Celebrated in more than 100 countries world-wide, World Teachers’ Day was established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in 1994 to recognise the role of teachers in society. In Australia and New Zealand it is celebrated on the last Friday in October. Who Would Be A Teacher? Teaching can be…
Managing Student Anxiety Before It Becomes A Problem
Research shows that childhood anxiety left unmanaged will almost certainly re-emerge, highlighting the importance of early detection and management. Teachers, as first responders, play an important role by minimising the impact of stressful moments before they lead to full-blown anxiety. Recognise anxiety triggers Recognising the events that trigger anxiety is the first step to helping…
Setting goals that aren’t SMART
Rare is the person who hasn’t heard about SMART goals – most of us have learnt the theory and many of us have probably experienced some success with them! To revise, the acronym stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely. The intent of using the acronym is to help you focus your efforts and…
Engaged Or Compliant?
It’s not surprising that one of the most consistent findings in educational research is that the more time students spend engaged during instruction, the more they learn. It also won’t surprise staff who work in schools that the more engaged students are, the less stressful it is. Instead of trying to ‘manage’ students to comply,…
Tips For Reporting Success
The purpose of report card comments is simply to convey the big ideas and most important information parents need to know. The most important, not everything. Think about what you really need to document. What do you need to have proof that you have expressed in writing? Ensure the comments align with the students’ grades….
Who Is Your Biggest Distraction?
For most of us the answer to the question, “Who is your biggest distraction?” is simple. We are our BIGGEST distraction! We often procrastinate and get distracted away from what we SHOULD be doing by doing the things we LIKE to do. Time is a precious commodity. We often have too much to do and…
How to Finish Your School Day
How do you typically finish a school day? Exhausted, running on low reserves, feeling guilty about the things that you didn’t get done and already worried about tomorrow? Working in schools can be exhausting. There is always a lot to be done and a limited amount of time to get it done. Our days…
Learn to Manage Your Most Important Resource: Energy
Your motivation at work is directly related to how you spend your personal time. If you don’t do anything after school that is re-energising, you are going to go back into the classroom the next day feeling even more depleted. The job will take even more out of you and you are going to get…
Actions Speak Louder Than Words
We all know the importance of actually taking action, rather than just talking about what we are going to do. I have certainly come across a lot of “gunnas” in my career. People who are “gunna” leave teaching, “gunna” write a book, “gunna” sell real estate and “gunna” make a million dollars. The following are…
What To Do When There Is Too Much To Do
Time is precious. Schools are busy places. There is almost too much to do and not enough time. No matter what time of year it is, the problem is the same: our list of tasks is never-ending and our time available is never enough. How can we deal with this in a sane way? Realise That…