Monday Motivator #33 2021-22

It’s amazing how a little tomorrow can make up for a whole lot of yesterday.
—John Guare

What Happens Next?

https://choiceliteracy.com/article/april-22-2022-reading-invitations/

As the world emerges from the grip of this long pandemic and restrictions shift and change, I find myself filled with both a sense of hope and a sense of guilt. Did I enjoy the time at home with my kids as much as I should have? Did I do enough to help my teachers and students teach and learn at home? Will we ever recover from the missed instructional time and in-person connections?

And the list continues.

After one particularly long guilt session, I couldn’t help but flash back to a long car ride home with my son, who had had a difficult game in a high-stakes travel baseball tournament. As he berated himself, I gently reminded him of our family sports mantra: What happens next is what defines you. Not the strikeout, not the missed pop-up to center field, and certainly not the wild pitches. What we do next to pick ourselves up is what defines who we are.

Those words—what happens next is what defines you—are exactly what I need right now. Has the world changed? Yes. Is it still changing? Yes. Did I do my best during those uncertain times? Yes. Are there unexpected consequences for teaching and learning? There sure are. But rather than wallow in the challenge, obsess over what might have been, or lament the new instructional gaps, what happens next is what defines us.

The missed opportunities, the possible learning gaps, and the countless challenges do not define who we are. The ways we continue to connect with students, build strong learning communities, and instruct from the heart do. 

Shine on!
Stephanie Affinito
Featured Contributor

Monday Motivator #31 2021-22

When we're lifting a heavy load

for when the challenge we're facing feels impossible

Krystle Cobran Mar 27

Listen to the 5 minute podcast here.

I needed to move something pretty heavy from one spot to another. This item is physically larger than I am, and frankly, the sheer disproportion between me and it was enough of an excuse to tell myself that it was immovable.

But there was something in me that knew it wasn’t. When I looked behind my fear, what I saw were lots and lots of questions.

Did I need to ask for help? Did I need to wait until I could come up with another solution? Or did I need to take a deep breath, bend my knees, and lift from my core?

When we’re lifting a heavy load, it can be easy to focus on the size of the load. To fixate on how huge the challenge in front of us seems to be. But when we peek behind the load before us, sometimes what’s hiding are the questions we need to let bubble to the surface so we can decide what to do next.

The questions might feel like a flood. Like even more challenges we need to deal with. But the questions are there to help us shift gears from wondering whether there’s anything we can do, to taking action and making an intentional choice.

Once I let the questions simmer, I was able to make a choice.

Apparently, it wasn’t immovable after all. 

Monday Motivator #30 2021-22

 

How To Be A Better, Calmer Teacher With Visualization

March 25, 2022 by Michael Linsin

https://smartclassroommanagement.com/2022/03/25/how-to-be-a-better-calmer-teacher-with-visualization/

Daily visualization will make you a calmer, more effective teacher.

And it works immediately.

Try it just once before school and you’ll have an easier day of teaching. Here’s how to do it:

1. Close your classroom door.

2. Sit or stand in place.

3. Breathe.

4. Visualize your day.

Visualization is nothing more than seeing yourself performing your job well. Whatever you visualize tends to happen more effortlessly.

It primes your subconscious to take the wheel, which frees you to enjoy your day without the typical strain and stress you’ve grown used to.

I recommend visualizing three areas:

1. Schedule

This is where you’ll watch your day unfold in fast motion. You’ll observe your students happily arrive and then listen, participate, and do their work until they leave for the day.

You’ll also see yourself at peace and in good humor.

Move chronologically through each period, ticking off your responsibilities. This will allow you to be more efficient and purposeful once the day begins. You’ll feel unhurried, as if you’ve been here before. Because you have.

2. Consistency

Here you’ll see yourself following through like a referee. Picture your most challenging class or difficult student and you fulfilling your promise calmly.

Come up with worst-case scenarios and you handling them with aplomb.

Visualizing this area will do wonders for the ease in which you follow your classroom management plan. The feeling is like being on autopilot.

You see the misbehavior and you enforce a consequence. Visualization makes you realize how simple it really is—and within the safety of your own mind.

3. Lessons

You can also run through your lessons chronologically. See yourself giving the introduction and the way you’ll capture attention. Choose a story or funny anecdote that you may use.

Watch as you model and explain the activity or assignment, check for understanding, and answer potential questions.

It’s no different than an athlete who visualizes their competition ahead of time, and just as effective. Whatever you rehearse in your mind’s eye will be easier and more effective when it comes to pass.

A Sure Way to Get Better

The biggest worry about visualization is that you’re adding yet another item to your plate. But here’s the thing: It takes only a couple of minutes at most, especially as it becomes a habit.

I can visualize my day in about 30 seconds and a lesson in half that time. It’s a fast-motion activity that very briefly touches on highlights and key areas.

The beauty of it is that it’s a surefire, practical way to get better at your job.

Again, it works the very first time you use it and without any extra burden. It also gets easier with time as you become a better, clearer, and more efficient visualizer.

See success, and that of your students, before it happens.

And that’s what you’ll get.