....AND it's back to school time!
If the summer seemed like just a long weekend to you, ease back into it with these fun ideas for back-to-school from the Boston Globe online.
(My favorite is the hidden-pencil-holding notebook)
Friday, August 30, 2013
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
And Now For Something Completely Different
For those of you whose first (or second or third or fourth) year positions were not the right fit, this post 's for you!
It is a sign of professionalism that you can acknowledge the square-peg-in-a-round-hole feeling, and get out. It takes guts. This economy is no joke and most teachers are ambitious, dedicated folk. We don't like to quit. We don't like to even be bad at anything. (And we certainly don't like to be, um, fired.) We are used to success! So I get how scary it is to chalk a tough year up to a bad relationship and move on. Here are some tips on how to get over a bad break-up and get back in the game! There's plenty of fish in the sea!
DO NOT: Wallow. The first step is to ditch the 'failure' feeling. You cannot change the past so there is no use jumping off the memory wagon and rolling around in muddy self-pity.
DO: Reflect. Try to identify a few reasons why this year did not go as well as you would have liked. What would you do differently the next time around? Because there will be a next time.
DO NOT: Slander. If your pride is wounded the last thing you should do is go hog-wild posting negative comments on social media about your former district, your colleagues, the superintendent, the parents, whatever you deem the culprit of your demise.
DO: Confide. Speak with a trusted colleague - someone in the industry - and discuss your grievances. Alcohol may be useful for this purpose.
DO NOT: Quit. Maybe this last year wasn't your best. It can only go up from here! Resist the urge to enroll in community college and become an accountant or a nurse.
DO: Apply. Get back in the saddle* and go on interviews with the knowledge that you are one year wiser, one year stronger, one year better than you were before.
I was chatting with a veteran teacher about a particularly bad year that left me feeling shaken. Part of me really wanted to stay in the district and right my wrongs, clear things up, and come out on top.
"Don't be ridiculous. That would be like teaching a pig to sing. You'll work yourself to death with no results and you'll only annoy the pig."
So here goes. New district, new school, new students. New you.
*I was really feeling the western rodeo vibe in this post, apparently
It is a sign of professionalism that you can acknowledge the square-peg-in-a-round-hole feeling, and get out. It takes guts. This economy is no joke and most teachers are ambitious, dedicated folk. We don't like to quit. We don't like to even be bad at anything. (And we certainly don't like to be, um, fired.) We are used to success! So I get how scary it is to chalk a tough year up to a bad relationship and move on. Here are some tips on how to get over a bad break-up and get back in the game! There's plenty of fish in the sea!
DO NOT: Wallow. The first step is to ditch the 'failure' feeling. You cannot change the past so there is no use jumping off the memory wagon and rolling around in muddy self-pity.
DO: Reflect. Try to identify a few reasons why this year did not go as well as you would have liked. What would you do differently the next time around? Because there will be a next time.
DO NOT: Slander. If your pride is wounded the last thing you should do is go hog-wild posting negative comments on social media about your former district, your colleagues, the superintendent, the parents, whatever you deem the culprit of your demise.
DO: Confide. Speak with a trusted colleague - someone in the industry - and discuss your grievances. Alcohol may be useful for this purpose.
DO NOT: Quit. Maybe this last year wasn't your best. It can only go up from here! Resist the urge to enroll in community college and become an accountant or a nurse.
DO: Apply. Get back in the saddle* and go on interviews with the knowledge that you are one year wiser, one year stronger, one year better than you were before.
I was chatting with a veteran teacher about a particularly bad year that left me feeling shaken. Part of me really wanted to stay in the district and right my wrongs, clear things up, and come out on top.
"Don't be ridiculous. That would be like teaching a pig to sing. You'll work yourself to death with no results and you'll only annoy the pig."
So here goes. New district, new school, new students. New you.
*I was really feeling the western rodeo vibe in this post, apparently
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