Know Your Superpowers and How to Use Them
So you decided you want to change the world? Me too! That is why I became a teacher. Like every good superhero that saves the world, a teacher needs to know that he/she possesses superpowers with the capability to change the world. Identifying those superpowers, containing the knowledge of how to use those powers, and developing the confidence to save the world are essential to surviving the first year of your career.
Survival Guide for Success
1. The Power of Love: Building relationships with students in my opinion is the most important survival skill to develop. The relationships must be built gradually, based off mutual respect for each other. Developing positive relationships with students comes naturally for some and others must focus on making an effort to prioritize this in their daily routine. The great thing is we all possess the superpower to build these lasting relationships… LOVE! Embrace the love you have for yourself, your job, your school, and your students. Use the superpower of love to build amazing relationships so that you can survive your first year in teaching. Relationships will impact EVERYTHING in your classroom. The quality of students’ work, students’ creativity and their capacity to learn, the climate, classroom behavior, and your growth as an educator.
2. The Power of Example: We all have the superpower to be influential in so many ways as a teacher. You have the power of being a positive role model for your students, co-workers, and for all you encounter daily. Being a good example by your ACTIONS is essential to surviving your first year of teaching. Your actions speak for who you are as a person and teacher. The example you set will be influential in surviving by developing a professional and positive reputation that will follow you in your career. How amazing that your actions can motivate others in such a positive way! Use your superpower to build intrinsic motivation in others and inspire those around you to be the best they can be.
3. The Power of Organization: Being organized is an important component to surviving your first year of teaching, which has many demands on your time. The first year of teaching can be overwhelming. Everything is new and there are a lot of unknowns that you experience on a daily basis. In the process of learning your school, staff, students, yourself, and your teaching style, the constant to do list never ends. You have meetings, duties, responsibilities, communication, planning, grading, analyzing data, etc…. the list goes on and on. It is important to embrace the superpower of organizational skills in order to use your time efficiently. Developing this skill, will be a key component to surviving the daily demands of teaching.
4. The Power of Flexibility: I am the type of person who likes things organized and routine. Flexibility is something I recently embraced. Using the superpower of being flexible has truly made me understand how I can be a student’s hero. Not all students are the same, but all students are innately good and desire to learn! They really ALL do, we just have to learn how to reach each student, since all students are different and learn differently. Differentiation and flexibility go hand in hand. Mastering the art of flexibility in your lessons, classroom management, from class period to class period, and with your co-workers and school will be crucial to survive not only your first year, but every year in your career. Things are always going to come up, change, or need modification… Flexibility is needed in this job for sure! I have to admit, I now enjoy being flexible way more than being rigid. You can still be structured, but also remain open-minded.
5. The Power of Collaboration: This is an important superpower that often gets overlooked. The power to share and work together with other superheroes in the field of education is AMAZING! Imagine how one person impacts the world, now think how all the superheroes together could CHANGE the world! I get excited thinking about collaboration. I love to learn from others and share with others what I am learning. After all, we all have a common goal, the success of our students. 🙂 This superpower is VERY powerful and must be embraced more within schools, districts, and even globally. To survive your first year of teaching, find a mentor that you can collaborate with. Collaborate with specialists, other teachers, media staff, and develop a PLN that enhances your ability to reach your students.
6. The Power of Fun: Having fun is not only good for your students, but also for yourself. In order to survive the first year of teaching, you want to enjoy your class. I have fun with my students everyday! I do this by using the superpower of having fun. I enjoy what I am doing and what the students are doing. How? I CHOOSE to! Having fun is a choice, though some things are naturally more fun than others. You can choose to embrace the fun and train your mind to see the positive in things so that you may infect others with that positivity or you can fail yourself and your students by choosing not to. Even though superheroes have a lot of responsibility on their shoulders (saving the world and all), always take time to enjoy the process! Have fun everyday and realize how fun your students are! They have such bright young minds, embrace their creativity!
7. The Power of Variety: Incorporate as much variety into your instructional methods. Not only will this superpower keep your students interested in learning, but it will also keep you challenged in your professional growth. To survive your first year the students have to want to learn and want to come to class everyday. You are responsible for encouraging that desire to learn and to grow, and you can do so using the superpower of variety. Keep students on their toes and keep them asking, “what are we going to do in class today?” and “is it as fun as yesterday?” Students who are excited with the variety and who are engaged in learning will LEARN!
passionispowerful 