Addressing Negativity at Work
We all like to have a whinge from time to time – about our co-workers, unpopular changes and how nobody ever cleans up the staffroom. A certain amount of complaining is normal. It is best responded to by demonstrating understanding for how people are feeling, acting to address people’s concerns and setting the right example. But there are some who become stuck in their unhappiness, to the point where they are having a negative influence on others. Many Negative Nevilles or Nellies often don’t even give their team leader the opportunity to address their concerns, preferring instead to infect everyone else with their negativity. You know you have one of these people in your team when they leave or go…
The Yin and Yang of OUR Motivation
Daniel Pink is the guru on Motivation. Through researching thousands of people across many industries, Pink concludes that our satisfaction comes from three key drivers. The most powerful motivators for people are AUTONOMY, MASTERY and PURPOSE. These motivators will resonate with many people who work in schools. Autonomy We like to have a sense of autonomy. We don’t like being micro-managed by being dictated to about what we do, when and how we do it. Whether it is the teacher choosing how they present a learning experience for their students or office staff deciding which priority they need to address first, we like the autonomy to make some choices about our work. Mastery Almost all staff who work in schools…
Overcoming Change Fatigue
Change just seems to be a constant in schools these days. Staff in many schools feel inundated by change and many are suffering change fatigue. Changes in curriculum, increased expectations and accountability measures, new administrative systems, pedagogical approaches and emerging technologies, just to name a few. It is not uncommon for staff in schools to want the world to stand still for a moment so that we can consolidate and catch our breath. Whilst we might long for that, it is just not going to happen. If anything, the pace of change is likely to accelerate. Schools are a reflection of society and therefore present the same symptoms – accelerating pace of life, rapidly developing technology, high expectations of an…
Don’ts and Don’ts of Teaching (Part 2)
Don’t send kids to the office. No matter how many times a principal says, “just send them to me,” it’s not a good idea. When you send kids out, it soon becomes the only thing they’ll respond to. So you might be thinking now, “what should I do when students are misbehaving?” I have no pat answers about the complex question of how to handle challenging behaviour but I do know that if you avoid the mistakes I mention here, you won’t have as many discipline problems. Unfortunately, if you do make these mistakes, anything you try to do to fix your discipline problems will be as ineffective as sending kids to the office. Don’t allow students to shout out…
Don’ts and Don’ts of Teaching (Part 1)
One piece of advice that I’ve seen in numerous books about teaching is to always phrase classroom rules positively. Instead of phrasing a rule as “no talking,” for instance, teachers should phrase it as “talk in turn.” The theory is that when students are told not to do one thing without being told what they should do instead, they may not know their options. Proponents also argue that phrasing rules in the positive is less confrontational; rebellious students will be less apt to break a positively stated procedure than a negatively worded rule. I don’t buy this. For new teachers, especially, classroom rules need to be rules, and a rule should be stated in the clearest way possible. Many of…
Keys of Prioritisation
Staff in schools often feel we have too much to do and not enough time to do it. We often feel we are asked to do more, with less. Utilising our time well is therefore imperative. Peter Drucker, the grandfather of today’s management consultants and time management gurus, says today’s challenge is that we know we have ten things needing to be done, but we only have time to do six of them. The real challenge is picking the right six to do and then going home at night and not worrying about the four that you had to let go and didn’t get done. The negative self-talk about the tasks that we have NOT done adds significantly to our…
MORE Tips for Communicating …With People You Don’t Get On With (part 2)
Schools are busy, people places. At times we will need to work with people we don’t get along with. In part 2 we share more tips for communicating with people we find difficult to get on with. Get specific Tell them exactly what they do that you do not like, exactly what you would prefer, and exactly what you or both of you could do to help. There is too much room for misinterpretation when you use vague words. Avoid giving your opinions, interpretations, or generalisations when you are having communication problems. They are likely to be misunderstood or seen in a negative light during these times. Stick with the recent past when you talk about problems It is harder…
Five Tips for Communicating With People you Don’t Get on With
Schools are busy, people places. At times we will need to work with people we don’t get along with. The following are the first five of ten tips for communicating with people we find difficult to get on with. Acknowledge others’ feelings and points of view Listening to and acknowledging the other person’s feelings and points of view can bypass many arguments and misunderstandings. Don’t try to correct them or rebut their points of view or feelings. Just listen. See if you can understand what the other person is trying to communicate. You don’t have to agree with what they are saying, but don’t dismiss or minimise their feelings or tell them they are wrong for feeling that way. Remember…
Beware of That Little Voice Inside Your Head
As educators we can be our own harshest critic. Whilst that little voice inside our head is often critical, it can also be unrealistic. “If only I’d done this differently….” “If only I’d said….” “Next time I’ll….” “I should have said this…!” “I should have done that…!” At times we are guilty of “shoulding” all over ourselves! Many of us are guilty of trying to be all things to all people. We are seldom satisfied with a lesson, a meeting or what we achieved on a particular day. We are always on the look out for improving things and making them better. Our training in education and our work in schools, often focuses on problem solving. As part of the…
Involvement or Engagement?
We need to relate to families not as clients, but as partners in school and community improvement. “Hello, is this John’s mother? This is his English teacher, Mr. Ferlazzo. John has had a rough day.” “I like teaching in this school because the parents don’t bother us much.” “We need parent volunteers for the fund-raiser.” “I wish parents here cared enough to get their kids to do their homework.” These quotes (all of which I’ve heard—except the first one, which I’ve said) illustrate how educators often feel about parents: We should contact them when there is a problem, it’s good when they don’t “bother” us, we need them to raise money and we can blame them for all kinds of…
See the Forest for the Trees
Successful people work well under sustained pressure. For some, pressure acts like a laser beam – focusing their energy and sharpening their mind to make clear and accurate decisions. For others, pressure acts like a fog that scatters their thinking and impairs their good judgment. The difference in how sharply you operate under pressure, pivots on your ability to step back and gain perspective. When you experience pressure, your body’s instinctive reaction is to place all physical energy and mental focus on the essential tasks. This narrows your focus – like tunnel vision – on the specifics and gives you a hit of energy (which is why some people find that pressure helps them to get things done). However, as…
Are You Addicted to Your Phone by John Shackleton
I was sent a post today about someone attending a wedding ceremony and having their phone confiscated at the door! She was furious and wondered how she could ever enjoy things without being able to take photos of everything. But afterwards she realised that she’d really enjoyed the event and had much stronger memories of everything because she was actually present and not watching the whole thing from behind a screen. In her own words: ‘We are surrounded by so much content and have infinite ways to express that content. We believe that EXPERIENCING something isn’t valid without CAPTURING the experience in pictures – Pics or it didn’t happen’. She went on to say that the main reason we all post so much…