The Purpose Of A Personal Mission Statement Personal by Joel Wagner - July 26, 2007July 5, 20109 Last summer, I read The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. The book radically impacted me and helped me to begin becoming much more organized. This week, I was talking with a friend about his auto repair business. I asked him why he had to be at the shop all day every day. He told me it was because when he's not here, the guys who work there don't do a great job of greeting the customers. I remembered reading Stephen Covey's account of a great customer service experience he had in a business. Upon asking why it was that they had such a welcoming environment, he found that the company had a mission statement. On top of that, each
All Work And No Play Makes Joel A Dull Boy Personal by Joel Wagner - July 24, 2007July 5, 20107 I live in a relatively small town that is more than 20 minutes from the next closest smaller town, and more than 2 hours from the next closest larger town. I try to get involved in the community here, but I also want to maintain my own privacy. As a band director in a small town, I automatically achieve, at least minimally, some sort of celebrity status. It is difficult for me to go to the grocery store or a restaurant without seeing at least one family I know. I try not to let that really bother me, but one of the nasty side-effects of that is that I end up spending WAY more time at school than is really
How To Polish Your Resume To Rack Up Job Interviews General by Joel Wagner - July 16, 2007June 19, 20160 Polishing The Resume So you have just graduated from college and ready to enter the teaching field. Or maybe you are in the midst of your final days, weeks, or months of college education and want to know where to start. Or maybe you are simply looking for greener pastures. The deal is, nobody gets a job unless they first have a job interview. That's pretty obvious, right? So how do you get a job interview? There are a few ways, but the focus for today will be getting out the old resume and preparing to be interview bait. Some sticking points to remember are that everybody else applying for the job has a resume also. Yours has to jump out of
8 Steps To Building A Better Blog Blogging & Technology by Joel Wagner - July 15, 2007July 5, 20102 This really has nothing to do with education. I wanted to take a chance to stop and address some things that happened this week in my life and the life of this blog. Every day in the past week except for Tuesday, So You Want To Teach? saw more than 50 visitors. It's not like that constitutes a high-traffic blog or anything, but I see healthy, steady growth and want to look at some of the things that I have done to see this growth. Add content I started the blog in February, but only posted three articles a month until we got to the last week of May. Those articles are pretty good and help to form the
Habit 5: Community Habits Personal by Joel Wagner - July 13, 2007July 5, 20101 This is the fifth in a series of articles entitled 5 Habits of Highly Effective Teachers. Community Procedures How do you interact with your community? I know for many teachers, this is a frightening proposition. Reading some things that other teachers post, it seems that most teachers who live in the same community wherein they teach either participate in public activities either in fear, out of seeming ignorance, or with balance. this is probably my weakest area and something I am seriously working to get better at. If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Participating in fear This is probably the category I often find myself most associated with. These people avoid most public places. They do
Habit 4: Personal Habits Personal by Joel Wagner - July 12, 2007July 5, 20109 This is the fourth in a series of articles entitled 5 Habits of Highly Effective Teachers. What are some of the personal habits that are important to me? Personal Procedures What are some of the personal habits that are important to me? As I'm sitting here in the middle of the summer writing this, I realize that some of my structure has left my life. I stay up too late, and I wake up too late. I take longer than normal getting ready in the morning, and I sit and read a lot more now than I do during the school year. But disregarding that, here are some of the things that are important to me to keep my sanity
Habit 3: Relationship Habits Personal by Joel Wagner - July 11, 2007July 5, 20100 This is the third in a series of articles entitled 5 Habits of Highly Effective Teachers. Relationship Procedures In teaching, as in most any businesses -- and life in general -- relationships will either make you successful, or else make you fail. Our relationships spring ultimately from the first habit; our ability to communicate well. But good communication skills alone are not enough to establish powerful relationships. There are more important elements. Here is where again I point out the important role that reading How To Win Friends And Influence People has played in my life. Outstanding book. While on the subject of 5 Habits of Highly Effective Teachers, I felt it important to once again go over some
Habit 1: Communication Habits Stress Reduction by Joel Wagner - July 9, 2007May 29, 20163 This is the first in a series of articles entitled 5 Habits of Highly Effective Teachers. Communication Procedures Without question, one of the most essential elements of any good relationship is clear and open communication. As a teacher, practically everything that we do in the classroom is communication in one sense or another. With this in mind, it becomes evident why communication procedures are the most important skills for us to develop. I have previously written regarding some positive ways to communicate with others. This article is well worth the reading. However this time, we'll look at some procedures that can be set up that will facilitate greater communication. The first step to more effective communication is to eliminate unnecessary informational inputs from your life.
Creating Additional Income While Teaching Personal by Joel Wagner - June 27, 2007July 5, 20101 I know that some school districts pay their teachers for 10 months and then don't pay them throughout the summer. As far as I know, every district in Texas pays throughout the year. The district where I presently teach pays me twice a month, so I get 24 paychecks a year. To my knowledge, most other districts pay monthly. There are advantages and disadvantages to all of the various pay structures. The largest disadvantage I see to being paid on a 12-month contract is that it becomes WAY too easy for me to sit around and do nothing in the summer. On the other hand, I have free time to be able to plan, reorganize, and set up the classroom
9 Reasons To Quit Teaching (And 10 Reasons To Stick) Why Teachers Quit by Joel Wagner - June 18, 2007August 9, 201679 Life as a teacher can be awfully challenging. While the challenges change as we gain experience, there are always new ones. It can be an awfully lonely time for many teachers. This article looks at 9 reasons to quit teaching and also raises 10 reasons to stick with teaching. Think of the many reasons you have to quit teaching Bad students Bad administrators Bad curriculum Too much paperwork Too much negativity Too much responsibility Not enough time Not enough credit Not enough PAY Face it, you are not as good of a teacher as you could be. You're not living up to your potential. Nobody is. Where am I? Seth Godin says that you are in The Dip (What's The Dip?). This is that place
Clarity Leads To Organization Stress Reduction by Joel Wagner - June 15, 2007July 5, 20100 In my last post Organization Leads To Sanity, I wrote about how I personally get organized at work. In this post, I am going to give some pointers that I have and that I plan to begin implementing that will allow anyone to get and stay organized much more easily. These tips apply both to the physical workspace as well as the digital workspace. I am going to spend the next few weeks implementing them in my home as well in an effort to bring me a greater sense of purpose in everything I do. Declutter I touched on this one recently, and I seem to touch on it frequently, because it is vital. Eliminating clutter will
How Do I Keep My Sanity? Stress Reduction by Joel Wagner - June 13, 2007May 29, 20160 This article is part 7 of the series Questions That Will Save Your Career. Please read the other articles in the series. How Do I Keep My Students Quiet? How Do I Keep My Students Engaged? How Do I Keep My Students Interested? How Do I Keep My Students Learning? How Do I Keep My Students Away From Me? How Do I Keep My School Administration Happy? How Do I Keep My Sanity? 10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Quiet? 10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Engaged? 10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Interested? 10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Learning? 10 Years of
How Do I Keep My Students Away From Me? (4 Tips To Establish Boundaries) Personal by Joel Wagner - June 11, 2007May 29, 20161 This article is part 5 of the series Questions That Will Save Your Career. Please read the other articles in the series. How Do I Keep My Students Quiet? How Do I Keep My Students Engaged? How Do I Keep My Students Interested? How Do I Keep My Students Learning? How Do I Keep My Students Away From Me? How Do I Keep My School Administration Happy? How Do I Keep My Sanity? 10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Quiet? 10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Engaged? 10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Interested? 10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Learning? 10 Years of Teaching:
How Do I Keep My Students Engaged? General by Joel Wagner - June 8, 2007June 13, 201210 This article is part 2 of the series Questions That Will Save Your Career. Please read the other articles in the series.How Do I Keep My Students Quiet?How Do I Keep My Students Engaged?How Do I Keep My Students Interested?How Do I Keep My Students Learning?How Do I Keep My Students Away From Me?How Do I Keep My School Administration Happy?How Do I Keep My Sanity?10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Quiet?10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Engaged?10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Interested?10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Learning?10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Away From Me?10 Years of
Sharpen The Saw Personal by Joel Wagner - May 26, 2007July 5, 20100 In his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey refers to Habit #7 as "Sharpen The Saw." As teachers, the summer vacation offers us a structured time to do just that. Here is a list of some things that I intend to do with myself this summer: Move to my new office Reread The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People Reread How To Win Friends And Influence People Read Getting Things Done (GTD) Make lists of what worked this year and what didn't work Revise my educational philosophy accordingly Revise my band handbook Set up a website for my band Add lots of cool content to the website Write an ebook Post to this blog DAILY