Less Stress: Work Hard At Work Stress Reduction by Joel Wagner - October 31, 2007July 5, 20101 How much time is wasted in classrooms around the world each day? How much time is wasted in businesses each day because employees are not diligently using their time? As I've written before, I view squandered time at work as being equivalent to stealing from the employer. One of the best ways to avoid having to take work home is to get all of your work done while you are at work. The key to making this happen is to work hard at work. Here is a 10-step method to work hard at work. Have a list of work to do before the day begins (include due dates and times) Break down large tasks into smaller chunks Prioritize the
Less Stress: Work Only At Work Stress Reduction by Joel Wagner - October 30, 2007July 5, 20102 I rarely take work home any more. I used to do it all the time. Then I noticed something. I rarely got any work done at home, and I felt guilty about not getting it done at home. I also realized that when I didn't take work home, I didn't fall too far behind when I got back to school. I am able to find ways to catch up, or find corners to cut. What if the only work we had to grade were quizzes and exams? How would that transform our classrooms and our lives? What if we set up our grading scale something like this: Daily Work - 10% Quizzes - 40% Tests - 50% I understand that
Less Stress: Only Work At Work Stress Reduction by Joel Wagner - October 29, 2007July 5, 20100 Each morning when I come into the band hall, there are always a handful of students who come to drop off their instruments before school. Often they will come in and stand around talking. Because our custodian runs the vacuum each day and doesn't fix the chairs after he finishes, the entire classroom has to be set up each day. I would prefer that they either practice their instruments or leave, but my coworker wants his students to come in and socialize or whatever. Since he gets to school later than I do, I have come up with a plan that works. I tell them to find something productive to do. That could be setting up chairs and stands, practicing,
Less Stress: Deepen Your Relationships With Books Stress Reduction by Joel Wagner - October 26, 2007July 5, 20104 I love reading. I don't do it nearly enough, but I still do love it so. I find that many people don't read a single book after they graduate from high school. As teachers, we are also supposed to be lifelong learners. We should be desperate to learn about more and more stuff. I find that as I read more books, especially nonfiction books, I learn more and am able to come to the place of deeper peace with myself. As I learn more about the world, I also learn more about myself. Though personal development books challenge my ideas about the world, they also challenge me to grow and become a better person. I generally don't read much education
Less Stress: Deepen Your Relationships With Coworkers Stress Reduction by Joel Wagner - October 25, 2007July 5, 20100 I touched on this topic before in Deepen Your Relationships With Friends, but I want to get even more involved here. I want to look at specific ways that you can collaborate with coworkers. More experienced teachers These people are the lifeblood of education. We've all had at least a small handful of teachers who we had in school whom everyone KNEW were older than the school building, but was afraid to say it. We all know the type. But they truly love teaching. They can imagine nothing else they would do with their lives! These are the people you need to hook up with. Not only can they be unvaluable sources of free information, but they also generally thrive
Less Stress: Deepen Your Relationships With Students Stress Reduction by Joel Wagner - October 24, 2007June 13, 20122 Wow. I love my students. I am amazed that I haven't written more on my blog about this fact. As I search through my blog, I have come to the realization that I probably come across as some heartless disciplinarian who expects nothing more from his students than that they be quiet all the time. This is about as far from the truth as you can get. In fact, I love my students very much. I came to the determination three years ago that classroom management was a key element of demonstrating my love to them. You see, when we allow them to waste their education, we are showing unconcern for them rather than courtesy. One of my key scriptures as
Less Stress: Deepen Your Relationships With Friends Stress Reduction by Joel Wagner - October 23, 2007July 5, 20100 A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Proverbs 17:17 Some of the greatest stress relief I have had since moving away from my family has been with friends. Either other teachers as well as church friends or even other friends you have met through other social activities. Maybe hooking up with college or old high school buddies. Whatever it is, hanging with friends is a great stress reliever. Just sitting and talking about things unrelated to school can be great. Sitting and talking about things related to school can also be great. I learn a lot from my teacher friends. Some of my greatest learning experiences are when I am trying to help them
Less Stress: Deepen Your Relationships With Family Stress Reduction by Joel Wagner - October 22, 2007July 5, 20102 We now begin our fourth week of 25 Tips For Less Stress. I have thoroughly enjoyed writing these articles as they have helped me to really focus on some of the routines that I take for granted in my life. When I have been tempted to relax on some of them, I have reread my own writings and been once again inspired to stick it out. This week, we begin focusing on relationships. Today we'll begin with the most important relationships of all: family members. Family disagreements will carry over into every aspect of what we do in life. If you fight with your spouse in the morning before work, one way or another you will take it out on
But I Don’t Want To Teach! General by Joel Wagner - October 21, 2007July 5, 20103 Some people come by this site and blow it off because they don't ever have any dreams of sitting inside a classroom and teaching young hellions. That's fine. But these people fail to realize that we all are teachers in one sense of the word or another. The problem is that many people don't see this and end up blowing it when it comes their chance to actually teach something. Maybe we teach a child how to tie her shoe. Maybe we teach a friend how to play a new guitar chord. Maybe we teach our coworker the unwritten rules of the workplace. Maybe we teach our parents how to use electronics. Whatever the case, everyone is a teacher of
5 Ways To Win When Children Test Your Limits Classroom Management by Joel Wagner - October 20, 2007July 5, 20107 I'm taking a break today from my Stress Reduction series and getting back to some real teaching issues. That's why we're here anyway, right? So August and September have come and gone with great behavior. Now the students are beginning to do a lot more testing of the limits. It's been a while since I have taught 7th & 8th graders and now I remember how much they like to get away with. Even the good students do things from time to time that just boggle my mind. WHY DID YOU DO THAT? It's crazy. How do I handle these misbehaving miscreants? Stick to your rules Consistency is the only way for success in this area. Just because
Less Stress: Reduce Your Lifestyle Stress Reduction by Joel Wagner - October 19, 2007July 5, 20100 As I mentioned yesterday, westerners generally have too much stuff. That is the result of an extravagant lifestyle that television and popular media promote. The idea is that we shouldn't be satisfied with what we have. That's the whole underlying motivation behind much of the advertising industry. Credit cards are a big source of woe for many people. They are a major cause for bankruptcies in America and they are really a symptom of a much greater issue. The issue is dissatisfaction. In the last 17 months, I have paid off over $8,500 in debts. Through listening to Dave Ramsey and reading his book The Total Money Makeover and reading Trent's blog The Simple Dollar, I have come to realize
Less Stress: Reduce Possessions Stress Reduction by Joel Wagner - October 18, 2007July 5, 20101 My name is Joel. I have too much stuff. Most people in the western world have way more stuff than we know what to do with. The thriving success of self storage units is a testimony to this fact. Possessions add clutter We spent all last week looking at steps to reduce stress by decluttering your life. Some people recommend simply ignoring the clutter. That is definitely one valid option. It doesn't work well for me, though. So I strive to reduce the amount of stuff I own that can potentially add clutter, which will in turn increase my stress level. I am not necessarily advocating living as a hermit or social discontent, but I have personally found that simplifying
Less Stress: Reduce Phone Calls Stress Reduction by Joel Wagner - October 17, 2007May 29, 20163 I got an email from one of our secretaries yesterday asking me to call one of the other administrative assistants. The message left no indication of why I should call her. I have not yet called her and I don't intend to do so. I have a problem with phone calls. In a world where email has become a standard of communication at work, phone calls are a mere inconvenience Phone calls pose as important interruptions Often they are unimportant or at the very least delayable. At the worst, they are totally unimportant. Phone calls allow someone else to control our environment. I don't answer the phone during class I made the decision my third year of teaching to never stop to answer the phone
Less Stress: Reduce Responsibilities Stress Reduction by Joel Wagner - October 16, 2007July 5, 20100 Time is a commodity where everyone is equal. But some people seem to do a whole lot more with their time and others seem to do a whole lot less. But we all stay busy. The problem is that some people choose how to fill their lives and other people allow their lives to be filled. It's so easy to get into the trap of agreeing to do everything that anyone asks us to do. Ever wonder why it is the youngest teachers who end up doing the most work in many schools? It's because the experience teaches us that our class suffers when we take on too many responsibilities. Basic time management List your responsibilities Prioritize your list,
Less Stress: Reduce Paperwork Stress Reduction by Joel Wagner - October 15, 2007May 29, 20160 One of the biggest drains on my energy is paper clutter. One of the biggest drains on the environment is trash. For these reasons, I try to do everything I can digitally rather than with paper. I am so used to having so much paperwork, that I forget what it would be like without it. I went to school to be a band director, not a clerical assistant, but there are entire days where all I do is office work while another director teaches my class. Fundraising, returned progress reports, ARD forms, absence notes, hall passes, schedule change forms, field trip requests, receipts, deposit slips, you name it, I have it. Oh yeah, the students also occasionally turn work in too! Here's