Don’t Get Stuck! Be Your Own Persistent Motivator!

As my son and I were walking home the other day, he pulled me in the direction of another street – one we hadn’t walked for a long time, “This way is shorter Mommy,” he said. “Let’s go.”

It occured to me that we are always looking for the way to reach the best results in the fastest way possible. Even kids seem to learn from our modeling early on .

My son may have seen this street as “the shorter way,” but in fact, it was the most picturesque with its budding gardens and quiet alleys away from the main street traffic.

It took a long time for my head to quiet down from my busy day. I kept going back to the parts of my day that made me feel stuck – the actions I was actually doing to help move my writing and teaching goals forward every day.

And then I thought, “If only I could take the faster route home!” out of habit. I was focusing on results and outcomes, not process!

Even though it was just an ordinary walk home, that opportunity could have offered “a different approach” as a “way in” had I allowed myself that gift.

Most of the time, we don’t give thought to how we do things – we just end up doing them in the fastest and easiest way possible. But in doing so, we compromise on other opportunities or other ways of seeing and doing.

I had become so used to taking the “same path home” and that even when I was “stuck” with snag moments as a writer, teacher and mom, I still ended up taking the “same path home.”

The fast lane syndrome will always give you the same results – fast and predictable because you’re thinking too fast and far ahead – a 100% recipe for feeling stuck. You’re caught up in the moment and for all professionals, caregivers/parents who want to keep their fresh and creative juices flowing, this is the hardest challenge of staying productive AND creative.

Here’s a little tip – Try identifying with the situation without expecting or even attaching an outcome or desired result. Just go with the moment and allow yourself to realize that you have all that you need to succeed and there’s no need to be dependent on results. Results come when we are at peace with our own motivations. When we do this consistently, we increase our chances of not running down that “stuck” road again because we’ve upleveled our way of thinking into something more positive!

For example, if you are faced with a chatty group of students who are making you nervous as they challenge your authority, say (or think) to yourself, “this is just another way to challenge my authority as a new teacher.” Stop, recalculate your steps, take a breather, and ask your students to reflect on a few questions that can perhaps pull them out of the moment. Or maybe offer a brainstorm activity where everyone can participate on his/her own level around a concept that has been causing them problems.

If you’re a writer and mom (not easy to balance!) who is tired writing about the same topics, look at your own experiences – what struggles and problems are you experiencing right now? Chances are, these are problems that other writer moms are facing as well and want to hear more about.

If you’re a business coach wondering how you will help get your clients create business strategies consistent with their goals, do a pre-assessment of their needs. Better yet, ask them what areas they would like to see consistent and steady growth and what steps you can take to help them meet their quarterly, monthly or annual goals.

Since you’re a motivator, you know that anything important requires consistent and persistent steps – the best way to avoid getting stuck!

So… try it!

5 Ways for Teachers to Start Collaborating More Effectively and Raise Students’ Achievement

"If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples, then you and I will still each have one apple...but if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas."

Historically, teaching has always been an isolated profession, and the worse thing for a new or veteran teacher's professional development is to work in isolation.

More and more teachers are slowly realizing that if they don't jump on the bandwagon of collaboration, they will get the same results they have always gotten. Frankly, I can't see how anyone cannot afford to collaborate when teachers are expected to do and perform more than ever before.

Remember Collaborative Practice for Equity

When we view teaching our own kids, we are in "survival" mode. When we start to view the kids we teach as "our" kids, then we are in "thrival mode." This differentiates the teacher who just wants to get through the day and the one with a vision. When we allow ourselves to enter a mindset of teaching as "my kids are your kids, are our kids," we are doing the kids we teach a HUGE favor. My success is also another teacher's success and thus, the school's success. Do you see where I am heading? [See also BIGGER picture below]

So before I leave you with some tips and tricks, I'd like to share with you a story.

Ten years ago, I had a dream to "thrive" at a Regional High School in the North of Israel. I was in my fourth year of teaching (I guess you could say I was a "new teacher") and I wasn't just in it to "survive." So I planned my intention to succeed with a very challenging but bright 11th grade EFL (English as a foreign language) classroom and for some reason, many native Israeli born teachers didn't think I could succeed with this particular class. I never felt more isolated in my life!

At the time, the Ministry of Education implemented a literature and oral research project that my 11th grade students would need to complete. I designed a unit on endangered animals where students would need to gather research and create a powerpoint in small groups.

I was immediately taken to the wonderful possibility of incorporating English language teaching and technology for purposes of motivating them. As I acquired more and more experience learning the tools of the trade with this challenging class, there was a voice in me that didn't just want to prove all those teachers wrong, but to help get them on board with technology. Many were deep in "complaining mode" about how unmotivated many of their students were.

I saw collaboration as my ticket in.

It would be the perfect time to create a collaborative that would involve teachers from other subjects to jointly plan instruction and assessment together. Fortunately, the principal supported me, but nobody seemed the slight bit interested. Finally, I found a genuinely open teacher who was not only progressive in her thinking, but had already lit a flame with alternative assessment with the teachers in her group, and our forces came together right where they needed to be.

So on that note, what can you do to collaborate more effectively even when the teaching conditions are sour and there seems to be no way out.

Start UPLEVELING Your Teaching with these five Tips:

Collaborative Planning: What to Do and How to Do It?

1. Always recognize the BIG picture. As teachers, we need to SEE The BIG picture of this new "wave" of collaboration with both a "feeling" and "thinking" mindset. If you are having trouble trying to SEE the bigger picture, think of successful collaborative relationships you have had in your life - both personal and professional. What made these relationships successful?

2. Start Small.

The biggest question facing all teachers is TIME. If you have a planning hour or even just 15 minutes to collaborate, that is a good beginning.

In this schedule, work with bite size information, but choose your priorities wisely. The first obvious place is to look at the gaps between your teaching and your students' achievement.

Maybe you need to discuss with an ESL teacher more strategies on how to differentiate instruction or teach vocabulary more effectively? Then co-developing instructional material may be the first start.

3. Begin a simple dialogue among teachers.

A simple dialogue could be: "Do you teach student x?"
"How do you find him/her learning (such and such)?"
Keep the dialogue small and on target with your agenda.

This dialogue could go virtually (via email) or face to face. I've had teachers tell me that an email dialogue is difficult to maintain without dedication and persistence. This is true, yet it could very well be a supplement to what happens at school.

Don't be afraid to share your professional and personal successes. This is also an "door" to establishing a dialogue. That same teacher might have been struggling with a similar teaching/instructional issue and you just might have given that teacher a "way in."

4. Choose one teacher with whom you could collaborate and co-teach.

When I first started teaching EFL at an elementary school, I was the only English teacher. I had to go out of my comfort zone and find a mentor who also helped me plan curriculum and activities for our school's English Day back then.

Had I not took a step out of my comfort zone, I would have stayed isolated. The key for you is to create more opportunities to interact professionally, not only to interact socially. Venting about a bad lesson is human (and important), but it will not lead you to create more valuable partnerships. When teachers have more opportunity to interact professionally, they build partnerships which will help "extend" your career in the best possible way, without experiencing burnout due to isolation.

Once you find that "someone" and (use your best judgment and intuition here), create opportunities to co-teach. Co-teaching will relieve you of some of the pressures and you'll share responsibility for planning, delivering and evaluating instruction for a group of students, some of whom have exceptional needs. From experience, I've found that when two minds "think" alike, they usually want to plan, teach and assess alike, too.

5. Think outside the box.

Collaboration is one of those areas that can be time consuming and arduous due to mainly time constraints. Also, many schools don't have guidelines on how to collaborate, making it increasingly difficult for teachers to just start collaborating.

Depending on where you are though on the collaborative journey, you'll want to come up with interesting and creative ways to collaborate. After all, you're collaborating for the sake of your students' academic success!

Collaboration, like anything worthwhile, is an investment and can make all the difference between an isolated and supported teacher. There's nothing like a collaborative plan to help get you started. Start small with these tips, and you'll see big differences in the long run.

Try it!

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