A Few Reminders for Educators

I'm Brian Martin, I'm a second grade teacher who find so much joy and fulfillment in what I do. Being in the classroom for almost 20 years, I know all about the time, effort and energy that you are continuously pouring into those you serve. That's why each week, I'm going to bring you an inspiring message to give you a little joy, and help fill your cup back up. Thank you for being here, and welcome to the teaching champions podcast. What's going on everybody, I hope this finds you striving and thriving and doing absolutely amazing. Halloween was in the air this week, my friends. This past Friday, we had our Halloween celebration. And it was a good time, the kids had a lot of fun, they brought their A game with their costumes. And the creativity that some of these parents have is so unbelievable. And we did have a little incident though, because what would be a party if there wasn't something. Now my students, they were all decked out for Halloween. And one of the traditions at the primary level is to have a Halloween parade. And this year due to circumstances in the world, my school decided to take all the students in a costume, create a video, and then share that online for the families. While my students, they had gym right before it was our turn shoot the portion of the parade. So I take my students down the gym, I go back up into my room, I'm doing some work. And after a few minutes, I hear one of my students across the hall in the nurse's office. So I made my way over there. And I'm checking up on him. And he informs me that his pants to his costume ripped on him and Jim. Now think about how much of a bummer this would be. You're seven years old. You're all hyped for Halloween. And then a few minutes before you get to go film your part for the Halloween parade, your pants rip is devastating. And all things considered this young man took it very well. Now he's sitting up in the nurse's office. And the nurse breaks out a needle and thread and she goes to town. And she had these pants looking new and Jiffy. Right away. Now, there's a reason why he wasn't brought back to me. The phys ed teacher probably figured that I would have broken out some duct tape and taped his leg all up to try and fix that rip. Now, I'm just joking about that. But what I'm not joking about is the fact that the nurse went above and beyond. She had those pants looking good and ready to go in no time at all. And why am I telling you this? Because it's about what you choose to see what you choose to look for. One of my favorite quotes that I hold on to is by Mr. Rogers mom. And she would tell Mr. Rogers whenever he gets scared to look for the helpers, you will always find people help. It doesn't matter what level you teach at or where you teach at. If you look around you, you can see people helping one another. Because what we look for is what we're going to find. And if we're focused on the negative, you're going to find it. And if you're open to seeing the good, the helpers, those who go above and beyond, like my school nurse, then you're going to find that as well. And this is gonna affect how you feel about your school culture. That's my little tidbit for today. So let's get into the episode. Today I want to dive into a book written by Dr. Brad Johnson and Hal Bowman, who are both educational thought leaders and their books titled dear teacher 100 days of inspirational quotes and anecdotes. And within it, they drop a lot of reminders that are meant to inspire and encourage us. So I'm just going to share a few with you today. One of the first reminders that they give us is to remember that you are not in competition. You don't have to be just like or better than The teacher next to you. And I think it's important to remember this, you know, when we become consumed with test scores, when we become consumed, whose classroom looks the best, who gets the most recognition, we're only doing a disservice to ourselves and to our students. What we want to do is move from a place of competition to collaboration, is taking that shift from viewing it is my classroom, to my school, from being focused on the students who are directly in our classroom, to looking at all the students in the school and saying each and every single one of them are our students, saying, I may not be working with them directly. But what are the ways that I can support the students and the other teachers to help them excel. And that's an important mindset. So when you look at school, don't approach it as if you have to be better than everyone else. See your colleagues as your team, be there to support to encourage to inspire each other, share and learn from one another. Because when we do this, we learn we grow, we create a school culture that allows our champions to find great success. Dr. Johnson and Mr. Bowman, they also point out that we shouldn't be comparing our chapter one to someone else's chapter 30. And this is so easy to do. Educators, we're high achievers, we like to be great at what we do. And we can fall into a trap. When we start comparing ourselves to other educators, whether it's in our own buildings, or sometimes even worse, when you log on to social media, and you see what others are doing. It's not a pleasant feeling when you feel less than, especially when you've been pouring long hours and lots of energy into something. That's why it's so important that we shouldn't be comparing ourselves at the beginning of our journeys to someone else who's been doing something for a long time. Because there's no way a first year teacher is going to have the same amount of wisdom. As a teacher who's been doing something for over a decade, you may have been teaching for a long time and switch gray levels, you're now to the content is going to be a lot less than someone who's been teaching in that grade level for a long time. So you have to give yourself some grace, you have to step back and stop comparing yourself to others, and start learning from others embrace me new at something. One of my favorite authors is Ryan Holiday. And he's always talking about stoicism. And I've heard him say on several different occasions, that we should not be competing against others, we should be cheering others on and competing only against ourselves. So be on the lookout for those around you. If they're farther ahead of you in something, seek them out and see what you can learn from them. And if you're farther ahead of someone else, make it a point to share with them some of the things that you've learned. Another reminder that Dr. Johnson and Hal Bowman share in this book, is to remember that you don't have to be perfect to be great. Does that perfectionist that is floating inside of you need to be reminded of this? How many times have you torn yourself down because you feel that you didn't do good enough that that little gremlin inside of you became the loudest voice. And instead of focusing on all the good things of your lesson, all the successes that your students had, all the positive feedback that you received, that Gremlin was there with a megaphone telling you that it could have been better, that you didn't do enough that you let your champions down, that someone else did it better. We say things to ourselves, and we nitpick everything that we do so much more than we would ever do for others in our lives. So be aware when that voice inside of you is turned all the way up and it's just tearing you down. Remind yourself that perfection is a myth. And sometimes when we are far from perfect, that we can be the most encouraging and the most inspiring to those around us. It's that humanity and it makes it so others can relate to us better. At the end of the day. If you look you're In the mirror, in, you know, you gave what you had that day, then that should make you beyond proud of yourself. One more reminder that I want to share from the book is something very powerful. I would say that it was my favorite chapter in the book. And it's the greatest reminder as well. It's all about stepping back, taking time to think of what you needed to hear, when you're an adolescent, and sharing those words with your students. The author talks about being in a conference, the presenter there, had half the audience form a circle with their chairs, and sit down facing the center, the remaining half of the audience was asked to stand behind someone that was sitting, they were then asked to close their eyes and go back to a time that they were in school, when they were struggling. And they needed someone to care for them. It could have been in elementary school, middle school or high school, then they were asked to think of a specific event that was happening on a particular day. And they were asked to remember what that felt like to feel those feelings to re experience that time again. And the author said at that moment, you could hear sniffling throughout the room. And the presenter went on and said, What did you hear on that day? Was there a adult in your life whose support you needed? What did you need from them? What did you wish they set, She then told those who are standing to put their hand on the shoulder of the person sitting before them to lean down and whisper to that person, whatever it was that they needed to hear on that day. Then they were instructed to move to the next person and share. And those who are sitting would keep their eyes closed. And just listen. While doing this, the author said, the lights were dimmed. And the presenter turned on Sarah McLaughlin song in the arms of an angel. And the author said that person after person came up behind him and whisper what they needed to hear on that particular day. He said it was fascinating, because over and over again, the same phrases were repeated. And they were some form of I accept you. I appreciate you. I believe in you. I am proud of you. I love you. Every single day, there are going to be people who come into our lives, and they're struggling. Some of them it's easy to tell. But there's so many others that hide it with different disguises that they want the world to see. But many of them just need to hear. I accept you. I appreciate you. I believe in you. I'm proud of you. I love you. And they need to hear again, and again. And again. These are just a few of the gems in the book, dear teachers 100 days of inspirational quotes and anecdotes by Dr. Brad Johnson and how Bowman and it's an easy read. But it's an impactful read. It's a book that you can read a short chapter and then take some time and reflect on how it truly relates to your world. Definitely recommend it. I just want to thank you for being here. Being part of the teaching champions community, we encourage we support we lift each other up. And if you found value in today's episode, I would truly appreciate it if you could share with others. Also subscribe, leave a review because it helps more people see the podcast and we're all about trying to add some positivity into the educational space. And always remember, whether you're from rural America, to urban America, to Canada to Spain to Bahrain, we're all on that same team. We're all on that same mission. And we're always better together. And my challenge for you this week is to use your words to affect those around you. Whether it's students or colleagues, every single one of us is going through something and there are people that are truly struggling today. In your words. You taking that time to tell someone I accept you. I appreciate you. I believe in you. I'm proud of you. I love you. Those words can make all the difference in the world to somebody. So each and every single day this week, let them know. Fill them up. Share those words that you needed to hear on your darkest days. Keep being amazing, my friends, and as we go out into the week, May you step into your strength may step into your shine, and let's build our champions up. Have a great week, everybody