[INFOGRAPHIC] What Makes A Good Teacher In 2016? Inspiration by Joel Wagner - June 17, 2016July 5, 20160 According to ITN Mark Education, there are 7 key components of a good teacher. Love of the subject Stress Management Complete control Organization Professional behavior Expert instructional methods Praise It's interesting that through the years, I have written about each of these concepts on this blog. Below are links to a few articles with a brief quote from that article. From Burnout To Ignited Passion: How Blogging, Information Overload, and Running Made Me A Better Teacher So I have to get back to me being me. I inspire people simply by being me. You do too. But do yourself and me and everyone else a favor and go out there to be the most awesome, amazing, passionate version of you that you
Father’s Day Recommendations General by Joel Wagner - June 16, 2010May 28, 20130 This Sunday is Father's Day. It's not too late to buy that last-minute gift if you haven't already. I read at least four books this school year that were amazing. If your father reads and thinks, these would be ideal. :) I read some others, but some of them were music education related, and others just wouldn't be quite as Father's Day specific as these, so here we go... The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell (Paperback available new for $9.35) Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking By Malcolm Gladwell (Paperback available new for $9.35) Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell (Hardcover available new for $11.72) Outstanding!: 47 Ways to Make Your Organization Exceptional by
Teacher Burnout: 20 Insights From a 17-Year Veteran Teacher On The Brink of Burnout Stress Reduction by Joel Wagner - June 26, 2009June 30, 20103 In rereading the last about teacher burnout, I was struck by a handful of things that my reader mentioned in the email. I thought it was powerful enough that it was worth digging into deeper, and yet I didn't want to dilute the conversation that might come as a result of the emotional impact of the reader's email. With that being said, here are 20 insights from a 17-year veteran teacher about things that teachers ought to be doing. Take care of your body Avoid whiners Get more sleep Accept imperfection from yourself Don't expect to make everyone happy Don't abuse your sick days, but do use them Relax more Have trusted friends who can smack you upside the
Teacher Burnout: A Sad Story Why Teachers Quit by Joel Wagner - June 26, 2009June 30, 20107 About a month ago, I received this email in my Inbox: After 17 years of teaching, I was diagnosed with 'burnout' and needed to take some time off. I fought it, but when the lab results showed body systems shutting down, I complied... for awhile. Part-time only made it worse. I couldn't believe this was happening to me. I LOVED my job, my students, my teaching. I dreaded the politics, the nay-sayers, the whiners. Still, how could I be burned out? I thought that only happened to folks who hated what they were doing or had been there too long. It seems remaining a teacher at the top of your game requires more than 3 hours of sleep per night,
Information Overloaded? 10 Quick Tips To Tame The Tide Stress Reduction by Joel Wagner - March 16, 2009June 30, 20102 Think back 5 years. March 2004. It feels like an eternity ago! For me, that was when I really hit the wall. That was when my head director told me that my contract would not be renewed. I resigned in lieu of nonrenewal. I spent the remainder of the semester learning like crazy. In fact, that is the experience that eventually formed the inspiration to begin this blog (read more here). But that's really not the point of this email, the thought just struck me and I realized how quickly time passes and how much I've grown since then. 5 years ago, there was no MySpace (until August 2003), no Twitter, no Facebook. Nada. Blogs were beginning to take off
Learning New Lessons — Tips for Rookie Teachers New Teachers by Kelly Kilpatrick - October 13, 2008June 25, 20162 This guest article features tips for rookie teachers and was contributed by Kelly Kilpatrick,who writes on the subject of an online college degree. She invites your feedback at kellykilpatrick24 at gmail dot com If there's one profession that generates both joy and frustration in equal amounts, it's teaching -- veterans will attest to the fact that they're extremely satisfied one day even as they want to tear out their hair the next. Those who are familiar with the ups and downs associated with the trade are able to adjust accordingly and not feel too stressed out even before the middle of the school year, but if you're a rookie who's just entered the world of teaching, here are a few tips to help you
Organizing Your To-Do List for Maximum Productivity: Part 2 Stress Reduction by Pamela - December 24, 2007June 30, 20101 This is a guest post by Pamela, who doesn’t currently have her own blog. Pamela teaches elementary in Michigan. Ideas for organizing your subcategories In part 1 of this series, I talked about the shortcomings of traditional to-do lists and the increased productivity that results from using a to-do schedule. With a to-do schedule, your list is organized by day, and each day is broken down into subcategories. The schedule makes it easy to plan ahead, since you have a list for each of the next 7-10 days. Today we’ll talk about some of the subcategories you might use for your daily lists. One way to organize your day is by using time of day categories Before
The Loneliest Articles of 2007 Blogging & Technology by Joel Wagner - December 23, 2007July 2, 20100 In the Christmas break, I am looking back at this blog's growth and development. I began writing a little bit for the blog in February, but didn't officially launch it for real until June. Since that time, growth has been pretty consistent. I now seem to regularly get a small number of comments for every article I write, with some eliciting more than others. As I look through the blog's archive, it strikes me that there are some articles that have either been buried deep in the archives, or for whatever reason, have gone unnoticed by my readers. So I am giving all of those articles a chance to redeem themselves, come up to the light of day. Here is
One of THOSE Days Personal by Joel Wagner - December 14, 2007May 30, 20164 This may well be the first time I have written about my teaching life without really setting out a solution or providing much helpful information. Let me know what you think. Last Friday, the other band director I work with had a mild stroke. He is recovering and is at home resting now. The doctors told him to not return to work for six weeks. As you might imagine, Christmas is a terrible time for band directors to be out like this. I got to take his band on a Christmas Tour on Thursday, and my band today. We have to make arrangements with other band directors to come over from other campuses to cover the classes that are here and need
Organizing Your To-Do List for Maximum Productivity: Part 1 Stress Reduction by Pamela - December 10, 2007June 30, 20102 This is a guest post by Pamela, who doesn't currently have her own blog. Pamela teaches elementary in Michigan. Traditional to-do lists When I think of a traditional to-do list, I think of a sheet (or scrap) of paper with a list of all the things you need to do. This is a good start, but there are a few problems I’ve found with this type of list: There’s no organized pattern As soon as you think of something else, you just add it to the bottom of the list. As tasks are completed, you cross them off. Before long, the list is difficult to read and important tasks are overlooked because there are so many scribbles
50 Awesome Classroom Management Tips You Can Use Tomorrow Reader Appreciation by Joel Wagner - November 27, 2007August 4, 20169 As we come to the conclusion of Reader Appreciation Month, I want to summarize some of the things that we have learned. Today, I'll focus on the incredible wealth of knowledge that we have learned about classroom management with these 50 awesome classroom management tips. I found that when I put all of the tips together, I had over 70 suggestions. I combined a few of them and broke them down into categories. The tips all fell into four categories: Personal, Student and Parent Relationships, Organization and Teaching, and Behavior and Rules. After consolidating, I came up with 50 classroom management tips I have learned this month. Personal classroom management tips Find out who you are as a person; find your strengths,
The Instant De-Stress Handbook Now Available Stress Reduction by Joel Wagner - November 19, 2007July 5, 20100 I have decided to compile all of the articles from my series 25 Tips For Less Stress into one handy ebook. The Instant De-Stress Handbook is completely free to download. To get your copy, simply download it here. Go ahead, tell your friends. Email the ebook to them. Recommend they come check out my blog. You know you want to!
65 Things You Should Do Right Now To Avoid Teacher Burnout Stress Reduction by Joel Wagner - November 10, 2007September 3, 20123 This past Tuesday, I took a day off of school. This is not normal for me, and I even had to fight my urge to go up to school and make sure things were running smoothly. I even drove up to the school and chose not to get out of the car. Why? Because I had a chance where I knew I could relax for a day and things wouldn't fall apart. I suppose it's sort of a building process for me of letting go of my band. I don't like to miss school. I remember my parents encouraging me when I was in high school to miss a day when I didn't fell well. I have been debating missing a day
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: 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