Well hey there, and welcome back to the Sustainable Teacher Podcast, I’m so glad you’ve decided to join me today for this four-step reflection process every educator needs, and I’ll just add that every teacher needs this if in fact they are feeling the pressure of all the change, and the overwhelm of seemingly never satisfying anyone whether it be parents, administration, or even our students. Now, I recognize that never is a dramatic word, but I’m betting it describes how you feel right now regardless of if it’s dramatic or not, so I’m sticking with it.
I was on a walk with my nine-month old puppy the other day, and when I’m on walks that’s when my wheels really get to turning, most of the time in good ways. Often I won’t even bring my headphones or listen to a podcast, although Ii’ve done that before, because the silence and the space for my mind to go where it wants leads me to some great ideas whether it be for this podcast, for teacher training, or for myself and my family. This story has nothing to do with this episode other than that the idea of this topic for today’s episode came from one such walk after a day of working with my preservice teachers in my Intro to Educational Technology class.
Having three classes of preservice teachers looking to me for guidance has very much got me thinking and prioritizing the advice I give so as to inspire but not overwhelm them, remain honest with them but not lead them to despair in what is a very hard career field to step into every day. One such piece of advice I wanted to give them the other day and that I will give to you today is that you are not always going to get it right. And that is ok.
And even when you do get it right, it’s not going to be perfect. Most of the time that doesn’t sit well with us educators because we value what we do so much. Oftentimes the pressure and burden we bear each day on getting things perfect is self-induced and it’s because we see the immense impact we can have, and we don’t want to get it wrong. This is the amazing thing about teaching, but also the most stressful in my opinion.
But if we are going to make it past the statistically deadly year five or heaven forbid all the way to retirement, we have to take a step back and recognize what’s really important and keep our focus on that.
And that’s what today’s episode is all about. After listening, you’ll have a four step reflection process that is NOT just about making sure you take the time to reflect on your practice (although, yes that is necessary), but that more importantly will help you keep what’s important, important.
We are teaching (and living) in a time where we are second guessing ourselves and everything we believe to be effective in our classrooms, and as much as I’m aware how much has changed, the basics of how the human brain learns, and how it does that best in a safe and welcoming environment surrounded by people they’ve emotionally connected with is still the same. So I hope these four steps help you confidently step back into the role as the number one influence on student learning in your classroom and help you prioritize exactly what is important about what you do.
Let’s get to it.
SUSTAINABLE TEACHER SHOW NOTES: https://www.teachonamission.com/blog/four-step-reflection-process-for-every-teacher
SUSTAINABLE TEACHER FB COMMUNITY: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sustainableteacher
FLIPPED CLASSROOM WEBINAR: https://www.teachonamission.com/flippingwebinar