Inspiration and resources for balance before burnout
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Airforce Distinguished Educators’ Tour February 2009
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009Look to your students for the humor!
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009.jpg)
There are many ways our students help us to keep our passion. Their passion and perserveranceare often what keep us working on inspiring them to be excited about their learning. The following website is an example of how they often do this with humor.
The answers to the questions on essays, tests, and quizes may not always be correct, but they are quite often humorous!
Check out http://www.adprima.com/humor.htm for some histerical student responses.
I am sure many of you could add to the list.
What’s your funniest student story or response?
Go out with a sense of humor!
Friday, October 9th, 2009Above all else: go out with a sense of humor. It is needed armor. Joy in one’s heart and some laughter on one’s lips is a sign that the person down deep has a pretty good grasp of life. – Hugh Sidney
In October’s Whole Teacher Tidbots I suggested you spend more time with people who lift your spirits. One of the characteristics that is often associated with burnout is negative talk.
We all know someone who is challenging to be around because they are constantly complaining about how bad things are. Sometimes it feels as though they could suck the life out of the room. There is a very fine line between venting and just out right complaining.
Complaining can become a bad habit and seems to breed more negativity, as we seek proof to validate how bad we says thing are. Remember we spoke of 100% responsibility in the last blog? Complainers play a very real part in creating their own reality.
Next time you’re met with a difficult or frustrating situation, instead of complaining, try putting on your "suit of armor". Finding humor in a situation will quickly shift your energy, and often improve the outcome. It will also attract others who are looking for the positive.
Be the change you are looking for!
100 % Responsibilty
Monday, September 28th, 2009I am constantly utilizing Jack Canfield’s book The Success Principles. What an amazing resource for self-improvement. One of the first concepts shared is the most basic, yet the most challenging. He says, “In order to achieve major success in life – to achieve those things that are most important to you – you must assume 100% responsibility for everything.”
This means giving up all excuses and changing your response in the future. It means giving up blaming and giving up complaining. At first look this seemed simple, made sense, yet I had difficulty with the idea that 100% responsibility means that everything I have experienced in life, everything that has happened me, I either created or allowed.
This is very challenging when I looked at several situations in my life such as the loss of my parents. My initial reaction was, “Certainly, I did not create or allow those to happen.” But, after much more reading and contemplation I realize now that I do have a great deal of control and responsibility in how I react and respond to situation.
So, how does this relate to teachers? Take a look at your classroom and your life. What are you struggling with?
You are 100% responsible.
How can you change your actions to get a different result?
Is there a class you can take?
A book you can read?
How does how you are to others bring about their reactions to you?
What did you do or not do to achieve that result?
Try it on. Own it.
Organizing Paperwork – Binders work!
Saturday, August 22nd, 2009
Preparing for back to school means a fresh start with organizing the mountain of paperwork we know is inevitable. There are a variety of systems we can use to help tame the paperwork we are inundated with at school.
One system to explore is a binder system. Keep your three-hole punch close at hand and organize your paperwork into known categories. Binders are great for papers you will need to keep for a while, want on your finger tips, prefer to keep in chronological order, or keep by student or topic. A benefit of the binder system versus a regular file folder is this added protection, and consistent order. They also can bee easily stored and look better on your shelf or desk than a file overflowing with mix-matched papers.
So, what are some areas of paperwork that would be best organized with a binder system? Here are a few:
Student/Parent contact information and Log – Important phone numbers, etc together with contact log and pockets for notes. One cover sheet with one pocket per student in alphabetical order for easy access.
Classroom procedures or sample lessons for Substitutes
Homework binder – organize by subject if necessary, separate by date with post it or colored sheet. As homework is passed out to students a student helper could put an extra copy in this binder for future reference and absent students.
Subject notebooks – a safe place to keep resources for specific lessons or subjects to alleviate researching the topic the next year.
Office notices and protocol – Keep important papers from administration and meetings in chronological order for quick reference.
Professional Development – Paper work on completed courses with a section for your plan.
What else could go in a binder? Please comment below and share with others. Best of luck preparing for a successful new year!
The Simplest Balance Reserves
Monday, August 10th, 2009
The best six doctors anywhere
And no one can deny it
Are sunshine, water, rest, and air
Exercise and diet.
These six will gladly you attend
If only you are willing
Your mind they'll ease
Your will they'll mend
And charge you not a shilling.
I had an amazing time sharing The Whole Teacher with some truly special educators at the MTA Summer Conference at Williams College in Williamstown, MA. I am so grateful to each of those who chose to attend the first session of the final day of the conference ... especially considering the weather was perfect and it was, after all, the morning after "The Bash".
Thank you to each of you for sharing, brainstorming and offering such heartfelt support to your fellow teachers. I came across this poem this morning. It seems to embody the true meaning of the Balance Before Burnout Reserves and simplifies them beautifully!
Enjoy the final weeks of summer! This is when the "sunshine, water, rest and air; exercise and diet," are most easily found. Keep checking in The Whole Teacher for help finding them throughout your school year when it's a bit more of a challenge!
Seize the pleasure at once!
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009
Why not seize the pleasure at once, how often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparations. ~Jane Austen
Now that summer is here it is time to build up our energy reserves for the coming school year. My school year schedule is always planned out down to the minute. I am sure you can relate. We are so good at “blocking” our time and seeing how much we can pack in.
But summer is different. This is when we can be more spontaneous and act on a whim. Some days in the summer you think you’ll do one thing, but the weather will dictate a change. This is the best time to let go of plans and go with the flow. Or the weather may be so perfect, that something will just speak to you.
This morning my husband decided out of the blue to take the boys on his morning run to a close by ball field. I met them 15 minutes later with the baseball equipment and they had the best time hitting and catching balls. On the way home my 12 year old was talking about how much better their run was than the track at school because of the scenery, and my 9 year old raved about how great it felt to splash water from the nearby pond on his face to cool of when they first got there. I was so pleased they got the most of the morning and learned to appreciate the simple things right around us. We didn’t have to plan, or prepare and because we left space in our schedule we could use it as we pleased.
So what will you do during vacation to “seize the pleasure at once”?
How can this be carried into our busy school year days?
Hints:
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Leave empty spaces in your schedule.
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Look around you for inspiration.
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Keep it simple.
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Go with your gut.
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Just do it.
7 Colleagues Part 2 – The Wise One
Monday, March 2nd, 2009Everyone needs their own Obi-wan Kenobi to guide them through no matter how many years of experience you have. The Wise One has seen the educational pendulum swing in many different directions and has endured. In many articles and lessons at The Whole Teacher we talk of the importance of not re-inventing the wheel … pardon the cliche … and what better way to find some strategies and lessons that work, than from some one who’s tried them?
Your Wise One can help by listening to you, offering suggestions, or just supporting you. In our guidance office we have 2 women who will be retiring at the end of this year. They have been amazing mentor’s for myself and the other 2 counselors who also started the same year. One thing I truly appreciate is that when things have gotten really tough and overwhelming and I feel like I can’t keep up, they often are feeling the same way and this validates the fact that sometimes the job is just tough and that I don’t need to be so self critical.
A mentor can help with learning the ropes of a specific subject or the social constructs of your school. In addition to receiving help from your wise one you may also be offering the new perspective of the Fresh Colleague. In a few days I’ll share about the importance of someone "fresher" than you.
7 Colleagues Every Teacher Needs
Thursday, February 5th, 2009There’s a great article written by Lisa Earle McCLeod entitled 7 Friends Every Woman Needs. In it she address the 7 types of friends that are a must in every woman’s repetoire of gal pals. I love this article and everytime I read it I can go back through every one of my adult friendships and see the meaning and pupose in them.
In this month of building the Balance Reserve of Meaningful Connections, I suggest we reframe this and look for the variety of relationships we have at school. Who are the 7 Colleagues Every Teacher Needs? I’ve borrowed some of the titles, but let’s see how they fit in at school. Here’s the first:
1. The in-the-trenches-with-you Colleague -
This person is usually right next door to your classroom. They are extremely important when you can’t wait for your planning time to take a potty break, when you need a time-out for a student or yourself or just an ear to listen to your story at the end of the day.
Teaching can be isolating, but strong bonds are formed by geography. These are the colleagues who best know your daily routines. They witness your good days, and are the most likely to hear through the walls on your rough days and vice versa. They tend to teach the same grade level as you and are an amazing resource to help alleviate re-inventing the wheel.
Do you need more crayons? Have you run out of glue, or staples? Need a great lesson for teaching Egypt? These are the colleagues we turn to the most during our school day.
My last year in the classroom I developed a very close relationship with the woman who taught next to me. Every morning we shared a routine of relaxing music while we both checked emails. We each sipped our coffee and reflected on the previous day, while getting ready for the present. I made sure I was prepared for the next day the night before, so I could enjoy the morning "socializing". I felt that "adult" time helped me set the stage for a day full of "children".
Who are your in-the trenches-colleagues? What do they add to your day? Post a comment below. Tune in in a few days for "The Wise One".
The Rewards of Harmony
Wednesday, February 4th, 2009A choice that rewards you with a sense of harmony between yourself and what surrounds you reveals something you value. A choice that leaves you feeling empty, or worse — annoyed, resentful, sorrowlful — indicates you’re under the influence of something other than what truly matters. – from A Woman’s Guide to a Simpler Life by Andrea Van Steenhouse.
Wow! Why does this seem so simple yet so challenging? This month as I have been practicing simplifying and organizing my life, I have found that the first step for me has been rest and quiet. Last month after the hub-bub of the holidays I stepped out of the lime light of my business and withdrew to my comfy homelife.
In this quiet, I have been thinking about what is important to me. What I want to keep and what I must let go of. I have been able to begin little projects weeding and pruning by asking myself if they fit in harmony with my life.
This past month the landscape of my life changed drastically. My husband left his position at a bank to finally start his own business. It has been a wonderful and exciting time, yet shifted many family routines.
As I go through each day and make decisions on how to spend my time. I try to take the time to pause to ask myself if it fits in harmony with my new life. Our values are the same, yet the routines have changed, so I can’t take the outcomes of my decisions for granted. It is a whole new playing field.
This was terrifying at first, but now I am enjoying the change that was made to fit our values. He’s closer to home, doing what he loves, and even though he works most weekends, the times we are together as a couple or a family are more precious, because we appreciate them. I believe because he is following his own calling he has more love and energy to give us.
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