Observe Patterns to Save Time and multiply Prodcutivity!

 

I have written many articles on Time Management for the teachers earlier than this one. This is an important factor which reduces stress in your life. I like to write on this topic because more often I have seen that teachers do not see beyond teaching or finishing curriculum in the classroom. Vision is an important part in any profession. If you just enter a profession without any vision for the future your progress is slow.

 

I entered the profession without a vision but my goal was set on day two of my job. My mind had registered the fact that I wanted to see myself working as a principal of a school one day.

I admit…

I never took steps immediately to proceed towards my goal. For years I was just content and satisfied working as a teacher. It was much later that I pushed myself to achieve the goal which I had set for myself.

Anyway… I want to talk about Time Management and I will stick to it.

 

Nature has a pattern. All living things function according to a set pattern. We all know about tides and rotation and revolution of the earth. These are set patterns of Nature. There is no stress in Nature because the pattern is almost set.

Similarly, every school and the education system in the country has a few basic set patterns. If a teacher observes the pattern and keeps a note about it, she will be able to complete her work well before time and there will be no cause for stress.

In this article I will only speak about the basic functioning of the school which cannot be ruled out ever. Pay attention to the points mentioned here to get rid of all your time management and anxiety related issues.

It is commonly said that take care of your pennies and the pounds will multiply on their own. If you take care of these daily or monthly or yearly patterns which occur in a school, you will surely focus on bigger goals and progress in your career.

1 Foresee and foretell: As a teacher you must know about what is going to come next in the routine or as a task.

Just a brief example-Every school has a set assessment pattern. The examination department generally asks for question papers and other requirements a few days in advance. This time period is also previously fixed.

As a teacher if you have foreseen the dates then you must also start preparing the question paper a bit in advance. If you do this, you will not be pressurised when the dates are announced for the submission of the question paper.

Similarly, a class test pattern is set, the tentative time period of the annual functions is fixed, parent Teacher Meet is pre decided, celebrations or certain inter school activities are pre-determined, etc.

There are many such other events and activities which are planned at the beginning of the year and then implemented when the time comes. You can gain advantage if you foresee and then foretell about these happenings and keep your own submissions ready beforehand.

 

Most teachers know about these dates but the only thing I have heard from them is-Oh no..they are asking for it again.

OR

There is a lot of time in hand now. I will do it later. (This ‘later’ becomes the killer weapon for action and you just procrastinate to avoid the task.)

2 Mind your minutes to mind the hours:

There are some tasks which are to be done every day. They seem insignificant in nature because they take very less time and are due every day the minute you reach school. Like: Marking attendance for yourself, marking the attendance for the students, submitting the daily attendance report or the daily log, writing date and attendance on the class board, etc.

Even planning a leave and setting aside some assignment to be done while you are on leave. This is a routine process but most teachers pretend they have overlooked it.

Teachers do not understand why these tasks are important and so often they are avoided. They try to overlook it or postpone it thinking that the leadership will forget it. But time and again it adds to negligence or carelessness on your part.

Teachers ask for forgiveness once then twice on such matters when questioned and reprimanded but they should understand that this should be a part of your discipline to complete these tasks without any reminders.

 

No work is small or mundane or insignificant. Work is work. It has to be done.

3 Workstation:

Define a space in the school or the staffroom which will be your workstation. That space is your space. Stick notes. Keep it neat and tidy. Give it a glimpse of your personality. Attach value to it.

At times a good and organised workstation pulls you to work.

4 Maintain folders or files

Organising your work place takes less time but it leaves a lot of time in your hand to do other things. All the papers and important documents should be kept in proper files or folders. Extra paper should be either given for recycling in the school or destroyed if not required.

Take note:

A Do not ever store any piece of extra paper.

B Do not keep any paper in the attendance registers or teacher’s diary.

Teachers receive a lot of applications from the students or test papers, etc. Never keep loose papers in books, note books, attendance registers, class log books, etc.

The correct place of a loose paper is in a file. Take a file from the office, punch the papers and file them. Write appropriate title on the file so that you are able to find the papers later on under proper heads.

 

5 Carry a pocket diary

While moving in the school, or while talking to the teachers, or while teaching in the classrooms, you remember some important tasks which were to be done. Make a habit of writing it down in your diary. You will completely stay focussed and get all the work done in time.

6 Talk to all the teachers in the staff room:

This one is a golden rule. Each teacher works at their own pace. But there are some very proactive teachers. They not only complete their work well in time but they are also the ones who are foreseeing and foretelling most of the time. Keep talking to everyone in the staffroom and do keep a track of what others are doing in the current time. If you have skipped an important point or two, you will be apprised well in time of the task coming up or is immediately due.

 

All this helps you to wrap up your work in a proper way. Hence you have a lot of time in hand to practice creativity or target your higher goals.

Why I advocate to teach Creative Writing?

 

 

Picture credit: https://www.coursera.org/learn/getting-started-with-essay-writing

I have confessed many times in the past and I do it again. I did not enter this profession by choice. It was a good and comfortable option at that time to choose from.

Why am I saying this again?

Well, I am a Convent Educated girl. Proud to have studied from St. Joseph’s Convent, Kingsway, Nagpur. My LSRW (Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing) skills were very good. But that was me and myself.

When it came to teaching the same to the students, I re-searched, re-learned and re-discovered everything entirely. Then I stepped into the domain of teaching creative writing to the students confidently.

Read my story of why I started advocating creative writing?

Imagination is a boon everyone in the world is endowed with. Thoughts run through our mind. They will never cease to exist. But we are not conscious when these thoughts move in our minds. Hence, we are not able to harness them into productive outputs. This has been proven scientifically.

A similar complex situation exists with the students. Since most of the students do not read, they hesitate to imagine. Then they struggle for words to give their thoughts a concrete structure. As a result, they hesitate to write.

When I started teaching, my co-teachers were Uma and Archana. They boasted of super imaginative powers which their students possessed.

What was the proof of the above statement?

Their students framed long, interesting, creative and grammatically correct sentences. PHEW… They really gave me a complex.

All Centre Pointers were supposed to take up ‘Frame Sentences’ very seriously when they were teaching languages. Each teacher took pride in showing off the wonderful sentences made by the students.  We were made to attend different and at least three or four workshops in a year which were targeted to teach ‘Frame sentences.’

Such was the craze to develop skills for Frame Sentences. When I started teaching, I was clueless about how to make children write good sentences. Out of frustration, one day I wrote a variety of sentences and told the children to copy it.

Well, Archana was too quick to catch my folly. Now what?

The only way to learn is to put in hard work. So, I started observing her classes to understand how she triggered imagination. While teaching she was …what? Dramatic, eloquent in speech, used simple vocabulary, added a unique twist to every child’s question, focussed only on students, gave them ample time to think and then to write, showered praise generously, etc.

Google had made an entry in my life at that time. I immediately took to Googling and finding out methods to teach imagination and improve my skills to teach creative writing. I discovered many new and exciting ways. I implemented it in my class and started getting good results. I was happy but not satisfied.

Because the next challenge came in. The students were supposed to write long paragraphs by this time. The demand was that the content should be creative, the language perfect and the spellings absolutely correct.

Oh My God!

Will it ever stop? No came the prompt answer. Once more I started Googling and came up with good solutions and saw the results.

There was a catch in the entire situation. And it was that we cross checked each other’s answer sheets. Hence the quality had to be high because the answer papers went through multiple rounds of checking. First by the teachers, then the coordinators and finally the Principal, Mrs Chatterjee.

Most of the skills that I picked up are actually copyright of Mrs Chatterjee. She took various workshops and taught us these skills and tactics of Creative Writing and a functional approach to teaching grammar. She had what... around ten thousand ideas to teach any given topic. She was super excited when anyone asked her for an idea to teach a lesson. Moreover when we went to her with our own idea she would praise us, encourage us and applaud in staff meetings of the wonderful creativity shown by us!

If I have the authority, I will declare her as the Creative Head for all the schools on this planet. Trust me I am serious. Her capacity for Creativity is beyond anyone’s imagination and reach.

Over time I have realised that it was a golden policy to teach Frame Sentences well to develop good writing skills among the children.

 

Anyways!

There are two sides of this coin!

One reason why I loved to teach creative writing was that it was a challenge each time to make the students write.

The other reason was, the revelations which the children made in their innocence. Most of the time the students’ mental condition is revealed while they write paragraphs or essays or make sentences. It helps us as educators to understand the problems or excitements faced or experienced by the students. This in turn strengthens the bond of teaching and learning.

I believe that no one can just teach. You have to understand the child and deliver your teaching as per his learning needs requirement.

I have won many prizes based on the case studies of children. Most of these case studies find their base in the creative writing pieces which they wrote in my classes. I took a clue from those scribblings and decided upon an approach for the child. It made me empathetic and I developed a good relationship with my students.

Years later, now in the present, very recently, I corrected a few creative writing pieces of students which opened my eyes to what their dreams and aspirations and thoughts were. It changed my perception of the students and the idea of this blog crept into my mind rather it popped into my mind.

There is this bunch of students who have given me sleepless nights because they were not passing the pre boards. Leave apart the pre boards they didn’t even clear the short tests which were planned for them.

I perceived them as aimless, clueless about their own future, not responsible at all, taking life carelessly, and on and on…

But when they wrote about their aims and ambitions in life, I was in for a set-back.

Student A wrote about why he wanted join the Indian Army. He sketched the entire picture of what happens in his house. How his father keeps motivating him to join the Indian Army and serve the nation. He was made to watch the Republic Day Parade to understand what proud moments are. His elder brother is also serving the Army and so he also keeps motivating him by telling him stories of war heroes and their bravery. He wrote passionately about how everyone talks, sleeps and walks through the regimes of the Indian Army. The training given to the soldiers and what pride actually means to them!

So he is clear in his objective- He wants join the Indian Army to serve the country.

Student B’s parents are Government employees. According to him starting a business needs a knack. It needs skills. Since no one has a background of starting a business in his family, he chose to study Commerce and learn the skills to become an entrepreneur. His parents supported his decision and are willing to help him out. So, he is focussed on becoming a businessman in future.

He has the future chalked out completely.

 

Student C remembers that his grandfather passed away due to heart failure because there was no medical facility available in his village. He described how his grandfather succumbed to pain in the ambulance which would have taken him to the hospital and if possible, life. Hence his aim of becoming a doctor and serving the people of his village is very clear.

 

When I read through these essays, my perception about these students changed entirely!

This generation is not out there to have fun. They are serious about their goals and what they want to achieve. They are driven by passion and are full of determination. The roads are chalked out and the maps are well marked for the destinations which are going to arrive during the journey.

 

They are willing to scale peak after peak and hoist the flag of their dreams which will sway in the winds of success!

 

Why you should read Bruce Lee Quotes?

 

Picture Credit: The above picture is taken from the below mentioned website. 

https://www.theringer.com/movies/2020/7/23/21334815/three-portraits-of-bruce-lee

In an age of internet, jpegs, pdfs, video files, etc. quotes have become very popular with everyone. These word-embedded pictures act as a motivational force for everyone. The teaching community, I feel has been greatly benefitted with these quotes because they motivate the students as well as the teachers.

 

Message in the form of words and quotes are a regular feature on WhatsApp and other social media platforms. An enigmatic picture and a few captivating words have attracted many teachers to find motivation and keep going on.

 

Being a language teacher myself, I feel attracted towards words. Poetry, to be specific but a good quote has always held me captive. I used to fill my diaries by writing quotes and then reading them every day. It was a regular habit since I was very young.

 

In those days I just copied words because I was not writing on my own. I guess my first attempt at writing would have been inspired by those quotes which I copied from everywhere that I could find them. Gradually the words kindled imagination and ultimately, I reproduced what my mind was imagining on to paper in the form of articles.

So, coming back to the quotes and the motivation that they provide.

Most youngsters now store these quotes in the form of pictures in their mobiles to motivate them in their daily work. These quotes help us keep a positive frame of mind. No matter what the situation arises, there is a quote for every occasion which shows you a ray of light.

 

I know that everyone knows that visualization works. Hence the quotes that come with vibrant visuals are in trend since a long time.

 

 

Why Bruce Lee Quotes?

 

My first acquaintance with Bruce Lee was through a 2-feet by 4-feet Bruce Lee poster which one of my cousin brothers had put up on his almirah. For years when I went to my grandmother’s house for summer vacation this poster stared at me before I went to sleep. According to my cousin, the poster was an inspiration to him. For me it was some Hollywood hero.

A few years ago, the memories of that poster came back to me when I was discussing one of my summer vacation escapades with someone. And I searched about Bruce Lee. Then I read about his life and struggles and finally landed upon some of the motivational words which he had said.

They reflect his thought process and the wonderful philosophy that he had about life.

So when I was thinking of an out of the box idea to write my next blog, a Bruce Lee quote swam into my brain. I decided to go ahead to frame a blog on it to motivate the teaching community out there.

 

These days the classes and the struggles in the online meetings can well be compared with the boxing inside the rings.

So here is my list of 9 Bruce Lee quotes which reflect and can be a source of motivation to the teachers.

 

1                      “The more we value things, the less we value ourselves.”

This is true! And I relate it directly to monetary value that the teachers attach themselves with. Most of them compare their salary to the amount of work that they are doing.

When you decide to work your focus should be on quality work that you produce. Develop your work ethics in a manner which do not reflect the amount which gets deposited in the bank.

 

I know! Salary matters.

But trust me! Quality of work and delivery of results matters more. Focus on your task. Plan and develop a strategy to improve it continuously. Think of new ideas. Simplify the mundane and administerial work. Do it with joy.

 

Make creativity your tool. Let quality drip from everything that you do!

Value your work highly and you will get the necessary rewards.

 

2                      “Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.”

We keep assimilating knowledge all our lives. When we teach, we start applying it to real life. I have seen many creative ideas of teachers going waste because simply they were not implemented. They are written in lengthy and well ornated lesson plans but never implemented. Hence the teachers can feel happy that they came up with unique ideas but actually they will not produce results.

 

Procrastination is the real killer at all times. I suggest this flow chart which seems helpful-

 

Write down the idea which crept up in your mind.

Break it down into simple steps.

Set a target date.

Do one step a day.

Ensure that you do not miss the target date.

 

Nothing can replace action!

 

3                      “To hell with circumstances, I create opportunities.”

 

PANDEMIC-TEACHING-TOPSY TURVY WORLD=MOVE BACK

OR

SURGE AHEAD WITH GREAT FORCE

 

I think everyone agrees with it. There were just a handful of teachers who took a step backwards. Rest everyone created opportunities for themselves. Teachers experimented with apps and programs to make their lectures successful. They ensured that teaching happened.

They made their classes interesting to capture their students’ hearts. There were images and power point presentations. There were innovations and implementations.

Each teacher created the opportunities where there were none.

The circumstances looked too meagre in front of the gigantic opportunities which these educators created.

 

4                      “When you say that something is impossible, you make it impossible.”

Remove the word impossible for your life. Think of probable solutions. If every roadblock can be removed then what are problems in terms of teaching. Yes, impossible takes a bit longer to achieve. But if you are determined nothing can stop you from conquering the world.

 

How many times have you attempted the most difficult of activities and achieved results?

 

How many times did you think that you could never do any more corrections, but you did?

 

How many times you were asked to submit, lesson plans, question papers, and tons of other documents all at one time?

You thought you would crash, but you sailed through smoothly.

Carry the attitude of doing things. Impossible will shrink to a size so tiny that you will need a microscope to trace it!

 

5                      “Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.”

From the entire lot of teachers who are teaching right now or who are entering this profession, 99 % of them chose this profession because they wanted a life of comfort.

 

Limited working hours, holidays, vacations, etc. Simply Wow!

Well, the bubble breaks when they start working. Then they face problems because the mindset does not match with the skill set and hence the desired productivity is not achieved.

Expectations were high. Ground realities are different.

There is no celebrity status attached to a teacher until and unless you prove your mettle or make a mark with the students.

There are no praises only expectations. Everyday something new has to be done. The teachers also have to cope with the administrative work. Hence the cakewalk gets messy for most of the professionals.

You can sail smoothly in teaching also, but you need focus, inner strength and the correct approach.

 

6                      “Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them.”

‘Instructions’ are an integral part of teaching. They have to be delivered from time to time. One has to be meticulous when instructions are given. Also, there are multiple instructions to be given at one time.

 

So, mistakes are bound to happen.

The teacher has to receive instructions from the head of the institution, from the co-ordinators, etc.

He has to comprehend these instructions and then deliver to the students.

It is a lengthy process. One tends to forget or misunderstand instructions.

It is a fact! Let’s accept it! It happens!

The best way out is to accept the mistake rather than try to cover it!

If you cover your mistake, at some point the can will burst and the dirty wiggly worms will come out.

If you accept it, rectification starts and soon everything is forgotten in good faith.

 

Note: Do not repeat the same mistake again and again. It is known as carelessness.

 

7                      “Water is fearless. If you put water into a cup it becomes the cup. You put water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot, water can flow, drip, creep or crash.”

As a teacher, you have to don many hats. The more versatile you become, the more successful you will be.

You have to do many tasks at the same time.

We have heard-‘Teacher, philosopher, guide…’

Many more titles can be added to it-administrator, manager, organizer, leader, etc. All the titles can be given to one person. The role of a teacher demands a cumulative bundle of them.

 

8                      “What you habitually think, will define what you ultimately become.”

Most teachers do not graduate to leadership roles because they do not fore see themselves as one.

There are many negative attitudes attached to a teacher’s role. The dignity of labour is still missing from this profession. Hence the approach of the teacher is shrouded by doubts, insecurities and an unprofessional attitude.

 

Read the biographies of great people and understand how a teacher has impacted their lives. Have role models who are working well in the field of teaching. Talk to teachers who are still connected to their students even if they have retired from the profession.

 

Follow teachers on the social media. Many of them have their own professional pages and blogs. Read, comment, interact with them via the social media. Take a careful look at the content they post.

Upgrade your own social media standing by posting relevant educational content on your page.

Feel proud about the profession, and the profession will give you what is rightfully yours.

 

9                      “Be happy, but never satisfied.”

 

There is a lot of work to be done. There are many students who need guidance. There are changes which are occurring in the system. There are assignments to be done, tests to be checked, lessons to be covered…

It goes on and on.

 

What matters is your happiness in the profession. Cherish every good act that you do. Feel happy about the roadblocks that you are able to remove. Be excited when you are able to innovate to teach in a better manner.

But remember, the moments will pass and new ones will emerge.

So, keep striving. It is an ongoing process. Don’t get satisfied with the little wins and stop your journey. Don’t turn complacent!

 

Happiness makes your journey desirable. Momentary satisfaction leads to contentment. This leads to encouragement.

Never let satisfaction stay for long. Look for an uncomfortable place if you wish to continue your journey happily!

Importance of recapitulation for a teacher!

 

 

The teaching profession is strictly time bound.

It is also very demanding.

It requires great amounts of creativity.

Every educator has to think critically.

 

Well, aren’t these skills actually required among the children?

Why are educators being questioned on this?

 

Well, these skills are equally important for the teachers also. Teaching is a demanding profession. Everyone knows this fact.

And every day there are new demands on top of the older ones.

So every teacher asks, ‘How do you expect us to survive?’

A pandemic hit the world this year but truly I think teachers land in a pandemic every year when the session starts until it ends.

 

They have to complete syllabus, make question papers, prepare the students for the activities, work late in the evening and work over the holidays and vacations.

And yet, the profession doesn’t get a recognition among the world’s top ten professions.

 

Am I right?

DON’T ANSWER!

 

I know I am CORRECT.

 

But if a teacher has chosen a profession and it is a more than demanding profession then there is a way out of this stress also.

 

The most important part of the profession is the curriculum. It has to be diversified, multidisciplinary, experiential, creative, etc. Think of all the important terms and they will find a place in the all-encompassing word called as ‘curriculum’.

It is a very important and integrated part of the school system. Most teachers fail to divide it in a manner in which it is approachable and they are able to complete it also.

 

Most teachers wait for the instructions to arrive from the higher authority. The best of the time management skills is required to complete the curriculum within the given time period.

Well to start with again a lot of planning has to be done on the paper. Divide the year into terms then into number of working days and last into number of teaching periods.

Then the same has to be taught keeping in mind the pace required and the ability of the students.

I believe that if you under estimate the students, your teaching speed will be slow and you will struggle with the time period to complete the syllabus.

If you consider your students smart right from day one, their approach and your approach is different.

 

The time required to complete the syllabus at that time is different.

If you consider them smart, the strategies that you come up with will be really interesting, will create curiosity among the students and you will never struggle with phrases like-

a.  ‘their base is poor’

b.  ‘their learning pace is very slow’

c.   ‘they do not understand what I teach’

d.  ‘their writing skills are very poor’

e.  etc. etc.

Try to rise above these excuses and feel the intelligence of your students.

The confidence of a teacher reflects in the student. If the teacher is confident, the student is smart.

 

So, coming back to the topic, ‘why is recalling the day’s events important?’

a.  Gauge the gain-

Teaching and balancing life becomes difficult. Things get out of hand. We are left with the feeling of nothing is going according to the plan.

But hey, my dear teacher. Think!

You have put in a lot of hard and smart work. You had planned well before the beginning of the session. You had planned when the week was about to start. You had planned when you were asked to submit the lesson plan

 

Then how can it happen that you have not achieved anything in the day gone by.

 

Train your mind to see the achievements and accomplishments of the day. It boosts your spirit and gives you the inspiration to move in the right direction.

 

b.  Feedback to the self-

This point is very important. All successful organisations work after taking feedback. We cannot think that the grass is only green. Learn to give feedback to yourself.

Feedback about what was done during the day and how was it done? Can you improve or should you carry on for sometime.

What were the priorities that you could not achieve?

Is it important to catch up on it the next day?

Work on feedback. Give a critical feedback to yourself. You will become more adaptable to change!

c.   Measures progress-

When we get busy, life seems tough and we do not look for gains during the day but all that we are not able to do or achieve.

Do not let the feeling of hopelessness enclose you. Break that thought pattern which says you did not achieve anything. Shred the process which shouts that you would have been better off somewhere else. If you are not enjoying your today or feeling happy about it then move on.

One cannot keep moving on also.

One way that I find satisfaction and contentment at the end of the day is when I quote my gains of the day to myself.

Measure your progress. When you measure progress you become more accountable towards your future. It is important to keep moving.

Movement is an indicator of success. If you stop, you stagnate.

 

Learn to appreciate and measure the progress you are doing in your life. Do not expect it from others. Being happy about yourself is not arrogance! It is known as satisfaction!

d.  Overcome hurdles-

Richard Branson does one thing everyday which scares him. This makes him agile to face any hurdles or problems that arise in his life.

Do that one thing you are scared of everyday. It will teach you what courage is. Rise above hesitation or doubts. Do not let fear capture you. Burn the circle of fear to emerge as a leader of your own life.

 

e.  Ready for the next day

Thinking about today and recapitulating prepares you for tomorrow. You know what you have to do. You are more confident towards what you want to achieve. You will make better decisions. You will not procrastinate. Preparedness helps you to take action.

 

f.    Self Satisfaction

All the above points give you self-satisfaction.

Trust me there is nothing more important in this world than self-satisfaction. This is the best motivational term which helps individuals.

 

You have to search satisfaction. It doesn’t come on its own.

g.  Self Praise

We keep expecting praise from others. Most of the time you don’t get it. Then you will annoyance.

 

Learn to praise to yourself.

It is said that if you praise the children they do well. If you keep criticising them they develop a negative self image and hence they are not able to achieve.

 

The same applies to the teachers. They wait for praise. Most often they get criticism. This leads to them developing a negative self image.

After that I do not need to tell you what happens.

Hence get over it. Do praise and appreciate that small child who is hidden inside you somewhere. Feel the happiness when you praise yourself.

 

AND JUST FREEZE THE MOMENT FOREVER IN YOUR HEART!

 

Happy Teaching to all of you!

13 Pieces of Advice I’d give my younger self as a newbie teacher.

As expected from any newbie teacher, I was absolutely inexperienced and clueless about what teaching was.

My perceptions about the profession on day one were as given under-

➡️ I am supposed to teach through a textbook. Give question and answers and generate good results.

➡️I will be getting sufficient holidays so I can spend enough time with my family.

➡️ Throughout my life I will be teaching students and then retire at an appropriate age.

➡️ I have to listen to an abide the senior teachers in the school until I become a senior myself.

➡️ I am expected to reach school on time and leave school when it is off. This means that my work gets over when I reach home.

Within a few days, all of the above crashed like glass and I had set new goals and boundaries for myself in the Profession.

The memories of my initial thoughts were crystal clear and I they rushed back to me at one go. I didn't even think of editing them before publishing them.

During the initial couple of days I never thought of-

-Growing on the professional ladder

-Having an aim to reach a position

-Teacher student relationship and its impact on learning

-Experimenting and innovating to teach in a better manner.

-Creating and leaving an impact on society.

On my third day when I entered the school campus as a teacher, revolutionary thoughts swept me away in a storm. It was like a new professional side of me was exposed after layers of misperception got eroded away by interacting with some veterans of the profession.

I still remember someone cleared the concept and functioning of a Director and a principal. 

That was really a very naiive and vulnerable me in the profession.

Then started a fruitful and a meaningful journey which is filled with memories and experiences. I am proud of them and really like living them again and again. So while I was reminiscing and introspecting I came up with these  points which will be very useful to every teacher who enters this profession.

1 Managing Time: As I was too inspired to work as a teacher, when I joined the profession, I was totally focused towards working. There was too much that I wanted to do and so time seemed very little. Also my organisation skills were not so well developed.

It is very important to manage time between your profession and passion. To do lists help a lot in this regards. Writing about long term and short term goals also help in organising tasks and managing time.

2. Limited Research: Educators research for teaching ideas and ideas for worksheets. 

But Google overwhelms you with options and you get carried away because of the vastness and magnitude. I used to spend a lot of time in researching because it helped me to come up with new and creative ideas. I used to download images and articles in bulk for current and future use.

Mostly those articles were never read because of shortage of time or forgetfulness. If you do not put an idea to use, it gets wasted. So I believe limiting research time on internet is very important.

One should know the extent of research that is required for a given project or task at hand. Otherwise we  waste time.

3. Sticking to a to-do List Before Hitting the Internet: This is the best advice that I have given myself and have been following it in the past years.

Internet can turn into a bottomless crevice if you are not careful.

Internet is a great tool to be used by the teacher but remember it is not the only tool.

A lot of planning and then implementation is required in teaching. So spending a lot of time on internet does not really help in this profession. Prepare a list before you switch on the internet. Complete the tasks and switch it off. 

It prevents you from falling a pretty to digital fatigue and reduces your screen time.

4. Writing and Editing Skills: I was a creative person and was inclined towards writing. But the quantum of written work was very less. I wrote a 500 words article in a month or so. Now I write almost 2000 words everyday.

Editing goes hand in hand with writing full stop in those days I almost never edited what I wrote thinking that my thoughts and words fit perfectly like jigsaw pieces. Every educator must write at least one thousand words everyday and edit those articles also.

These can be published in the form of blogs, articles on LinkedIn or medium.com or answers two questions on quora.com.

5. High Level of Energy: It is always good to stay on a high horse. On some days I used to be highly motivated and hence my energy level would be high. But on some other days I would drag myself to work trying to find motivation.

Remember-

Action does not follow motivation.

Motivation follows action.

Keep doing your work and keep yourself in motion. Motivation will always be there behind you.

6 Rewards of Networking: When we work in an organisation, we generally  tend to get along with our colleagues. Contacts beyond that are very rare.

Networking means connecting with new people and maintaining a connect until it develops into a good relationship.

Most of us do connect with different people but regularity in maintaining the relationship goes missing.

Good networking skills result into

-good opportunities

-good friends

-popularizing your skills

-spreading and gaining knowledge

7 Public Speaking and Communication Skills:  A teacher needs to be a very fluent and a confident speaker. Teaching in a classroom is different from speaking on stage. Every educator must develop his or her own public speaking skills.

Public speaking has become one of the most sought after skills in the professional world. With people turning more towards videos now public speaking has taken a firm ground. Everyone who enters any profession must be an expert and a confident person as far as speaking in public is concerned.

8 Exercise and Meditation:  Exercise and meditation are a priority. Exercise keeps you physically active and meditation helps you to stay mentally agile. Even if one is missing it will be difficult to maintain a balance in professional life.

Everyday a 40 minute exercise routine is a must. There are  too many options available online. But it is better to stick to a specific exercise routine. Each exercise should be done in sets of 10s 20s or 30s or whatever you are comfortable with.

Some stretching exercises are equally good and beneficial. They are less stressful physically. So if you want to start something simple you can do so with Surya namaskar.

Meditation calms the mind. The flow of thoughts become very natural during meditation. I read a quote somewhere and it immediately resonated with my thoughts-

“If the ocean can calm itself then why not you. Both have water and salt mixed in their bodies.”

With exercise and meditation focus stays on the path and professional growth becomes easier.

9 Healthy Diet: For most of us food intake takes a backseat when work is concerned. If you have not organised your time well, then you think of skipping meals to complete work.

One should also be mindful while eating food. Research proves that the nutrients are absorbed well by the body if we are mindful of the food we eat. During my career I have seen educator's coming to school without breakfast.

 The two hours of the morning in a school are very important time.

They are also full of activity which requires everyone to be on their toes. Prayer and assembly time is generally packed with a lot of things happening on stage and off stage. 

Students also turn up to school without eating anything and quite a few fall down unconscious. We are all aware of this happening in the school. 

If the teacher arrives with food in the stomach he she can take care of children and handle them better.

If a teacher comes to school with an empty stomach her only focus is to find time to eat something. So make it a golden rule to never leave the house without putting something stuffy in your stomach.

10 Learning Disabilities and Behaviour Issues: A large chunk of learning is achieved by understanding the psychology of the students.  There are many concerns among the students related to learning disabilities and behaviour issues. 

Research papers and blogs are available on the internet. Every teacher must read these to understand the issues and concerns revolving around children. I often say that behaviour is a reflection of the anxiety that the child is feeling or going through. Behaviour changes or improves when the troubling issue is tackled or dealt with properly.

Experience teaches us a lot but awareness equips you with tools to deal with the situation. Knowing the psychological concerns of the children will help the teachers to control the threatening triggers which cause behaviour problems.

Teaching and learning is more of a psychological process. Hence teachers must self educate themselves on these topics. The school counsellor is also of great help. Case studies of issues with children and how teachers dealt with them are also available on the Internet and they can throw light on many aspects.

Caution: Do not try to see the problems which you have read among your students. Take expert advice before jumping to a conclusion.

11 Be a Good Listener: Some of the educators are in a hyperactive mode expressing an ‘I Know It all attitude'. It is good to be well versed about the needs of the profession. But nothing can be compared to practical experience. The people who are already in the organisation are thoroughbreds as far as the working of the organisation is concerned

These veterans of the profession often giveaway titbits related to the profession and they must be considered as useful handy hints. To understand the value of these gems one needs to be a good listener.

There are many advantages of being a good listener. You become aware of certain systems which are an integral part of the organisation. There are deadlines for many of these systems. There are submissions to be done. you will be able to foresee all of these and be better prepared to deliver the submission on time.

12 The Art of Saying NO:

If you set your priorities you will know  which projects you should take as a leader and where you should act as an assistant. Everything cannot be done by a person.

Apart from individual work a teacher is expected to assist and be part of group projects. Group projects between staff members need collaboration and coordination. Hence it requires time and creativity. So it is always advisable to join in projects which cover your areas of interest and say a subtle NO to the ones which are out of your interest area.

13 Define Limits as far as Self Learning is Concerned:

'Learning is a lifelong journey' This statement has been viral since the pandemic started.  Everyone is running after certification programs and trying to score a point above everyone else. Too much learning does not result into proper actions and hence the result is not a productive one. It is good to take up a skill or two but not more than that.

Find ways to implement the knowledge that you already have. Experiment with ideas. 

Perform, then fail, then learn from your failure and perform again

Take honest and crucial feedback upon the work that you are doing. Do not be afraid of the criticism that you receive. Pick up the points which are relevant and push yourself on the path again

These are some of the points which I have picked after a thoughtful deliberation

 They can add a lot of value to the educators who are aiming to start their professional career as a school teacher.

9 Quotes to help you Eat That Frog!

Picture Credit: Toodledo.com

Eat the frog is a common quote used these days to push complacent people towards working. Nothing gets done without work. Action is the key to results. The more the action, the better results.

But procrastination has really pulled down people. Postponing today’s task to tomorrow and then to day after tomorrow has become the new normal for everyone. Pandemic has brought in more blues for people and the situation has turned into a worst one.

Eat the frog refers to that one important task which should be done by an individual which is important for him rather than urgent. People know about the important tasks but do not wish to do anything about it.

This happens because that important task pushes us into an uncomfortable zone. Our mind is not willing to accept that and so we refuse to eat that frog.

Ideally, the frog should be eaten for breakfast because the willpower and determination is much higher in the morning. So the chances of getting the work done are far better. Also we should understand the difference between important tasks and urgent tasks.

Important tasks will help in your long term goals. 

Urgent tasks are focused towards short term goals.

For example if you want to write a book then you must make it a habit of writing at least a couple of thousand words everyday. 

This is an important task.

But if you are an amateur writer then you might avoid hitting the target of a couple of thousand words. So this would be the frog that you must eat everyday. If you are not doing it and postponing it  for future then you are definitely suffering from procrastination.

Since the advent of social media, quotes is a popular way of reading and sending messages. Different aspects of life can be understood, motivation and inspiration can be derived from these quotes.

Hence people believe in reading and sharing quotes. Sometimes one can also read the mind set of the person sending you the quotes or displaying on the status, stories etc. 

Hence I chose quotes because they have often pushed me beyond limits upscaling my performance and expectations in the past.

Every one of us  go through the quotes that we receive every morning as good morning messages. We read them once and put it at the back of the mind for the rest of the life. A good idea would be to keep a collection of it as an album and keep reading them over a period of time.

This is what I do to keep myself motivated and inspired.

Just being lazy does not relate to procrastination. It is the idea of postponing things in the future to avoid a bit of discomfort in the present.

So here is my list which helps me keep procrastination at a hand's distance away.

1. This particular quote is given by Stephen King. He has written 86 bookd in his lifetime.

Imagine the amount of work and time he has put in. According to him we cannot wait for inspiration. We need to act. Action brings inspiration. It is not the other way around.

If your desire to achieve your aims is high and real, then you should not wait for inspiration. Start taking action towards your goal. Inspiration will help you keep going on the path. 

Remove all the uncertainty that you have. Start working.

2. There are many creative visualisation pictures which you might have seen in the advertisements. Imagine one such  visual where the mosquitoes are driven away with the mosquito repellent. Similarly action destroys or drives away procrastination.

Start working. Action is the driving force which will keep your mind occupied with what has to be done next. Hence it won't let procrastination settle like dust on the windowsill.

3. This one is my favourite. Mind is a producing outlet. It produces ideas continuously. But you will have to put them into action.

Mind is not a storage vault for the ideas that are produced. The ideas have to be pushed down the assembly line to reach the final stage of a completed product.

Hence many times a good productive idea comes to your mind but you quickly forget about it.

This happens because the ideas do not stay stored in your mind for a long time. According to research after three or four seconds the idea will vanish if you do not take an action upon it.

Putting ideas into action takes time so what should be done in the meantime?

Write each idea down in a diary. all the creative thoughts should be penned down if you want to take action on it.

4. How does an artist complete a portrait?

He starts with sketching the framework or an outline. Then he gradually fills it. Similarly every project and activity has to be broken down into simple and small steps.

It is easier to take one step at a time rather than jumping two or three steps together.

Breaking down the idea into small steps helps to see the goal as achievable. 

5. Procrastination and overthinking are best friends. These two companions hate the company of action.

Imagine you plan to start something new. Thoughts proceed action. 

If they are positive and constructive, you will start acting and producing results

If you are not confident that these thoughts can be converted into fruitful output, then the thoughts will keep you in the procrastination mode.

The idea of a project is exciting. But when you think too much about it the same idea turns into a dull and boring monster which tries to scare you away from action by making the task look extremely difficult for you to handle.

Hence procrastination will easily make the easiest task look extremely difficult.

6. This particular quote is my favourite. Fear is the main villain or the reason behind most people who consider themselves as unsuccessful.

Fear, hesitation and people's opinion do not let you move ahead. Fear creates an illusion in your mind which does not let you step out of your comfort zone.

Fear cripples you.

Fear holds you back.

Fear paralyzes you into inaction.

Fear pushes you to think negative thoughts.

Fear clips your wings.

Fear cuts down your motivation levels to zero.

Don't let fear grip you and strangle you.

Allow action to strangle your fear instead.

7. All of us use credit cards and we know its repayment cost.

While on a purchasing spree we do not realise the cost. And while paying the bill we sweat.

Procrastination works on the same principle. If you do not act properly at the proper time you have to pay a heavy cost later on.

8. As I said earlier procrastination creates an illusion. Hence we keep postponing our tasks to tomorrow. We feel that tomorrow would be a beautiful day but unfortunately that tomorrow never comes.

9. This quote hits the nail on its head. Look back in the past one year. Think about all the new year resolutions that you have taken and they were forgotten within a few days time.

Drop everything and start working on whatever you think is important in your life.

Don’t go after urgent tasks. Focus on important tasks which are for long term.

Procrastination is the enemy of action and success 

Keep such quotes handy.  Whenever you feel you are bogged by inaction you can read them.

Fuel yourself with action and motivation will follow.