During an #rscon10 session last week led by @AngelaMaiers, Angela challenged us to “stand up in front of kids not as a master teacher, but as a master learner.”   What a powerful statement.  I immediately tweeted that out as did others.

This statement alone is very powerful and it’s an important one for us teachers to reflect upon.  It helps me to remember that my job as a teacher is more than just teaching, it is leading and coaching and modeling.  In this day and age, it’s not just about how smart you are.  It’s not just about memorizing facts and figures.  (We have immediate access to that.)  It’s much more about what you do with knowledge and how you shape your opportunities to further yourself.  You need to be a constant learner!

When I look at my own teaching, I always seem to think that I never do enough modeling.   Modeling how to think through problems, how to attack unknown words, how to plan a piece of writing.  But it’s more than that, it’s leading by example.  What does your work area look like?  Do you read while your students have sustained silent reading time?  Do you persevere when things get tough or get frustrated?  Do you show curiosity and creativity throughout the day?

Our students pick up on everything we do and it seems we can teach them a much more rich curriculum if we do so by exemplifying what it means to be a masterful learner.

Click one of the tags from this post to find related posts.

The title says it all here.  The question then becomes, “How do you make teachers happy?”

Happy Teachers are Driven Teachers

I would like to take some time to refer to Daniel Pink, a motivational speaker in the business world.  He is an author, consultant and speaker who speaks mostly of business related issues, but his message rings true for education!

Pink’s latest book, Drive, is on my summer reading list, so I haven’t had the opportunity to read it yet, but he has spoken about the topic quite often: What DRIVES people?  What motivates them to work?  Here is a video of his speech centering around motivation:

Autonomy

The one factor that leads to motivation that really sticks out for me is autonomy: the ability to be self-governing, to have independence and the ability to make your own decisions.  This is something that many teachers lack and could possibly be the number one reason why we teachers might be unhappy with our jobs.  If we have no control over what goes on in our classrooms, what is truly driving us?

Beth Cavalier, a teacher on my team in Amesbury and guest blogger in April, wrote about the ways in which she feels freedom in her job as a classroom teacher.  This is analogous to autonomy.  When you understand your structure, but can see the freedom you have, your position in your job can be seen as autonomous.  To get a taste of what this might mean, please read Beth’s post on Freedom in Curriculum Development.

Happy Teachers are Provided For

In the May/June issue of Instructor Magazine, there was a short sidebar titled “Give Teachers What They Need”.  Along with higher pay, a stocked supply closet and school safety, were some key variables that keep coming up in the blog series this month:

• Face time with grown-ups – We need to be able to work with one another, collaborate, and discuss issues.
  
• Professional development that doesn’t put us to sleep – All too often the PD in schools is not effective, dare I say boring.  I hear it all the time from teachers all over the continent!  Happy teachers come out of collegial sharing through PLCs and PLNs
  
• A friendly teachers’ lounge - Who doesn’t want to share their 20-30 minute lunch with people they like and enjoy!  When we can casually connect with our work buddies, our days are much more enjoyable overall.
  

It’s safe to say that teachers yearn to be working in a collegial environment where they are valued as talented, hard-working professionals.  (Who wouldn’t?)

The Final Link
So – the final link is this – When a teacher is happy, due to the pleasant and empowering work environment he or she works in, then naturally the students will see this, feel this and be invigorated by this.

The problem is that this is not happening as often as it should.  Too often we hear of teachers who are stressed out because of a lack of support, a dwindling budget, pressure from NCLB, and a myriad of other factors.  Just the other day, I read a tweet from someone who was questioning his decision to be a teacher.  We really need to think about this!  We need to help ourselves be happy in what we do, remind us why we teach in the first place.

Happy teachers are more effective in their day to day tasks.  Happy teachers smile more.  Happy teachers are more driven to do well.  Happy teachers are what we want in our schools and what we want to be!

Are you a Happy Teacher?  Please join the conversation and post your comment to this article!

Seventh Assignment:

SMILE!  (Even if it hurts!)

Extra credit – find a colleague, share a story and smile together!

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We have all heard this…

The what is in the standards … the how is up to you

This is why I do what I do every day. I love the freedom in taking the standards I need to cover and making them my own, developing lessons and units that meet the needs of my students and allow me to make connections to past and future learning.

Discovering ways to help my students master the essential understandings is, for me, the most exciting part of teaching. Of course realizing that my best laid plans aren’t doing the trick is the most frustrating aspect of teaching. But, out of that frustration comes the opportunity to refine my craft. My favorite way to reexamine my efforts is to plan, brainstorm and teach with my colleagues. I love to tag team the students because two or three brains are better than one!!!

I am fortunate to work in a district where I feel that I have the freedom to take our programs, old and new, and make them work for my classroom. While keeping the spirit and integrity of the program intact, I can work with my colleagues to tailor our lessons to our kids. The results can be a custom fit worthy of Project Runway glory! And, if the look isn’t quite right, instead of hearing, Auf Wiedersehen, we can “make it work” with a new design. Ok, enough with the fashion analogies and I apologize if you’re not a Heidi Klum fan. (I wonder if I could make a connection to Real Housewives of New Jersey and Freedom in Structure? Yes, I am watching Bravo while I’m writing this)

This year we implemented the Better Answers protocol. Like most programs, you can use the book as is, but for me, using the book and its protocol to design my own PowerPoint presentations, writing activities, and mini lessons, helps me dissect and digest the information so I can get “it” and pass “it” on the best way I see how. This means using the language in the book and making the connections for my students, connections I know will help them best use their new strategies and skills. Again, I am so lucky to have a colleague who is on the same page and together, we really worked hard this year to make Better Answers work for our students. And luckily, I have several other colleagues that really share my passion for teaching and the desire to make it work (oops, there I go again) for our students. After all, freedom’s no fun if you’re in it alone.

Finally, as a New Hampshire native, I can’t help but say, Teach Free and Thrive

I know it’s corny, but I couldn’t resist

Related posts:

1. Free Thinking
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Be a part of the decision making, planning and development process.

That is the best way to feel free within the ever growing structure of local, state and even national curricula. I rarely feel constrained by my district’s curriculum. Mainly because we have so much to do that I don’t have time or energy to explore topics outside my grade level standards, but also because I belong to or have belonged to a variety of curriculum driven teams in the district. This has a given me a chance to talk to colleagues across grade levelsand not get lost in my own classroom or grade. These teams allow me to break out and see and hear what’s going on in different schools and classrooms in the district, the state and at a few national conferences I’ve attended, around the country. This perspective allows me to see that I am a piece of the educational puzzle for my students.

Instead of thinking, “Oh great, I have to teach immigration instead of Colonial America, which I find much more interesting and I have all those books I bought at that great sale and Borders, plus my Betsy Ross costume from third grade, not to mention my Kidz Bop The Best Colonial America Songs Sing Along CD …and then there’s my…..” I see the long term plan, K-12, for the students in my classroom. Without my piece, their puzzle is incomplete.

Since it’s impossible to teach everything a well-rounded high school graduate needs to know in one year, let alone just the topics that are of personal interest to me, there is comfort in seeing the continuum of education K-12. I see our curriculum documents as education insurance. They make sure that we don’t miss anything and that our students are covered.

Regardless of classroom or teacher, each student is guaranteed exposure to the learning he or she needs to progress. Our curriculum maps serve as guides as we navigate through the years. They allow me to make connections to past and future learning. For me, that structure is extremely freeing.

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1. Integrating Music into Your Core Curriculum (K-6)
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3. Freedom in Classroom Routines