How Classroom Teachers Can Stay Resilient (Part I)

Hey, Teachers!

Have you ever thought about your personal and professional adaptability?

Is "resilience" a challenge these days? 😬

Snag your: 5 WAYS TO STAY RESILIENT IN THE CLASSROOM FREEBIE HERE!

How are YOU like a hummingbird? 

When talking about resilience, the hummingbirds who come around our gardens in spring and summer definitely come to mind. What's miraculous about hummingbirds is that they are the only birds who can fly backwards...because of their flexible wings!

ONE WAY TO BE RESILIENT: FLEXIBILITY 

Part of being a resilient teacher is our flexibility. Our wings can gather many students at once, shelter them with love, stretch far and wide, and also...fly. If we've helped to improve the life of just one student in an entire school year, we've done our job. 

But we know we can't "go south for the winter", escaping the most challenging of times in the classroom. Winter in this sense can be both figurative and literal in our teaching worlds. Winter can bring darker days, and often, as the year progresses, fewer and fewer resources to do the job right. 

And how could WE possibly FLY backwards? How might we stand out among the masses as valiant teachers who can do, will do, must do against all odds?

Sometimes, it feels impossible. Just getting through the day could be a feat. 😞

However, believe it or not, we do have hummingbird wings. Because we have teacher wings. No one else on this planet except for other loving teachers knows the kind of breadth and scope of decision-making that's required to sustain a positive, fruitful classroom experience...in the midst of winter storms and our own internal storms. 

The reason we can get through the challenges is because we are flexible creatures. We are continually learning how to adapt to our environment. In this process, we must also take care of our miraculous wings, by taking breaks from flight and finding a little time for introspection.

Snag your: 5 WAYS TO STAY RESILIENT IN THE CLASSROOM FREEBIE HERE!

FLEXIBLE TEACHERS:

1. Can recognize limitations
2. Can adjust to new terrain expediently
3. Can identify seasonal shifts in the classroom, and where to go
4. Can modify instructional approach on demand and with assured authority
5. Can maintain harmony and a sense of togetherness among like-minded colleagues who get who you are and what you need

Staying flexible is a skill. 

We need to ditch the complaints (especially about what we CAN'T change), and magnify what we CAN change in our teaching worlds.

Self-preservation is one of the major keys to longevity in this field.

Snag your: 5 WAYS TO STAY RESILIENT IN THE CLASSROOM FREEBIE HERE!