Staying up all night to plan, prepare and organize? Laminating EVERY resource so that your hard work stands heavy handling? Carefully planning how to decorate your own classroom? If you’re answering ‘yes’, you must be a teacher and perhaps a teacher that has just secured their first teaching position!
NEW TO TEACHING
Firstly, if you’re a new teacher, CONGRATULATIONS! Secondly, remember you don’t have to do this alone! You should NOT do this alone!
The truth is that everyone needs to be supported, especially teachers! Why? Teachers hold the almighty responsibility of educating today’s children which isn’t simply teaching academics, but more importantly developing children’s social and emotional skills. In some cases, teachers can be a child’s safest person to turn to and someone who often takes care of a child’s basic needs.
With the ever-growing list of teacher responsibilities and the challenges that they face, is it any wonder that 37% of teachers plan to leave the profession? (The Alberta Teachers' Association, 2021) From new teachers to veteran teachers, every teacher matters and every teacher needs to be supported!
During my teaching career, I’ve found five actions that help me to teach at my best...
HOW TO BE A BETTER TEACHER
1. Know your worth
Remember that you’ve studied, practised and certified to be a teacher, and you still continually learn about education. There will be times when you question your capabilities but then you will know how to find a solution. Always remember how valuable you are to your students and their families.
2. Build connections
Creating and maintaining strong, healthy relationships is fundamental to the mindset, growth and connections of your students and colleagues. Take the time to discover students’ interests, ideas, successes, hopes and dreams, in order to cultivate a respectful, trusting and fun environment.
3. Stay organized
Keep your classroom organized to encourage your students to be independent learners as well as themselves being organized too! Keep yourself accountable through weekly and daily lists to ensure that you stay on track and adhere to deadlines.
4. Seek support
Reach out to your school community by connecting to peer colleagues, students’ previous teachers, educational assistants, support staff and any adults in your school who have a connection with your student(s) to find out which strategies/tools were most effective when supporting your students.
Know how and where to find the best support to meet your professional goals. Find professional development opportunities that are specific for your teaching needs. TruTeach provides personalized coaching packages to support elementary teachers with proven strategies and techniques to strengthen teaching, learning and connecting.
It takes a village!
5. Maintain vitality in your life
Always make time for you, your family and your friends! Commit to doing at least one thing a day for yourself! Whether it’s exercise, reading or meeting up with a friend, it’s important to look after your well-being so that you can be the best version of yourself, for you and everyone around you.
Remember, that being a teacher is your job and you are a person, a son/daughter, a friend, you maybe a partner, a mommy/daddy, perhaps a brother/sister as well as being a teacher!
Some of these actions come easily to me, and others I continually have to practise and set my own personal goals to reach. This is particularly true for maintaining vitality in my life as I often put the needs of everyone else before my own. I find that when I spend 30-60 minutes a day doing something that I enjoy, typically exercising, I have more energy to put into being a better human, mommy, wife, teacher, business owner and more.
You’re in charge of your own health and happiness and you can make positive changes to impact your life. For support in creating and maintaining your personal work-life balance, connect with TruTeach today by completing our contact form or phoning 1-587-625-8510 !
It’s FREE for teachers to access!
References
The Alberta Teachers' Association. (2021) Reporting on the fourth acute wave of COVID-19 in Alberta K-12 schools (Fall 2021). Available at https://legacy.teachers.ab.ca/SiteCollectionDocuments/ATA/News%20and%20Info/Issues/COVID-19/Reporting-on-the-Fourth-Acute-Wave-of-COVID19-in-Alberta-Schools-Fall-2021.pdf [Accessed 7th October 2022].
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