If you’re like most teachers, you’re in a hurry for much of the school day.
- Your curriculum is packed.
- Your schedule is overloaded.
- You never have enough time.
And you’ve been led to believe that there is nothing you can do about it. Rushing from one place to the next and from one student to another is just part of being a teacher.
Well, it’s not.
In fact, being in a hurry means that you’re far less effective than you could be if you just slowed down. Because slowing to a more relaxed pace . . .
- Makes you calmer, happier, and more likable.
- Improves your decision-making.
- Increases your observational time.
- Clears your thinking.
- Gives you more energy.
- Focuses your attention.
- Allows you to keep your cool.
- Improves your rapport with students.
Of course, it also lowers your stress. But how can you slow down with so much on your plate? How can you move at a relaxed pace with responsibilities coming out of your ears?
By making small, doable adjustments in the following areas:
Routines
For everything your students can do on their own—that is, without any input from you—there should be a routine.
Nearly every time I visit a classroom, the teacher spends countless minutes talking students through transitions and instructions that students can fully handle on their own.
This is a phenomenal waste of time and energy. It also makes students more dependent and immature, less purposeful, and more likely to misbehave.
Lessons
Your lessons should be narrowly focused on one objective and the fewest number of steps for students to accomplish that objective.
Too many teachers dovetail off topic and teach far too broadly, adding thoughts and information that not only confuse students, but make the lesson twice as long as it needs to be.
Challenge yourself to cut at least 25 percent from the current time it takes you to teach each lesson.
Independence
When you send students off to work independently or in groups, the expectation must be that they do the work without any additional help from you.
This alone results in so many benefits beyond giving you time to relax and observe, including massive improvements in maturity, skill acquisition, motivation, self-worth, academic ability, and much more.
The key is sharp, efficient, compelling lessons and creating a culture of excellence and sky-high expectations. It requires a total shift of responsibility from you to them.
Visualization
Mentally rehearsing your day before the opening bell has a unique way of keeping you focused, lowering your stress, and limiting time-wasting mistakes.
Just sit with your eyes closed and see yourself successfully teaching your planned lessons, following through with your classroom management plan, and fulfilling the day’s schedule.
It will not only give you the feeling of being one step ahead, but will allow you to drastically slow your pace.
Talk Less
Doing all of the above will result in less talking. But challenge yourself to eliminate even more. Most teachers could stand to cut at least a third of the amount of talking they do.
The benefits are legion. Calmer, happier, and more mature class. Better student listening. Plummeting stress. More energy at the end of the day.
You’ll also find that maintaining a pleasant personality far easier, resulting in a vast difference in how students view you as a leader and role model.
Breathe
As you begin to notice you have a lot more time than you ever believed possible, your breathing will naturally deepen.
However, it pays to be cognizant of it throughout the day. By breathing through your nose, filling your diaphragm, and focusing on your exhale, you stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system.
Your blood pressure drops, digestion improves, and thinking becomes clearer.
Your Best Day of Teaching
The best news is that by slowing down, your calm energy will fill your classroom and soothe and focus your class. It’s the antidote to student excitability, restlessness, and desire to misbehave.
This transfer of calmness from you to them happens naturally and unavoidably.
Although it can take a couple weeks to maximize the areas above, you can start tomorrow and experience immediate benefits. In fact, you’ll likely have the best day of teaching you’ve had in a long time.
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