Goal 4: Leave it Behind

Leave it behind? Yes, we must leave stress behind. Why? Because we are professionals, and as such, we have to show our students that we do our job in the best possible way. Of course we are human beings and sometimes we go through hard times. It happened to me, during the 2001 economic crisis in Argentina that we couldn’t make ends meet at home, and to make things even worse, the atmosphere in the whole nation was so negative. Despite this, I tried my very best to show commitment to my work, to show my students that I cared about them, and all the love I got from them in return, helped me move on, keep trying hard, and thank God, things are back to normal now, and I feel proud of myself because I succeeded in making my students learn, and above all smile.

Here is the list of some of the things I do to unwind, to take the stress away:

• · Share my problems with colleagues and talk about them.

• · Exercise at the gym. It frees my mind from any worries I may have.

• · Listen to relaxing music.

• · Remember that I am part of the kids’ education and I must preach with the example.

• · Sometimes, in the classroom, I do some relaxation activities.

As for a long-term goal, I love the idea of having my students develop a stress- relief routine. I guess I’ll give it a try this year and then tell you how it went.

Goal 3: What Do You Believe About Learning?

“The important thing is not so much that every child should be taught, as that every child should be given the wish to learn. ”

by John Lubbock

My belief about learning is that we all learn in different ways so as teachers, we must bear this in mind in order to cater for our students’ different needs. Now, if we draw a comparison between the past and this present reality we have, it is more than clear that our students learn in a total different way and teachers have to consider this because we tend to teach as we were taught or it happens that our teaching style reflects our learning style thus we forget about our students and what they need to learn best.

Of course this is not an easy task since things have changed dramatically, technology has had a huge impact on the way our students learn nowadays, and we as teachers, cannot turn a blind eye to that.

I also agree with the fact that it is mostly in noisy classrooms where students learn best, but will our administrators accept it? It is hard to find heads that totally support the way you teach, which means that we are facing a huge challenge. Not only do we have to adapt to the new technology and all the changes it has brought, but also we have to change some people’s minds and make them understand that our students need to learn in different ways.

The following is a video that many of us have shared but it’s worth watching many times: