Due to the continuing COVID 19 pandemic and various ongoing societal crises, many teachers and administrators are experiencing much higher levels of stress than ever before!
This article offers some scientific-based tips that can not only help you better manage your own stress, but is also worth sharing with your teachers to help them better cope with these challenging times, too!
In The Principal as Curriculum Leader (reference below), the authors remind us that “The principal should establish the importance of working together in a cooperative manner; establish conditions that support collaboration, and reward teachers who cooperate” (p. 169).
But how do principals “reward teachers who cooperate” without showing favoritism?
This can be a very tricky balancing act … especially because teachers who don’t like to collaborate are often overly sensitive about “rewards” and where they go, and teachers who aren’t as motivated as others tend to be even more sensitive!
I remember my first construction job where I worked hard to impress the boss. Within a week, two older employees cornered me and asked, “What are you trying to do, make us look bad?” At first I thought they were teasing, but one look at their faces ended that idea quickly! I was only 16 at the time, so I backed off on my efforts … but ended up quitting the job a few weeks later because I couldn’t deal with the stress of my personal work ethic colliding with theirs. Obviously I’ve never forgotten that experience.
I’ve run into similar situations in my educational career. But as an adult, I simply did what I thought was right regardless. However, as I stated above, this can be tricky once you’re the LEADER and you have some who are constantly watching monitoring for even a hint of favoritism!
The best I can offer is this list of great suggestions for rewarding your teachers. If you’re in a situation where you need to be cautious, some of these can be done quietly on the side so no one but the teacher knows. However, if you’re fortunate enough to have inherited (or built) a collaborative team, public rewards are great, too! Just be sure you spread them around so that no one feels left out.
Reference: Glatthorn, A. A., Jailall, J. M. S., & Jailall, J. K. (2017). The principal as curriculum leader: shaping what is taught and tested. Fourth edition. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin, a SAGE Publishing Company.
Due to the COVID 19 crisis, virtual classrooms and online learning attempts seemed to be everywhere. Even as some schools return to a new “normal,” there are indications that this approach to instructional delivery may become a permanent fixture. Some are even claiming this is the wave of the future, with legislators in a few states even suggesting that millions of dollars could be saved by converting most schools to virtual schools.
As with any new trend, people tend to jump on the bandwagon without significantly studying the long-term impact of such a change. As researchers continue to study the effectiveness of virtual classes, the consensus is that “Students tend to learn less efficiently than usual in online courses.” This article is an overview of the current thinking on this topic.
It’s also important to note that many studies suggest the lower the grade level, the less effective virtual instruction tends to be. In general, properly designed online learning works well at the graduate level, but positive results tend to be significantly lower with college freshmen. And while studies on high school and elementary school are just beginning (again, due to the pandemic), it’s only logical that the same progression would apply there as well.
Science-fiction writer, Issac Asimov, wrote a short story about this very topic back in 1951. Perhaps the underlying message is still relevant today.
After a distinguished career in education spanning more than three decades, Sir Ken Robinson has died. The author of several best-selling books, Robinson is best known for having given the most popular TED Talk of all time.
However, Robinson’s biggest legacy is the generation of educators he inspired with his strong encouragement to move away from schools as rigid test-prep factories toward a more artistic, liberating, and student-friendly environment. This was a much-needed and much-appreciated message.
Students in my courses know that I have used Robinson’s TED talks (and other materials) as a starting point for many discussions. His wisdom and humor will be greatly missed …
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