Resetting your goals

 In education right now, many of us are at the midpoint of the year.  We have finished one semester and are starting a second.  I try to use this break to reset myself so that I will perform better the next half of the year.  I do this in two ways: One is that I have students evaluate my performance, and secondly I evaluate my own performance.  I want to take you through the questions I ask myself as I get ready for the spring. 

The first question is what were some things that worked well during the fall?  Typically, we think first about the things that went wrong. However; I think it is important for all of us to examine our successes when we are trying to move forward. 

The second question is, what specifically made those successes happen?  For example, did I have more time to plan a certain lesson?  Alternatively, was that something that I changed from the previous year?  Was it a topic that students found relevant to their lives? 

Thirdly, what energized me during the course of the semester?  I think about specific events, lessons, or interactions that brought energy to my day-to-day life 

The last question might be the most important.  What can I do this next semester that will help replicate the successes I had first semester more often?  Now I can take the answer to this question to develop a plan to make the second semester better than the first. 

What I have found through experience is that people are more likely to stick to a plan if it is laid out in a positive format.  I hope that this type of performance assessment can work for you. 

As always, I would love your feedback. 

Overcoming boredom

 As a teacher, you often look out at the classroom to see students who seem very bored with the lesson.  What causes this boredom, and how do we overcome it?  The first thing is to recognize that you are bored and then to try to figure out why. 

Erin Westgate, a psychologist, would suggest three reasons for boredom.  One reason is that the content is too easy for you.  There needs to be a certain level of difficulty to keep your interest.  On the other hand, you can get bored if the degree of difficulty is too hard.  Here, you often just give up.

 

A third possible cause for boredom is that you find the lesson to be meaningless.  You often have students ask, “What is the value of learning this material?”  When they cannot answer the value of learning the material, they often become bored. 

How can we overcome the problem that the task is too easy?  When I worked in a pizza store, you had to fold boxes so that you were prepared for the busiest time in the day.  This was a boring task until one day we had a box-folding contest.  By putting a time limit on something that is relatively easy, you can make it a little more difficult and therefore alleviate the boredom. 

How does the student who struggles with the task being too difficult stop themselves from giving up?  One way is to chunk the problem—break it down into small parts so that you might be able to solve a bit at a time. 

The last situation is often the toughest.  Why am I reading or listening to this?  It has nothing to do with my life

.  My suggestion would be to put together a list of things that are important to you.  Then try to connect what you are learning to one of your priorities.  When you are able to do this, you not only decrease boredom but also increase learning. 

I hope that you were able to get through this blog post and that these tips prove helpful to you.  Let me know how they work. 

Feedback

 

Feedback is often called the breakfast of champions. When I started my career, I thought that if you had good relationships with people, they would provide you with feedback. What I’ve learned, however, is that you truly have to seek it out.

Kim Scott, author of Radical Candor, provides four suggestions for getting feedback from people (more here). The first rule is to ask an open-ended question For example, you might ask, “What can I stop doing or start doing that would make you more productive?”

Second, once you have asked the question, remain quiet. Do not talk at all, so the person has time to think about the question and is forced to break the silence by answering it.

Third, listen with the intent to understand, not to respond. Often, when people ask for feedback, their first reaction is one of defensiveness. Once you start with a defensive response, it will be harder to get feedback from that person in the future.

Lastly, you need to reward the feedback. It is not enough to thank the person tor the feedback. You need to act and show the person that you have listened. One of Scott’s points is that you have not answered the feedback unless you have overcorrected for it.

All of us, no matter our position, need feedback to learn. I challenge you to use this four-step approach and tell me how it works.

As always, your feedback is appreciated.