Category: teacher well-being

Linda Markley

The I.N.P.U.T. Affect

Can do's, communication, Essential questions, i am enough, Intention, Introspection, Learning Lessons, making connections, Maslow before Blooms, Podcasting, Purpose, Resources, Sincerity, Spirit of teaching, Spirit practices, teacher behavior, teacher choices, teacher mental health, teacher resources, teacher self-care, teacher support, teacher well-being, Wholehearted teaching

Before you become too focused on whether or not I misspelled “affect” and that I really meant, “effect”, I will let you know that I fully intended to write “Affect” with an “A”.

The etymology of the word affect is from ad “to” + facere (past participle factus) “to make, do”.(etymonliine.com)

We use the word “effect” more to describe the result of something that affected us and our environment…the result of an action that was taken.

Actions DO have an effect on our affect…or is it the other way around?

The proverbial “chicken or egg first” enigma!

As an HSP (Highly Sensitive Person) and a language teacher, I have had many opportunities to study and experience first hand what I call the “INPUT” Affect.

Input is what we take from our outside environment and put into our inside environment.

In language terms, “input” is used to describe the words we take in and how we then interpret them based on our own personal values, meaning, experiences, etc.

This “input” can affect how we see ourselves and how we interact (take action) with the world around us and the world within us.

Just a little more context and information…in language terms, there are three modes of communication. The first, and most important one, is the interpretive mode. It powers up the other two modes of communication (interpersonal – two way exchange with another person, and presentational – one way communication).

Early in my career, I realized how important the interpretive mode was to effective communication and to motivating my students to take risks to use the language in personal and meaningful ways.

Then, I created an acronym for the word INPUT to help explain, retain and guide language teachers on their pedagogical decisions for lesson planning so that they could help their students have a more powerful language learning experience. 

(Of course I did because that is a staple in education and learning, right, to create an acronym! Lol!)

I have made this acronym the picture for this blog post to better explain what I mean by INPUT in terms of our personal, everyday lives.

Let me explain it a little more.

(more…)

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Linda Markley

Good News!

calling to make a difference, Can do's, communication, Essential questions, Introspection, Joy, Maslow before Blooms, Spirit of teaching, Spirit practices, teacher behavior, teacher choices, teacher mental health, teacher well-being, Wholehearted teaching

We all could use some good news in our daily lives.

Lord knows teaching is so hard and so full of “news” that can bring us down in a hurry.

How do we keep our “spirit of teaching” up and running?

I have tried a few things to help with that, and they are working.

I would like to share a few thoughts with you.

Take a minute here to ponder what habits or best practices might help you lift up your “spirit” of teaching. 

Okay, now here is what I have found has helped.

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Linda Markley

Mind Your Vowels and Consonants

calling to make a difference, Can do's, communication, creating community, Introspection, making connections, Spirit of teaching, Spirit practices, teacher choices, teacher mental health, teacher self-care, teacher well-being, teachers as role models, Wholehearted teaching

In the last blog post, I talked about teacher behavior in the classroom.

To follow up, I would like to offer up some guidance on how to perhaps become more aware of our behaviors and in turn, make more powerful choices for better, more desired outcomes.

You have probably heard the idiom “mind your p’s and q’s”, right?

So, where did it come from?

In jolly old England, many people, especially working men, would escape to the pub after work to de-stress and forget about their problems.

Many wives would tell them: “Now, if you go to the pub after work, mind your p’s and q’s” (probably because they were not in agreement with their husbands going to the pub).

They didn’t want their husbands drinking in excess until drunk and out of control. 

In England, beer is served in pints or quarts, thus the p’s and the q’s.

The wives were advising (warning?) their husbands to pay attention and be aware of their choice of size and quantity of beer they were consuming.

Well, I thought to myself, what could I come up with the help teachers/people remember the choices they have and to “mind them” (aka pay attention and be aware of our options and choices)?

Mind your vowels and consonants.

Vowels = A E I O U 

So, now we would have:  AFFIRM, ENGAGE, INVITE, OPTIMIZE, UNITE for the steps in our relationship building process with others to produce more harmonious and agreeable results?

AFFIRM the other person’s existence, beliefs, similarities, differences…who they are, but also to learn more about who we are

ENGAGE them in conversation and activities that give them, and you, permission to be curious, explore and learn more toward greater acceptance

INVITE them to join you and Venn Diagram what you have discovered and shared with each other so that you can harmonize your interpersonal interactions

OPTIMIZE the strengths in each other to be able to support, inspire and celebrate each other and see your place in the bigger picture of things (humanity)

UNITE and collaborate and grow together for the greater good of everyone whose lives you touch in order to bring hope to others  

Vowels are the connectors to consonants. The word “consonant” is from Latin, meaning “one sound”. 

Vowels allow us to make utterances, create words and communicate to others our needs, desires, hopes, dreams, affirmations, inspirations, and so on.  

So, if we apply our vowels in all our relationships, we can create one sound together…harmonize…and bring sweet music to the world.

Just think of the power teachers have to bring sweet music into the hearts of children when they create their classroom culture on the relationship “vowels” (like the A E I O U above) and also create connections to a community of “one sound” that will harmonize greater understandings of peace, love, joy, grace, compassion, respect, validation and belonging into this world.

AFFIRM

ENGAGE

INVITE

OPTIMIZE

UNITE 

A E I O U

You can do it too!

 

Image credit:

“Alphabet 20” by Leo Reynolds is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

 

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Linda Markley

Teacher Behavior

calling to make a difference, Essential questions, Intention, Introspection, Spirit of teaching, Spirit practices, teacher behavior, teacher choices, teacher mental health, teacher self-care, teacher struggles, teacher support, teacher vulnerability, teacher well-being, teachers as role models, Wholehearted teaching

I have always been a big cheerleader and supporter of teachers.

That is why I founded The Spirit of Teaching and my podcast, Teacher Tales.

However, in the past year or so, I have been losing faith and hope as I witness more and more inappropriate behaviors on the part of some teachers…

…in fact, too many teachers!

Let me explain and give some examples. (more…)

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Linda Markley

Summertime FUN!

Essential questions, Joy, Maslow before Blooms, Spirit of teaching, teacher burnout, teacher mental health, teacher self-care, teacher support, teacher well-being

Do you remember the Beach Boys song entitled “Fun, Fun, Fun”?

You can refresh your memory here, and you don’t have to own a T-Bird to relate!

There are a lot of teacher conferences that happen over the summer, and my social media feed has been full of posts from teachers having “fun, fun, fun” at these conferences.

Summer is for fun, and I hope that everyone is finding something that they enjoy and find fun to do.

The word for fun in Spanish is “divertido”, related to the words “divert” and “diversion”.

The etymology of fun is from the Old English word fun meaning “to cheat or trick”.

So, to have fun means…

…to do something that is a diversion from the ordinary or from what we normally do.

…to do something that diverts our attention from our troubles, sorrows, preoccupations, etc. and directs us more toward things that will relieve us of these burdens.

…to do something that cheats time and tricks our minds into a state of bliss and mindful musings.

What is fun to one person may not be fun to another.

So, what are some things we can do to have fun?

(more…)

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Linda Markley

Teacher Mental Health

professional development, Spirit of teaching, Spirit practices, Strategies, teacher burnout, teacher mental health, teacher resources, teacher self-care, teacher struggles, teacher support, teacher vulnerability, teacher well-being, Wholehearted teaching

As a long-time attendee of teacher conferences, I can say that the topic of teacher mental health was never a topic for a session of professional development.

This has certainly changed in the past decade, especially after the pandemic!

The number and variety of sessions on teacher mental health and well-being as well as teacher burnout has increased tremendously and, quite frankly, are quite well-attended at conferences.

I,  myself, present often these days on this very topic, and as a result, have gathered quite a bit of research on the topic.

  • 21% of teachers report poor mental health (American Federation of Teachers) 
  • 75% of teachers experience stress (Education Support) 
  • 41% of teachers experience anxiety (American Psychological Association) 
  • 44% of teachers report feeling burnt out (National Center for Education Statistics) 
  • 25-74% of teachers experience clinically significant burnout (ResearchGate) 
  • Teachers are more likely to experience burnout than other professions
  • 68% of teachers feel overwhelmed by their job (NEA) 
  • 48% of teachers are dissatisfied with their job (EdWeek Research Center) 
  • 55% of teachers plan to leave the profession earlier than expected due to burnout (Education WalkThrough) 
  • Teacher mental health has been declining in recent years 
  • The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated mental health issues among teachers 
  • Younger teachers are more likely to experience mental health problems 

And it is just getting worse by the day.

The mental health of teachers is declining. The Spirit of Teaching is committed and dedicated to helping teachers with the struggles and the challenges that they face every day in the classroom.

Here is how we are helping. (more…)

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