Professional Learning for Busy Educators

When Thanksgiving break rolled around last month, teachers all over the country breathed a collective sigh of relief. This school year hasn’t exactly been a cakewalk, and, like most teachers, I was delighted to finally be getting a few days off and some quality time with my children. I was looking forward to big meals, cozy nights at home with my family, and lots of love, laughter, and relaxation.

Unfortunately, I know that this kind of fun and fulfilling break is not a reality for many of my students. And a couple of days into the break I couldn’t resist texting my co-teacher to chat about the same worries that plague us day in and day out.

“Do you think Jake’s parents are leaving him at home alone all day?”

“Mia complained of an earache Friday. I hope her grandmother will take her to the doctor if it gets worse.”

“Did Kira say she was going to her dad’s over Thanksgiving? She’s always so emotional after she visits him, and she’s allergic to his dog.”

It takes a village to raise a child. Parents and teachers should be a team – in total harmony in their shared goal of helping children develop in both learning and life. You should always back the teacher in front of your child. That used to be common sense. Unfortunately, it no longer is. There needs to be a united front where the teacher and parent are seen to be working together, but when I made this simple point on social media this week, I received a blast of online criticism.

I am by habit a bibliophile. I read at least 25 pages of a book per day which usually turns in to 40-60 books per year. I’ve written a few books myself, and plan to write more.

But this list is not about me, it’s really about us as an education community. What are we reading? Are we slowly shifting to reading only blogs and short pieces online? I love blogs (case in point of what you are currently reading) but there is something special about the thought, effort, and depth of a book. I hope that we can continue to read books that push our thinking, and share them widely.

This list is a start.
If you are wondering what book to read next, this may or may not help you decide! I’m going to leave the comments open for book recommendations with a short synopsis, and rationale. This list will not be limited by number, and at this point in time is only limited by the number of books I’ve read (and would recommend), so any recommendations are appreciated!

For teachers coping with adverse childhood experiences or other traumas, common classroom situations can trigger strong reactions.

You don’t have to reserve phone calls to parents or guardians for bad news. Try these tips to deepen communication with families.

Shelby Winder is a special education teacher at Grand Oaks High School in Texas, and for her first year teaching a Life Skills class – which is specifically for students with significant cognitive impairment and adaptive disabilities – she came up with an out-of-the-box idea that is impressing her colleagues and parents alike.

"Shelby came up with the brilliant idea of wanting to empower her students this year in some way that was meaningful and would outlast their time with her in the classroom," her colleague, Chris Field, wrote in a Facebook post. "So she started buying all of the things they would need to start a traveling coffee cart."

The cart allows her students to walk around to each of the staff members in the school, take their orders, and then deliver their coffee to them on Fridays.

"The teacher who changed my life didn’t get a bottle of Riesling or a gift card from the neighbourhood coffee franchise. I don’t believe my mother even sent a thank-you card. Such tokens of gratitude weren’t standard in the mid-1980s.

I thought of Mr. Doyle (like all my teachers, he had no known first name) as I joined a crowd of frazzled mothers in the greeting-card aisle at the drug store the night before the last day of school. He was my Grade 6 teacher. My school experience in rural Nova Scotia until that point had been dispiriting.

One of my first report cards noted I would be a better student if I spent as much time on my studies as I did toying with my hair and chatting with my classmates. This advice still applies..."

Building relationships with students isn’t always simple, but it’s crucial to the well-being and academic growth of all students.

Part of the reason it’s not, in fact, ’simple’ is because every student is different and there are few universal rules for engaging students. In the same way connecting with colleagues and people in your personal life can be complicated because of different contexts, interests, personalities, and communication patterns, connecting and building relationships with students in the classroom can be equally challenging.

And a distinction should be made here between building a ‘working relationship’ and authentic relationship with students. Because of your position of authority in the classroom, a ‘working relationship’ with a students is a matter of ‘classroom management’ in pursuit of ‘student engagement.’ This approach can be efficient, but the clinical tone leaves a lot on the table for the growth of students.

If you are able to authenticate that ‘working relationship’ with genuine interest and personalization, more human and affectionate terms for that relationship can grow, resulting in the often-elusive ‘student engagement’ while also making your job—and life—easier, and your classroom a more enjoyable place for everyone to be.

As a whole, teachers aren’t great about taking care of themselves. You work too many hours, don’t get enough sleep or exercise, eat too many unhealthy foods, and don’t spend enough time doing things that refresh and energize you.

Too many teachers have reached the conclusion that this lifestyle is just part of the job; there simply isn’t enough time to be a good teacher and take care of yourself. Self-care is something you’ll get to over breaks or in the summer, right?

Unfortunately, this is kind of a recipe for disaster. Teaching is consistently recognized as an incredibly high-stress career, which is only compounded by the fact that many of you are not doing things that would help you manage that stress.

Would shifting our conversations from self-care to personal wellness bridge that gap and encompass more of the intended concept of putting the oxygen mask on ourselves first? Rather than adding self-care to our daily or weekly to-do list, what if we focus on listening to our hearts, our bodies, and our spirits more carefully and then acting upon that information? Taking care of ourselves in the midst of our daily grind could help us take better care of ourselves as well as those around us.

Feeling stressed? Just eight techniques — a "buffet of life skills" — can make a significant improvement in well-being, say scientists who taught the techniques to caregivers of people with dementia. After learning techniques such as how to keep a gratitude journal, for example, and how to quickly reframe negative experiences in a positive light — these family caregivers reported impressive decreases in both stress and anxiety.

"No matter your position in education, you have gone through some form of professional development. In many cases, the act of being “developed” comes in a variety of standard types such as workshops, mandated PD days, presentations, conferences, book studies, or keynotes. Many of these are often the one and done variety or conducted in a drive-by manner. Now, don’t get me wrong; some educators find value in the experiences I have outlined above and have gone on to change their respective practice for the better. However, I would say an equal amount have found little to no benefit. The bottom line is that all educators yearn for quality professional learning as opposed to development that leads to sustained improvements in teaching, learning, and leadership. The image below from Katie Martin sums up nicely what educators want out of professional learning. "

What a teacher needs depends on the teacher.

Emerging learning trends, data management resources, literacy strategies, digital tools, exemplar curriculum models, increased or decreased autonomy, classroom management tips–this is a list that could get long fast.

But sometimes it can be those less visible characteristics that can determine a teacher’s long-term success. Below I’ve listed 10 ‘things’ every teacher needs to ‘survive’ in the classroom. Some of these are abstract, like mindset, while others are skills like organization and time management. I just tried to brainstorm a variety of factors that can contribute to teachers ‘making it.’

I am by habit a bibliophile. I read at least 25 pages of a book per day which usually turns in to 40-60 books per year. I've written a few books myself, and plan to

Why did you go into teaching? Most of us came into it because we had a vision of how we thought education should be. We loved children, believed that we could affect change, had an enthusiasm for our subject, and we wanted to make a difference. Sadly, many of us have lost sight of that vision.

Consider this: On a scale of 1-10, how stressful is your job? Too often, we do not listen to our bodies, ending up with distress, which manifests physically as pain, muscle tension, injury or disease; emotionally with symptoms of jealousy, insecurity, feelings of inferiority, inability to concentrate, poor decision making, mental disorientation, depression, anxiety and so on.

In this article, I’m going to outline five steps to create delicious habits that will make you positively flourish at work!

In news that will surprise no teachers, a new study has found that 93 percent of elementary school teachers experience high levels of stress. But schools can mitigate the harmful effects of stress by providing proper supports, highlighting the importance of a holistic approach to teacher well-being.

In the study, researchers from the University of Missouri surveyed 121 elementary school teachers, asking questions such as, “How stressful is your job?” and “How well are you coping with the stress of your job right now?” Teachers reported on their levels of burnout and cynicism and on feelings of accomplishment and self-efficacy—their belief in their ability to be effective teachers.

Teaching is exhausting. There’s the sense of presence you need, the constant energy you bring, the give and take between students, the conflicts you have to navigate, the sense of pressure about the tests and the tension between what you believe about learning and what the system requires of you.

This is especially true for introverted teachers like me. We work in a profession with constant communication and collaboration. It’s beautiful, yes, but it’s also disorienting to introverts. You can hit a place where you feel lost. And, even if you love teaching, it can feel draining.

I cannot count the number of times I’ve heard a colleague advise a student to do what makes them happy. Yet I wonder often how many teachers are happy in their jobs. In a 2012 survey, job satisfaction was at a 25-year low, teacher turnover is alarmingly high and costly, and morale is constantly under assault by social and political commentary. But who needs statistics? Just look around during a staff meeting to see the weight educators carry.

In an effort to counter these patterns, stakeholders need to build systems of support for each other. It’s even better when those support systems are grassroots efforts instead of mandated. One way I’ve done this for the past several years is through what I call the Hump Day Bump, a compilation of staff-to-staff notes of gratitude and compliments (bumps) emailed to staff each Wednesday.

So what’s the secret? The MAGIC answer? The COOL tech tool that will automatically give my classroom the fun, joy, and happiness that can grow thriving students? Quite simply, it’s you, me, the teacher.  Find the joy in yourself, in your work, your students, then find as many ways as you can to share it. All of the ways I do it work for me, but may not work for you. Actually, they work because I have refined my strategies with each year I teach (going on year 22). There are failures. Learn from them. Every teacher must find the joy they have for what they do and share it. Here are my tips:

Educators never get a break. Oftentimes they see their students in their community, grade papers and plan lessons, and become emotionally invested in the lives of each of their students — all outside of classroom hours. Children of teachers can sometimes feel they rank below their parents’ other “kids” at times. To avoid burnout and keep yourself happy at work and at home, remind yourself that teachers can have a work-life balance and follow these tips for creating it.