This is the second part of Gabbie Stroud’s summary of a recent webinar she delivered titled “How Am I Going to Last the Year? Survival Hacks for Teachers”. Hack seven: Get professional help If you’ve found yourself wishing for ‘a touch of Covid’ so you could have a week off work, your head’s not in…
Survival Hacks for Teachers -Part 1
If you’re already feeling burnt out, demoralised and exhausted (and it’s not even Term 2), you must remember that ‘it’s not you’ or something you did or didn’t do. The education system is currently overloaded and expecting more from teachers that can ever be delivered. It’s not you – it’s the system! This is a…
Who’s Managing Your Mojo?
Cambridge Dictionary defines ‘mojo’ as a quality that attracts people to you and makes you successful and full of energy. When you have your mojo you have self-confidence, self-esteem and self-efficacy. Having your mojo is therefore very important. Once it is lost it can take some work to rediscover. Whilst we all know what we…
Can Optimism Be Learned?
We are certainly experiencing challenging times in schools. Being optimistic that we will successfully get through this is more helpful and productive than doom and gloom. However, some people are more positive than others. In the accompanying quote Nelson Mandela says he didn’t know if his own optimism was due to nurture or nature. In…
The Ripple Effect
Working in schools you make a significant difference with your everyday actions. All of the little things you do in every moment of your work can ripple out to create endless changes in the lives of your students. If you don’t believe this, then just ask the parents of your students. They are very aware…
Christmas is For Giving
As we come to the end of the school year, many people who work in schools start to panic about the gifts they need to buy. Organised people have worked their way through their list and purchased (or even made) thoughtful gifts for loved ones. The rest of us start to think about the gifts…
Remaining Positive When Others Are Stressed
Have you ever noticed that some people are able to maintain their positivity, even in stressful situations, whereas others do the opposite? Why is this? Positive co-workers have the right attitude. They realise that although others can act in ways that help to make us stressed or happy, ultimately our happiness is determined by the…
Finish Strong
The final term of the school year is a crazy time in schools. End of year reporting, class allocations, timetabling, budgets and planning for next year swamp us at a time when our energies are low and many of us feel we are running on empty. By the end of the year we are more…
A Word for Stressful Times
When I started teaching high school in 1979, my Principal Glynn Watkins asked all the teachers to consider our philosophy, for teaching and for life. Even though we never used the word mentor in the 1970ʼs and 80ʼs, in 2008 when I attended Glynnʼs funeral, I realised that he was my number one mentor. On…
Being Resilient in Challenging Times
According to the World Health Organisation Icelandic people are amongst the longest living on the planet. On average they make it to over 83 years of age. Despite Iceland being a terrible place to live (food is scarce, winters last for nine months, for a number of days there are only four hours of sunlight…