Edapt | News | BLOG: Why do teachers burn out? Katie Ashford is an English teacher in a secondary school in the Midlands, these are her individual views. Hello everyone. My name is Katie Ashford and I am a workaholic. Giving up working insanely hard was more of a challenge than giving up smoking. The threat of yellow teeth, empty pockets, lung cancer and premature death was enough to make me pack in that filthy habit over a year ago, but working harder than is necessary and healthy, for some reason, is much tougher to quit.
Allow me to transport you back to September 2011, when I began my foray into the world of teaching. Everything was high stakes, and there was high potential for burnout. Of course, for many reasons, I wasn’t very good at all when I first entered the classroom. It wasn’t long before I started to flag. And I wasn’t alone. There is a strange and unhelpful expectation that seems to float around teachers’ collective conscience, berating us every time we put the exercise books to one side and pick up a biscuit. Guilt. How PD can make real change. Writing blogs like this one and interacting with teachers on Twitter and the like can make edtech teacher types, like me, forget that it is still the case that the majority of teachers are not confident or regular users of modern technologies (social, mobile & student-centred) and need effective introduction and explanation of their benefits.
I would estimate this majority of the non-confident to still be around 80%. I have been Head of Department in my current school for just one year and a number of my teachers have highlighted recently how far they’ve come in just one year. I thought I’d share my approach to providing PD and why it might be that it seems to work (well, some of it) Why does so much Professional Development NOT work? “PD’s never to do with how I teach”“I always forget PD because I don’t use it immediately”“PD’s a waste of my time”“It’s always too much to take in”“I’m not confident with using technology in my teaching” Photo Credit Link Photo Credit Link Photo Credit Link. Search results for leadership. A colleague and I were doing a workshop at a school today. I was filling in for someone who had been out and the content were we covering, I thought, would be better if we taught it together.
And that also allowed one of us to teach while the other floated around the room to help teachers who got behind or need a little extra encouragement. The workshop was just like any other. Participants were very engaged and really enjoyed the content we were teaching. They asked great questions and were really excited to go back to their classrooms and try out what were covering. As we were preparing to leave a teacher said, "I have a question. " "Sure! " "Why are we doing this workshop? " Most people in my position have heard this question before. "That sounded very rude," she said. Ok, at this point I am beginning to understand what she is talking about. "I have a suggestion," she said. To say I was speechless is really an understatement.
That, folks is Leadership. "These kids deserve better right? GingerLewman : RT @Ev_Giannopoulos: Are you... The Only 2 Things You Should Be Discussing in Meetings. Shock of the new. Down through the ages, there has always been resistance to change. The infographic on this page bears testament to that fact. Specifically, there has always been opposition to new technologies. Sabotage - a word synonymous with subversion through deliberate destruction, was first coined following the 15th century attempts of Dutch workers to break the newly introduced and very unpopular textile looms. It was rumoured that the workers threw their sabots (wooden clogs) into the machinery to break the cogs, because they feared that the new machines would render human workers obsolete. The same mentality was present when robots were introduced into the car manufacturing industry late in the last century, although less overt kinds of opposition manifested then.
Even today, many people still shun the automated teller machines (ATMs) because they don't trust them. Why are people technophobic? Much of our fear of technology is represented in popular culture. Graphic source: Fear of the New. Student-delivered PD: An idea whose time has come? | Dangerously Irrelevant. [cross-posted at the TechLearning blog] A collection of thoughts about P-12 professional development, with a (hopefully) whiz-bang ending… Big idea 1: Most current staff development is awful. We have known for decades what leads to powerful adult learning and what constitutes effective professional development.
Yet the 3– or 4–days per year, ‘sit and get,’ one-size-fits-all training model still persists on a large scale. Shame on us. Big idea 2: School vision statements are feckless. You’d be hard-pressed to find a school organization that doesn’t have a vision, mission, or purpose statement that says blah blah blah life long learning blah blah blah. Big idea 3: Schools have a great deal of internal expertise. At the risk of impacting my occasional consulting income, I’m willing to say that most districts would be better served by having in-house experts deliver training rather than paying some outside guru big bucks to come in for a day (or hour). Big idea 4: Students are experts too. 7 Characteristics of a Good Leader. Being a manager and being a leader are two completely different things. As a manager, people follow you because they have to.
As a leader, people follow you because they want to. If you took a poll of management in the United States, you’d likely find that people would want to be leaders as opposed to managers. Leaders have certain qualities and characteristics that endear them to their followers. Here are seven characteristics that you’ll need to develop if you want to become a good leader: 1. You expect your employees to be dedicated, but how are they supposed to be when they see that their boss isn’t? When they see how much you love your job and want your company to succeed, they will follow suit. 2.
As a boss, there are some things that are better kept from your employees. If they were supposed to know everything that you do, there would be no need to have you, right? If an employee approaches you and asks you something, be honest and open with them. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Like this: Related. How An LMS and BYOD Changed A School. The School's profile The Southport School is a P-12 (K-12) private Anglican school for boys located in Southport on Queensland’s Gold Coast. Established in 1901, the school caters to both boarding and day students and has an excellent reputation for sports and leadership.
Historically, the academic strength of the school has been built on the excellence of its teachers, mainly operating in the traditional “chalk and talk” or teacher-led mode. The parents show great confidence in the ability of these teachers to provide a sound traditional education. A staff survey (Appendix 1) taken in February 2013 showed that more than one quarter of staff had 25 years’ service or more while around 55% had 10 or more years of service. The question for my colleague Jo Inglis, Head of Learning & Teaching was “Was it possible to make changes to classroom pedagogy in educational technology?” This approach is commonly referred to as blended learning and is ideally managed as teacher-led and student-centred.
Planning the Tech PD: Why Aren’t “Reluctant” Teachers Attending Training? I hear a great deal of chatter amongst other “edtechs” about sessions that they offer. Typically, GAFE districts offer tons of google trainings. Districts that cater to specific devices offer trainings on those devices. I hear a great deal about “appy hour” and “tech challenges” that are really focused on the platforms themselves.
In some districts, trainings are determined entirely by those giving the trainings according to what they enjoy teaching as opposed to what actual needs exist. Everyone wants to know how to engage the reluctant teachers who are not buying in to learning about the latest greatest app or who are not invested in utilizing the devices on their campuses. Below are some of the sample questions that I’ve captured over time.
How does one evaluate placement of technology within required curriculum? Address their questions and help them to come up with solutions that work for their learners. Like this: Like Loading... Education Week. As a school leader, I always believed that I was the biggest contributor to our school climate. It's not that I believe school leaders have the most important job in the school, because everyone plays an important part in the school community, but the climate of the school begins with the school leader. As Todd Whitaker says, "When the principal sneezes the whole school catches a cold. " It's not always an easy job...nor should it be.
School leaders contribute to the climate every moment of every day. Whether its the way they talk with staff, students and parents or how they carry a message from the central office. Do they focus on learning? Or... Do they focus on compliance? Our current climates are constantly at risk. The Common Core may have potential to be powerful for many students and teachers, but they are going to need to evolve from where they are right now. The CCSS are just one piece of a much larger puzzle in education.
Only then will our school climate improve... In the End. Inc.com. Tips. Tips. 16 ways classroom projectors can be MUCH more effective. Schooling for Personally Significant Learning: Is it possible? - Erica McWilliam - Schooling for personally significant learning – pipe dream or possibility? Dean Ashenden’s recent paper ( suggests that it’s very unlikely. Peter Taylor and I are a bit more sanguine, despite the obstacles, as we explain in our recent paper. Schooling for Personally Significant Learning: Is it possible? Erica McWilliam and Peter Taylor This is a sequel to our paper: Personally Significant Learning: Why our kids need it, why they are unlikely to have it, and what we can do about it.
What’s the difference between schooling and learning? In a recent paper[i] reflecting ruefully on Australian schooling over the last hundred years, educational policy analyst and commentator Dean Ashenden makes a strong case that schooling and personally significant learning continue to be at odds with each other. OFL 2: Teachers have a legal duty of care to their students equivalent to that of caring parents. What’s counted counts. Dear Administrators, Please Rescue the Staff Meeting. Image from someecards There are few things that induce quite as visceral reaction as bringing up staff meetings to teachers. (If in doubt check all the someecards that have been made discussing it!)
It is not that teachers are opposed to meetings, after all most meetings mean collaboration, the reaction is more to what we think happens at staff meetings: you sit and get information and then you leave. Not exactly the most inspiring use of anyone’s time. But it doesn’t need to be like this anymore. How about skipping all of the information giving? What did I miss? I am a passionate (female) 5th grade teacher in Wisconsin, USA, proud techy geek, and mass consumer of incredible books. Like this: Like Loading... Related. 5 Reasons Introverts Make Better Leaders. It's no coincidence that some of our greatest leaders have been introverts, from Bill Gates to Abraham Lincoln and Albert Einstein.
Here's a peek at the introvert's guide to success. November 06, 2013 Research shows that approximately 50 to 55 percent of American males are introverts. For females, that number is 47 to 55 percent. Ironically, some of the most successful or admired people, of past and present, are introverts. Thanks to recent publications such as Susan Cain's Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, and her TED talk, which was viewed by more than 5 million people, the portrayal of introverts is changing for the better. 1. Introverted leaders are generally considered to be better listeners. Extroverted leaders, on the other hand, can be a liability if their followers are extroverts who like to take the initiative and make suggestions. 2. In a meeting, while everyone is busy talking, introverts are busy processing their thoughts. 3. 4. 5.
Teacher Agency: Educators Moving from a Fixed to a Growth Mindset. It is a myth that we operate under a set of oppressive bureaucratic constraints. In reality, teachers have a great deal of autonomy in the work they chose to do in their classrooms. In most cases it is our culture that provides the constraints. For individual teachers, trying out new practices and pedagogy is risky business and both our culture, and our reliance on hierarchy, provide the ideal barriers for change not to occur. As Pogo pointed out long ago, “we have met the enemy and it is us.” Educational psychology has focused on the concepts of learned helplessness and more currently growth-fixed mindsets as a way to explain how and why students give up in the classroom setting. These ideas can also be applied to educators in this day of forced standardization, testing, scripted curriculum, and school initiatives.
How you interpret challenges, setbacks, and criticism is your choice. Teacher Agency. Five leadership lessons LEGO can teach us. Deeper Learning Blog Carnival: Six Questions for Better Professional Development. After last week's carnival (see below for previous entries), we now digging into what makes effective professional development. Allison Rowland from Envision Schools describes her and Envision Schools approach to late night fun -- planning deep and engaging PD! What Makes PD Stick? The night before I run professional development, I can't sleep because I'm excited about the plan. I thought that I would rest easier when I stopped being a classroom teacher, but I still stay up with familiar butterflies. The tossing and turning at 1:00am stems from feeling the huge potential for PD to do something big.
I could develop educators' ability to change students' lives, or on the flip-side, I might not change much at all. As a leader of PD, I continually ask: What makes professional development stick? Over time, I have come to the realization: excellent PD is excellent teaching, not so different from classroom teaching. Thus, I prepare for PD like I'm preparing for a class with students. 1. 2. 3.
Connected Educator Month...What You Need To Know #CE13. "Alone we are smart but together we are brilliant. " October has been declared by the U.S. Department of Education to be Connected Educator Month. Started in 2012, an entire month of webinars, blog posts, ideas, discussions and more are dedicated to increasing awareness of the importance of educators to get connected. I have been honored to be a part of the planning process and give input and ideas to the entire team that is working tirelessly to promote various events, tools and resources for educators to use throughout October.
What do you need to know about Connected Educator Month? The main website is The hashtag is #ce13 While the calendar on my laptop says September, events have already begun. One thing that can be tough to do is explain what exactly a connected educator is and why it matters. Another set of resources you want to be sure to take some time to check out are the Starter-Kits. The other not-to-miss resource is the District Starter-Kit. How to deal with co-workers who constantly complain. Big Data Makes Its Mark on Schools — For Better or Worse. 4 Apps For Optimizing Teacher Workflow.
The Secret to Feeling Energized at Work? Autonomy. How Leadership Can Make or Break Classroom Innovation. Teachers & Social Media | Teachers & Social Media. Leading Innovative Change Series – A New Staff Experience. Mindset | How can you change from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset? Future Of Graffiti? Augmented Reality Street Art [VIDEO]: Augmented Reality News TV. Presentation Resources. The Benefits Of Being A Social Leader For Today's Organizations.