Archives For Teacher motivation

Australia Day Happy Australia Day

What do you love about Australia?

 

I have had the opportunity to travel internationally quite a bit this year. I am actually writing this from Queenstown in New Zealand (which is just another state of Australia – come on Kiwi’s – you know its true lol).

The more I travel the more I have grown to appreciate just how great Australia is.

Despite the news reports our education system is in good shape.

Teachers everywhere share the same disappointments and frustrations.  We all face the same pressures of shrinking budgets, clueless decision makers, and dis-engaged students.

The great thing is, we get to do it in a country where:

  • Mateship and comradery amongst staff is valued.
  • We have freedom of religion, and speech.
  • We aren’t being abused by a dictatorship.
  • We don’t go to work wondering if we will be shot, bombed or invaded

So many teachers would give up everything to have what we have.

My challenge to all Australian teachers (and all teachers everywhere) this year is this.  Be intentional about being thankful.  Whinge and whine a bit less and take a moment to be thankful for all the amazing things in your life.  Teaching is hard, but there is so much to celebrate.

What are you thankful for? Drop it into the comment section below

Posted on January 27, 2013 In Teacher motivation , ,
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A Different Look At Goal Setting

January 7, 2013  2 Comments

As we kick off a new year I though I would share a video that challenges the norm about what is generally taught about goal setting.

But before we do that let me just say Happy New Year!  A few readers who regularly follow this blog have sent me emails wondering where I had gone.  I haven’t updated this blog for well over a month.

Towards the end of last year I decided to completely unplug and only fulfil the existing commitments that I had previously made.

I wrote on this philosophy of rest at the same time last year, it is worth a read – I know it will help you recover from a hectic teaching schedule.

I normally would have a slow start to the year as in my part of the world that is our summer holiday.  However this January I am speaking at 2 conferences in Hawaii (I am writing this post from my hotel room); The Hawaiian International education Conference and The Google Apps For Education Summit.  From there I am speaking at another Google Apps Summit in Sydney and then head straight to New Zealand to speak at a number of schools there before kicking off the Australian school term.  After all my travel this only left me with six days in January to unwind.

Anyhow, As the new year kicks off and we begin to wonder what we can do differently in 2013 to make it even better than 2012 this video on goal setting will challenge your presumptions.

Let me know what you think in the comment sections below.

The video is a Ted talk by Derek Sivers and goes for 3 minutes.

Here’s the highlights:

What you shouldn’t do with goal setting – 50 sec

How your mind is tricked when you make this mistake with goal setting 1 min 10 sec

Some interesting research to support the claim 1 min 50 sec

What you can do about goal setting 2 min 30 sec

 

In Student Motivation, Teacher motivation ,
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Five Quotes for Teachers

November 27, 2012  22 Comments

Here are five quotes for teachers that I hope will serve as a little inspiration for the week ahead.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I find most of the quotes for teachers to be a bit corny or quirky.  The five quotes below have past the ‘cheesy’ test.  After each of the quotes I will offer one little thought to help you apply the quote to your teaching.

1. “The best way to predict the future is to invent it”. Alan Kay

futuresign Five Quotes for Teachers

Too many teachers take what comes to them.  You can design a classroom culture that suits your unique personality and teaching style.

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In Inspiration for Monday, Student Engagement, Student Motivation, Teacher motivation , , ,
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It’s Not My Fault Pt 1

October 31, 2012  3 Comments

How many times have we heard our students protest, “It’s not my fault!”

Our students make all kind of excuses but to be fair so do we.  One of the greatest excuses both teachers and students alike make is that It’s not my fault.

I have returned home from 10 days touring New Zealand speaking to a number of great teachers who are doing some very innovative things in the classroom.

It was interesting for me that many of the teachers were deeply concerned about the education system as a whole and the affect it was having on their teaching.  They were asking some great questions.  Questions such as:

  • What role do you think poverty plays in student performance?
  • Where should we draw the line with internet censorship and blocking of content
  • What do we do when parents have unrealistic expectations that have been fed by the media

The more we discussed these issues, the more certain I became of my response.

not my fault 1 Its Not My Fault Pt 1

In a nut shell here is what I think.

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In Conference Reflections, Teacher motivation , , , ,
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Make sure your students praise you this week!

September 11, 2012  4 Comments

The question is often asked “How much praise do your students receive?” Maybe the question needs to be asked how much praise does a teacher need?

There has been much said and written about praising your students, but very little said about the need of teachers to be praised.

With all the media around pay for performance and quality teaching programs, it can be easy to see why some teachers are feeling under-appreciated.

To exacerbate the issue even further, over the last 10 years or so I have seen a gradual shift in the teaching profession away from disciplining students towards focussing on praising your students.  So on one hand we have teachers feeling undervalued and disrespected, and on the other hand we have students who have an over inflated self ego.

Spear 2100 Make sure your students praise you this week!

Now, I’m not against creating positive learning environments; and I do believe in praise where praise is due, but I do think that the pendulum has swung too far.

Today I came across the following Ted Talk video today that made me think about praise in a different way.

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In Student Behaviour, Teacher motivation , ,
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