Why six? I guess because six is a good number, and it’s certainly more realistic than 11.
1) Learn to Love Learning… Again
This applies to you veterans out there. If you’ve been teaching for more than five years, it can be a personal battle to maintain your enthusiasm and to remember why you decided to teach in the first place. The love of learning has to be sustained and fed. Take time to focus on the “wins” in the classroom and put everything else in the Do Not Disturb pile in the corner.
2) Learn Something New Everyday
At Reading Horizons we have started a “high-‘productivity” activity that consists of 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes at the end of the work day. The idea is to take the first 15 minutes of each day to read industry news and trends – basically a mini professional development moment. At the end of the day we take time to organize and prioritize what needs to happen the following morning. It’s genius. Try it yourself.
3) Ask for Help
Every class has great (and not so great) parents, volunteers, and students. Ask the ‘great ones’ for help. Keep in mind that asking for help actually takes a little planning and work, but once your advocates are on board, you can focus on more important things. In business, those important things are called the “highest use” of your time.
4) Embrace Technology
Certainly technology doesn’t replace effective teaching. However, there can be no doubt that students are digital natives and we might be the foreigners in their land. Since students cut their teeth on technology, they are completely open and eager to learn in that mode. If you feel a little out of sorts with technology in the classroom, start by reading a great blog written by another educator, Kathy Schrock.
5) Be Good to Yourself
Have some fun already! Not everything has to be about work, or the students, or heaven forbid, a teaching moment for your own children. Play games; read a good book; reconnect with an old friend.
6) Don’t Accept Mediocrity
Doing more with less. Today’s environment could beat a weaker person down. But do we really need to resort to mediocrity to survive? I mean who really wants to sign up for the role of “a person lacking in exceptional quality and ability?” One of the constant roadblocks of mediocrity that we hear, is that teachers and administrators think that Reading Specialist should be the primary source for actually teaching students to read. We respectfully disagree. Reading is so fundamental and foundational to just about everything else that young children learn at school – it is too important to relegate this responsibility solely to the specialist who is already stretched thin. We believe that EVERY teacher should be a reading specialist. Here’s the news flash: it’s not hard to do. We offer a free workshop so that you can learn for yourself how empowering intensive phonics can be.
That's it! Six RE-solutions for positive change - Let's make it a great 2011!