Health (Photo credit: 401K)

If you have been following my blog, you’ll know that I suffered from teacher burnout and took a medical leave from November to March.  I wasn’t managing my stress very well, to put it mildly. Matt Bukirin offered to share his insights for managing teacher stress in the following article.  I’d like to thank Matt for being a guest author. I hope you find his advice useful. You can read more of Matt’s health tips on Movemo.

How Teachers Can Manage Stress through Five Fitness Tips

Matt Bukirin

It’s pretty well known that stress manifests itself in many different ways.  It negatively impacts the brain and the nervous system causing both harmful behavioral and physiological shifts such as overeating, headaches, irritability, and a suppressed immune system.  The effects of stress can be especially harmful for teachers, who day in and day out are doing one of the most important jobs, cultivating the minds of our youth.  So what can teachers do to help manage stress and increase their well-being? Make physical fitness a priority.  Multiple studies such as those published by the International Journal of Workplace Health Management have found that increasing fitness levels has several mental and health benefits including stress reduction and increase in productivity.

After a couple years of living with roommates who are teachers, I’ve discovered a few easy tips managing stress through fitness and increasing well being when your office is a classroom.

Join a recreational sports club or make your own group.

By joining a recreational sports club like a weekend volleyball or soccer team, I’ve seen teachers get more fit while playing away the stresses of their jobs.  If you aren’t capable of committing to a club with regular practices and games then start your own recreational group.  Invite a few friends and colleagues to play at the nearby park over the weekend.

Start an after school fitness activity for your students.

This can be in the form of a sport or even setting up group runs or races.  Not only will this keep you accountable to being active but you will serve as a good role model that healthy habits in their lives.

Sign up for a race, half or full marathon with your colleagues.

Many of my friends who are teachers have signed up for these each year knowing that it is the one kick in the butt that will force them to train and stay fit (you would have to be real foolish to sign up for a marathon and expect to finish without training).

Set up a fitness challenge with prizes for staff at your school

I’ve seen this popping up more and more in schools.  The idea is to set up a group challenge for teachers and staff by splitting people into teams and asking individuals to commit to a fitness challenge that they must complete to earn points for their team.  Try to be creative and have good prizes.  You would be surprised how many people are willing to participate once a game, challenge and prize are set up.

Set up your own home gym or bring equipment into the classroom

If you’re too busy and or just don’t want sign up for a gym membership, building your personal home gym is a great alternative.  You don’t need much maybe a few dumbbells, resistance bands, and a jump rope could easily get you started. You could even bring some of these things into the classroom for a quick workout during lunch or as a break from grading papers.   Making a workout accessible at home is a great and easy way to stay fit.  So grade a few papers in your living room and then make an easy transition into your home work out.

So here are a few tips that have helped a few teachers manage stress and increase well being by making fitness a priority.  I encourage you to try a few out and see what works.  Feel free to shoot me a few comments if you have some more creative ideas at matthew@movemofitness.com.

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Matt Bukirin is a NASM certified trainer and member of Movemo, a health and fitness company that teaches and empowers those who move our world forward to live healthier so that they can increase the positive change they make in the world.

How Teachers Can Manage Stress through Five Fitness Tips originally appeared on Teachers At Risk on May 10, 2012.

512 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I  just read about a new app for digital devices that students can use to let their teacher know whether they understand what the teacher is teaching.  No, it’s not the clicker some teachers use in their classrooms at school. It’s something new. The inventor called the new app the “confuseometer”.  It’s a good idea I suppose, especially now that Peel District School Board has invited students to bring their cell phones into the classroom to be used as a learning tool.  But,  I still like the old fashioned original digital device I have been using for years and years. What is that old fashioned original digital device- the thumb? Let me explain.

To check to see whether or not my students get what I was teaching  them, I   ask them to give me a thumbs- up to say they got it, a thumbs-sideways to say they got some of it, and a thumbs-down to say they didn’t have a clue what I was talking about.  This works really well.  Some kids stick that thumb way up into the air to say they got it while other kids  shyly hold their thumbs in front of their chest to say they kind of got it or didn’t have a clue. I can quickly survey the class to see whether or not I needed to try another way to reach the students who were having difficulty getting it. I want my students to take more responsibility for their learning and telling me they didn’t understand something is a powerful way for them to do that. I tell them that, too.

As much as I am addicted to using educational technology, often sometimes educational technology breaks down and doesn’t work.  A thumb is very reliable. It’s easy to use, doesn’t need batteries, requires little training  to learn to use it and kids like using it.  What can I say except thumbs- up.

Thumbs promote student understanding originally appeared on Teachers At Risk on May 7, 2012.

A strong young voice encouraging us to stand up against bullies. originally appeared on Teachers At Risk on April 14, 2012.

As you might know, I’m working toward my MEd. Actually I’m about 3/4 of the way through. It’s a lot of work, but I’m enjoying the intellectual stimulation. Right now, I’m just completing research for a paper and am just getting my thoughts together about the flipped classroom and how it could benefit my teaching practice and my academically at-risk students’ learning. When I finish my paper, hopefully by the end of next week, I’ll share my findings with you then.

I do however want to share the cool infograph about the flipped classroom I found during my research. If you’ve had experience using the flipped classroom strategy, I’d love to hear you insights.

Created by Knewton and Column Five Media

The flipped classroom strategy for academically at-risk students. originally appeared on Teachers At Risk on April 4, 2012.

I said earlier I can see how anger about what happened or didn’t happen in my teaching practice lead to my burnout. I’m sure there are many paths to teacher burn out but I’m going to share my thoughts about my experience hoping that someone can learn from my experience and avoid or at least reduce the significant work related stress that can occur when you are a classroom teacher.

This whole business about anger leading to my burnout is ironic because I’m constantly telling my students you cannot control what other people do or say. You can only control your reactions to what people do or say so control your reactions so they are mostly positive and not negative. Why I didn’t remember my own advice is beyond me. Why did I chose to get angry about things at work?

I’m passionate about teaching students who are academically at risk. I want to do whatever it takes for my students to be academically successful. I want the education system to do whatever it takes for my students to be academically successful. I want parents to do whatever it takes for my students to be academically successful, and I want my students to do whatever it takes for them to be academically successful. But, and this is a big but, I realize this attitude is totally unrealistic. It’s just not going to happen all of the time for all my students.

I now see how futile it is to be being angry about whatever the education system, whatever parents, whatever students or even whatever I did or didn’t do to support my students who are academically at risk . It doesn’t matter how much I want my students to get the support they need to help them be academically successful, it’s not always going to happen for all my students. It doesn’t matter how much I want to have all the support I need as a classroom teacher to be able to be the best I can be, it’s not always going to happen. That is the reality and there’s no point in getting angry. I found the angrier I got in my teaching practice, the less effective I became. I couldn’t do my best anymore. I was barely going through the motions. I love teaching too much to just go through the motions. I needed to take a break from teaching, and the significant work related stress I was experiencing so I did.  Now I am beginning to put everything into perspective.

I wish I had remembered and taken my own advice about not being able to control what other people do or say but being able to control my reactions to what other people do and say. Maybe by not being so angry about what should have happened and/or  didn’t happen in my teaching practice, I might have been able to save myself lots of grief.

What advice would you give a teacher who is struggling with significant work related stress?

Can anger cause teacher burnout? originally appeared on Teachers At Risk on March 8, 2012.

Teacher Salary Infographic created by Online Degree

Myths about teachers. originally appeared on Teachers At Risk on February 14, 2012.

Thirty years ago Finland’s education system was quite mediocre and very inequitable. In short, it was a mess. Sound familiar?  Today, Finland’s education system is a stunning success.  I know I’ve argued time and time again Finland’s success is irrelevant to us because we’re so different than Finland, but after looking more carefully I think there are some things we can learn from Finland’s education reform and apply to our education system.

The thing that made me think the reforms Finland made to its education system wouldn’t work here where I teach is because Finland’s population  is so different from ours. Finland’s population is  a homogeneous one while our population here in the Greater Toronto Area isn’t.  Five percent of  Finland’s population is foreign born while here  in the Toronto area  50% of the population is foreign born. Half of the immigrants in  Toronto have lived here less than 15 years.  Our schools are mosaics of 140 different languages and dialects- talk about heterogeneous  Finland has a low poverty rate of 5%.  Thirty percent of families live at the poverty rate here in Toronto. Poverty affects kids.  There is  an inequality in  educational outcomes for kids  who live in  poverty, the greater  the prevalence of poverty in Toronto , the greater the number of kids won’t be able  to  do as well as they might.  We are not going to be able to help poor kids improve their performance in school by teaching to the standardized tests.

Let me just say here  I discovered the definition of poverty is a bit more complex than I thought.     This link does a excellent job of defining poverty  in terms of absolute poverty (inability to meet basic needs) and relative poverty(distance from community norms). This other site  goes into more depth about absolute and relative poverty.  I’ve included the link in case you’re curious about the topic of poverty. You just never know!

OK, back to Finland.  What can we take from Finland’s education system to improve our education system?  Finland  instituted a number of educational reforms in the 1970′s that turned the education system around and made it the success it is in 2012. Finland’s reforms in education are based on the belief education is a tool to equalize members of society. There shouldn’t be extreme the gaps between rich and poor, that 1 percent  we read about who is ultra rich and powerful.  In Finland for the sake of equity, all students are offered free school meals as well as easy access to health care, psychological and individualized counseling . Kids don’t start school until they’re seven and spend the first 6 years of school  getting  ready to learn and find their passion. Homework is discouraged. There are no mandatory standardized tests, although at the end of upper-secondary school (American high school) students can voluntarily take the National Matriculation Exam.  Students receive report cards at the end of the semester and student assessments are based on individualized teacher created evaluations-quizzes, tests, assignments etc. 95 percent of students go on to vocational or academic schools. In other words, 95% of kids graduate.  We should do as well!

Teachers are well respected in Finland and are given much prestige as well as responsibility.  Surprisingly, it’s more difficult to get into teacher training programs than into law or medicine. Since 1970 all teachers in Finland must have a master’s degree which is paid for by the state (I can only wish the state would pay for mine. I’ve been spending $$$ to get my MEd. Thankfully, it won’t be much longer ($$$) until I’m finished.) In Finland, cooperation not competition amongst teachers and schools is encouraged.  There are no private schools in Finland. It’s the principal’s responsibility in Finland to deal with teacher’s who are not living up to their responsibilities.

I’m not sure how many of the reforms Finland implemented we could apply to our schools.  We certainly need to do something different though. The education system is failing our kid’s, especially our kids who live in poverty.

Which reforms would you want to see implemented?  Which of these reforms do you think we could implement?

We can learn from Finland’s school success despite the differences in our cultures originally appeared on Teachers At Risk on February 8, 2012.

Image via Wikipedia

I have come to a frightening conclusion.
I am the decisive element in the classroom.
It is my personal approach that creates the climate.
It is my daily mood that makes the weather.
As a teacher I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous.
I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration.
I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal.
In all situations it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated, and a child humanized or dehumanized.

–Haim Ginott

Yes, teachers possess a tremendous power to make students’  lives miserable or joyous.  Teachers are a decisive element in the classroom in many ways. Ginott focuses on the effect a teacher can have on the emotional well being of students.  But, teachers can affect more than students’ emotional well being.   A recent study found teachers are a decisive factor in students’ potential lifetime earnings .

Researchers Raj Chetty and John N. Friedman of Harvard University and Jonah E. Rockoff of Columbia University  have concluded poor teachers significantly reduce students’  life time earnings. Replacing poor teachers with average teachers  can boost a single classroom’s life time earnings by approximately $266, 000.  A poor teacher teaching for ten years can reduce the  life time earnings of his or her classes by approximately $2.5 million. I find that statistic remarkable.

You can access Chetty, Friedman, and Rockoff ‘s paper ” The Long-Term Impacts of Teachers : Teacher Value-Added and Student Outcomes in Adulthood”  here.

Poor teachers dramatically reduce students’ life-time earnings originally appeared on Teachers At Risk on February 1, 2012.

I’ve been recognized as somewhat of an authority on teaching academically at-risk kids. I’ve had a couple of articles from my blog published in a teachers preservice text. ASCD reviewed my blog as a blog worth reading. I’ve had boards of education ask me if they could use my articles in teacher workshops. I’ve facilitated workshops for teachers based on articles I’ve written. I’ve been interviewed on radio by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in syndication and I’ve been quoted in newspaper articles based on articles from my blog.

I started to and continue to write Teachers at Risk because I want to share what I’ve learned about teaching academically at-risk high school students for over 25 years and to provide a form for discussion about current topics in education. I’m pleased to say a vibrant learning community has developed around the articles and discussions in Teachers at Risk. In the past year, Teachers at Risk has had almost 200 000 visitors from over 100 countries. Who would have thought a blog about teaching academically at-risk kids  would generate that much interest. It’s so exciting.

I’d like to ask a favour of readers as I compile articles for my ebook The Best of Teachers at Risk. I’d appreciate your feedback to help me craft the most useful  ebook I can from the almost 500 articles I’ve written.  I’d like to know what topics and resources you’d be interested in seeing in the Best of Teachers at Risk. I’m really excited about doing this. I think I’m even going to get an artist to create a snazzy cover for The Best of Teachers at Risk.

Oh yes, I’d also like to know how much to charge for the ebook. I have no idea. I’m an educator and not a business person. How much would you be willing to pay for The Best of Teachers at Risk- $5, $10, $?. Would you like the option of getting The Best of Teachers at Risk in regular book  form as well? All is possible.

I value your input. Thank you so much.

Advice for ebook initiative- The Best of Teachers at Risk originally appeared on Teachers At Risk on January 18, 2012.

I’m going to limit the resolutions to just three because I’m not all that ambitious today.  It is New Year’s Eve after all. Besides, no one wants to be overwhelmed with next steps- at least that’s what my students tell me.

Since I’m not a 21^st century principal,  I thought I’d better do a bit of research to see what 21^st century  school leaders believe the essential traits of successful school leaders are. Of course as a teacher I have my own ideas (actually, lots of ideas) , but I don’t want my ideas  to prejudice what I say here so I think it best if I go to the horse’s mouth and ask 21st century school leaders what they consider to be the essential characteristics of  successful 21st century school leaders.

Education World has gone to the horses mouth.  It surveyed principals regarding what they considered to be the most important leadership traits for 21st century school leaders.  The principals in the survey maintained  the three most important characteristics for 21st century school leaders are having

• Vision and a Plan;
• Credibility and  trust;
• Visibility, communication  and walk-around management.

Let me quote:

Vision

If you don’t know where you are going, it makes no difference what path you take,” said Helene Dykes, principal at Marian Bergeson Elementary School, in Laguna Niguel, California. “Without a clear vision, you have no way to prioritize what is most essential. A clear vision allows you to focus energy on the most important things to do.”

Credibility

“If credibility and trust are not established, nothing the principal sets out to do can be achieved,” added principal Betty Luckett, of Oakes Elementary School, in Okemah, Oklahoma. “As a principal, trust and credibility are the foundation for my goals and objectives. It is also the fuel for my vision.”

Visibility

“An effective administrator must be visible,” said John Grady, principal at Fairgrounds Junior High School, in Nashua, New Hampshire. “Students, staff, and parents need to see the administrator in the classrooms, in the corridors, at lunches, at bus duty, and at extracurricular activities. If this is accomplished, the administrator will know his or her constituents, be aware of what is taking place in the building, and send the message to all that he or she is concerned.”

“High visibility is also a natural expression of interest and concern,” argued principal Marie Kostick.

 

Given what the principals in the Education World survey told me regarding the most important characteristics of successful  21st century school leaders,  I suggest  a 21^st century principal  make the following resolutions.

1. In the coming year, I shall have a vision for the school that I shall  share with all teachers, parents and students.

2. In the coming year, I shall set the standard by telling the truth and being up- front  with all  teachers, parents and students .

3. In the coming year, I shall get out of my office and be seen all over the school and make it a point to engage in two way communication with all teachers, parents and students.

OK,  if you are a 21st century school leader and has

• a vision and a plan that you share with all teachers, parents, and students;
• established credibility and trust with all teachers, parents and students;
• made yourself visible to all in and out of classrooms and engage in authentic two-way conversations

congratulations.  Your resolution can be to continue to

• have a vision for the school that I shall  share with all teachers, parents and students;
• set the standard by telling the truth and being up- front  with all  teachers, parents and students
• get out of your  office and be seen all over the school and make it a point to engage in two way communication with all teachers, parents and students.

I’ve just thought of a New Year’s a resolution for 21st century school leaders based on a trait not mentioned in the Education World survey of characteristics of  successful 21st century school leaders:

In the coming year, I shall  walk  several miles  in a classroom teacher’s shoes.

Resource

Education World

A teacher’s New Year’s resolutions for 21st century school principals originally appeared on Teachers At Risk on December 31, 2011.