Increasing Grit
Developing inner strength is important to achieving our long-term goals. Grit – the perseverance that keeps us going – is a high predictor of success. According to Prof Angela Duckworth of the University of Pennsylvania and author of the book, “Grit: the Power of Passion and Perseverance” there are four things that lead to the development of grit. Pursue what interests you It’s hard to stick with something over the long haul if you don’t care. The first step to grittiness is finding something that deeply interests you. Practice, practice, practice Hard work develops skill and we are more likely to stick with things we’re good at. Scientists highlight the importance of what they call “deliberate practice”. With persistent, focused…
Why Working In Schools Can Be So Stressful
Working in schools can be very rewarding and very demanding too! There are a number of reasons why working in schools can be stressful. Working in schools is far more complicated than work in many other industries. Staff in schools face unique challenges: Much of the day is already scheduled. There is very limited leeway in altering a class schedule, so teachers must work very efficiently with the very limited time that is flexible. Schools are people organisations. We deal with the myriad of personality types, social issues and stressors that reflect the broader community – the good, the bad and the ugly. We deal with emotive issues that surround one of the most important aspect of anyone’s life -…
9 Reminders for Meet the Teacher Events
Meet the teacher events at the beginning of the school year are an important time for building partnerships with parents/carers. These events can set the tone for working together productively throughout the year. Even if you dread it and don’t want parental involvement in your classroom, it is worthwhile investing time in planning for a successful event. Whilst some of these strategies are more relevant for primary classrooms, a version of them could be considered in secondary schools. It is human nature to quickly form an opinion about a person when we first meet them. Starting off on the right foot and making a good first impression can go a long way in building trust and will be especially beneficial…
Setting Up For A Successful Year
Setting up and managing your classroom at the beginning of the year has a significant impact on your success and stress levels. Behaviour management guru, Bill Rogers emphasises the importance of the first meeting with a new class as the establishment phase in building a positive classroom environment. It is important to set the right tone. The three essential aspects that you need to get right are – core routines, a student behaviour agreement and starting to build a relationship of trust through your leadership of the learning environment. Consider and plan appropriate procedures to ensure the smooth operation of your class. These core routines cover everything from the way students enter the classroom, procedures and expectations for gaining the…
Making A Personal Plan For A Successful 2018
What are You Going to Stop Doing? In planning for a great 2018 it is important to reflect on what has helped us in 2017 and what has hindered us. The research on the success of making New Year’s Resolutions isn’t compelling. Apparently 41% usually make New Year’s Resolutions and 42% absolutely never make them. Of those who do make resolutions less than 73% survive the first week and only 58% are still on track at the start of February. I’m not surprised! Most resolutions are alcohol fueled and some people make outlandish statements. However, it is important, helpful and worthwhile to reflect on, and learn from the past if we want 2018 to be better than 2017. What efforts…
Can Emotional Resilience Be Learned?
Emotional resilience – is it just another trendy fad, designed to sell books and amuse university researchers, or is there something tangible to it that we can learn from, adopt and develop ourselves to be more optimistic? I’m in the happy camp here in that I prefer to lean to the latter statement. Emotional resilience comes from the field of Positive Psychology – the study of strengths, virtues and what goes right. Following World War II, psychology took the route of focusing on what goes wrong, on mental illness and pathology. It wasn’t until the start of the new millennium that pioneers like Martin Seligman brought credibility and validated research to the study of happiness. Are you one of those…
To Change the Way We Act, First We Need To Change the Way We Think
I am petrified of blood tests. You just say those two horrific words and I feel sick instantly. Ew, ew, ew, no thank you. With this kind of thinking, it is unlikely I will change my behaviour and have a blood test. That’s not likely to happen! But what happens when I have to go and get one? I’m not going to all of a sudden find it an easy thing to do and having those negative thoughts about it just makes it even harder. So, before I can change my behaviour, I first must change my thinking. Blood tests are helpful. Blood tests are necessary. These are the type of thoughts I can use to replace the old ones.…
Writing Email with Military Precision
In the military, a poorly formatted email may be the difference between mission accomplished and mission failure. The structure of the email is important in making communication crisper and cleaner, eliciting quicker and higher-quality responses. Here are three of the main tips on formatting your emails with military precision: Subjects with keywords. The first thing the recipient sees is your name and subject line, so it’s critical that the subject clearly states the purpose of the email and specifically, what you want them to do with your message. Military personnel use keywords that characterize the nature of the email in the subject. Some of these keywords include: ACTION – Compulsory for the recipient to take some action SIGN – Requires the signature…
Keep It Simple
I am constantly amazed by the number of clients I work with who make things harder than they need to be. There’s often several reasons why: They were shown to do something that way so they’ve always done it that way. They don’t have the time to try something different so they figure, “at least I know this way works”. They don’t think “big picture”, they think about putting a band aid on something rather than diagnosing the problem and working out a solution. Here are a couple of simple things you can do that will save lots of time and frustration on repetitive tasks. Repetitive Emails Instead of searching for an old email and editing it, try the following:…
Strategies for Helping Kinesthetic Learners (Part 2)
Be yourself The kinesthetic learner detects phoniness quickly. Be yourself especially if you are slightly weird and/or funny. Teach with all your passion, enthusiasm, and drama. Kinesthetic students learn best when content is taught in an entertaining way—they engage more. By accessing your own nutty creativity, you can help dry content come alive. It may not seem dry to you or to your visual learners, but without a little spice, kinesthetic students will find it hard to pay attention for more than a very few moments. Pause and be still Be sure to pause for a good long time after each key point to let your content sink in. Don’t speak or move during the pause. Kinesthetic students need plenty…
Strategies for Helping Kinesthetic Learners (Part 1)
Why do some students love school and do well while others in the same school, with the same dedicated teachers, are miserable in school? After working in schools all over the country, I’ve come more and more to believe that schools operate like a private club for visual learners. Kinesthetic students—those with a limited ability to make mental pictures of what they are learning – are not members of this club, and a lot of them become so discouraged that they give up before graduation. We’re losing too many of our kinesthetic students—we have to engage them more in their learning. As teachers who care about reaching every child, we need specific strategies for helping our kinesthetic students learn in…
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
I’m not awesome at using computers. Is it helpful for me to spend hours trying to be ‘good’ at computers? It could be, but I can probably guess that I would be frustrated at least 80% of the time. I would have some serious self-doubt and self-loathing going on and I would be feeling down about myself when I realise how much I actually don’t know but really wish I did. So why bother? I know an amazing person at school who would gladly help me with any computer questions I have. When I leave his office, I always feel wonderful and proud of myself knowing I have been productive and problem solved in an effective way. I have also…