake us during the night. Many people who suffer from insomnia start to sleep poorly for some understandable reason (e.g. a baby kept them awake, accumulation of stresses or a trauma). However the sleep problems often continue after the event as a habit has developed. Dr David Morawetz’s self-help program “Sleep Better…Without Drugs” provides a great 4 to 6 week program for overcoming bad sleep habits. Like all programs, the benefit will only come through discipline in applying the advice given. The following Nine Rules for Better Sleep are offered as a starting…
Do You Need a Digital Detox?
Technology advances in society and particularly in education have brought about some amazing advantages and should be making our lives easier. Unfortunately, these gains can come at a cost for many of us – our work can now seep effortlessly into nearly every corner of our life. Most school staff own and use a personal smart phone to communicate and be contactable in their professional role, as well as accessing a work laptop or desktop computer, often a tablet… and usually run more devices at home too! While our digital connectivity can enhance our productivity and bring about positive outcomes, it can also very quickly increase our stress and anxiety, affecting both our personal balance and ability to perform. Not…
Increasing Your Job Satisfaction
Working in schools can be REALLY demanding. At times we can feel that we are at the mercy of other people’s moods. People can sometimes be unreasonable, emotional and erratic. At times THAT person might even be you! It is important that we get job satisfaction from our work. There are six key factors that determine the level of satisfaction that people gain from their work. People want to feel that their work is important – This should be a ‘no brainer’ for people working in schools. Our work is vitally important. We play a critical role in society. I make a difference is the second key factor in achieving job satisfaction. This factor should also be easily achieved by…
Improving Well-Being Starts With You
Staff well-being is a massive issue. Teaching is often listed as one of the most stressful professions. However, “fixing” staff well-being is not easy and requires focused attention by school leaders, systems, school councils and most importantly staff themselves. Here are 11 actions you can take immediately to start improving your own well-being. Take responsibility for your own personal well-being Many educators put themselves last! They work long hours tirelessly trying to be all things, for all people. Looking after your own well-being needs to be a priority. Undertake a thorough health appraisal every year Early detection is better than pursuing a cure. Replace the term work-life balance with work-life satisfaction ‘Balance’ can be difficult to achieve in a job…