Looking with disgust at Jonathan’s paper, the teacher snatched it, ripped it into pieces and discarded it in the garbage bin, all while running on with a verbal tirade that further humiliated Jonathan in front of his peers.

So, what is wrong with this picture?  Well, notwithstanding that this is a real situation, let’s see if there is anything right about it first……..  Got anything?  Neither did I!  One might say that the teacher perhaps had a high standard for work presentation, or that her knee-jerk erratic response was her way to show the student she thought he was capable of better.  But was that the right time or even the right response to convey such a message?  Absolutely NOT!

What Else is Wrong?

Finding out that this same teacher seldom smiles, is always critical in her comments and only offers negative feedback about the student’s work, makes the opening scenario even more disheartening.  Is compassion even in her vocabulary?  Does she have the ability to understand the emotional state of others?  Knowing how to treat students with compassion is one of those things you are not taught in education courses, yet is one of the most significant indicators of exceptional teachers.

Perhaps you have wondered why some students always congregate in a particular teacher’s classroom at recess or early in the morning, while other teachers are devoid of such cordial visits.  Maybe it’s because the teacher understands the students as complex people and make them feel that they belong.  Or possibly it’s because the teacher realizes that he/she does not have to sacrifice academic rigor for a compassionate classroom environment.  Such teachers actually believe that challenge and encouragement are two sides of the same coin.  They value their students’ voices and ideas, and push them to be the best version of themselves.

Practical Solutions

If you think you have moved away from being a compassionate teacher, here are 10 practical ways you can begin to reflect more compassion in the classroom:

1. Smile with your students. Joking around, my teenagers would say that if some of their teachers smiled, their faces might just crack.  What a shame!  A simple smile lets students know that you are glad they are a part of your class.  Country singer, Dolly Parton said, “If you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours.”  So help your colleagues if they fall into the “smile-less” category.
2. No matter what, keep your cool! We all know that teachers have a lot on their plates, and some students can really push your buttons, but this is no excuse to lash out and explode on students with unreasonable behavior and negative words.  If it happens repeatedly, perhaps such teachers may want to consider establishing a personal routine of exercise and healthy nutrition to decrease stress, relinquishing some responsibilities, taking a sabbatical, or maybe even submitting to therapy.  Do whatever it takes because the goal is to be courteous to your students at all times.
3. Celebrate with your students. This may seem to be common knowledge, but to have a student win a national competition and not be congratulated by his teacher or even the school’s administrators, is sadly some students’ reality.  Celebrating their accomplishments opens the door to a better teacher-student relationship and a more engaged student.
4. Write more positive and constructive comments on your students’ papers than negative ones. Can you imagine waiting for over a month to receive feedback on an assignment only to find the words, “You are the only one who didn’t do what I asked!”.  Hmmm, not very constructive and certainly NOT encouraging.
5. Institute a system to make it easy for students who have missed a class to get caught up. This can be as simple as having a box with extra copies of handouts or just assigning a student to fill them in on what transpired.  If, like in the opening scenario, the student missed the class for sickness, you definitely don’t want to make a big deal about missing notes.
6. Communicate positively with your students every day. I am not talking about the long lectures.  Positive communication with your students can be a silent smile, a commending head nod, a pleasing stare or even an encouraging hand on the shoulder.  But let’s not forget that communication is a two-way street.  Therefore, pay attention when your students speak to you and really listen without interrupting.
7. Invest time in encouraging your students to excel. Some students encounter many problems, but praise and encouragement are great remedies for most of their challenges.  One caveat here is to avoid giving those cliché, almost commercialized praises such as, “You have great potential!”  One student admitted that he cringed inside when his principal said the exact words to him.  In his mind, he said those were just empty words that meant nothing.  So, be specific with your praise.
8. Differentiate instruction whenever possible. This means that constantly dictating pages of notes won’t cut it.  Varying your approach lets students learn in a way that best fits their learning styles, and simultaneously demonstrates that you value them and the way they learn.  This may be a more prevalent practice in the elementary classrooms, but differentiating instruction in high school is very important.
9. Embrace each student’s individuality. Young adolescents especially are trying to come to terms with who they are and how they will present themselves to the world.  Embrace their uniqueness rather than giving in to stereotyping and judging.  When we do,
10. Create a community within the classroom. Even as a college professor, this is one of the main avenues I take in my courses.  Do some practical activities to get students comfortable with you and with their peers.  Helping students connect to each other gives them a support system that can help them navigate school life.

Implementing these ten ideas might sound like a tall order that requires much effort.  Admittedly, if compassion is not an everyday practice, these tips may seem challenging.  However, we must remember that just being a smart teacher who knows his/her content area well is not enough.

Students will never trust or even open up to hear what their teachers have to say unless they feel their teachers value and respect them.  Developing a positive relationship with them by reflecting compassion is instrumental in making this a reality.

Leave a comment:  In what ways do you show your students that you understand and care about their emotional challenges?

Speakers from all backgrounds are invited to the hallowed halls of high schools and colleges.  However, their common goal is to motivate and inspire graduates to continue to pursue their dreams.

Recently, I too had the opportunity to do just that.  The high school graduates had decided that their theme would be, “Moving Towards Success Through the Power of Dreams”.  Powerful stuff!

As I prepared for this address, I was reminded that everyone, including teachers, should live in pursuit of their dreams.  But often times we are not pursuing with diligence because we don’t know how.

We must first value the dream that’s inside of us!

WHY ARE DREAMS IMPORTANT?

All great accomplishments started with a dream.  They began with an idea, a burning desire, and a thought of achieving something more.

Everyone who has ever done anything great has had a dream.  Martin Luther King Jr., Thomas Edison, Oprah Winfrey, Sir Lynden Pindling, Michael Jordan and even Doris Johnson started with a dream.

Dreams are like seeds.  And these seeds must be planted in the fertile soil of imaginative minds.  They must be nourished by belief and cultivated with appropriate action.

Believe it or not, everyone has a dream.  They don’t have to be glamorous, but they must be big enough to get you moving.  Sooooo…….

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

What is YOUR dream?

What seed has been planted within your mind about your future?

What are you passionate about?  What gets you so motivated that you lose track of time?

What are you naturally good at that others seek your help with?

Where do you see yourself in the next 5, 10, 20 years?

If you haven’t given much thought, to any of these questions, now is the time.

HOW TO MOVE TOWARDS YOUR DREAM

As educators, we must be good examples of dream chasers.  Whether our dream is to write children’s books, facilitate workshops, start a consulting firm or branch out into a totally different career, we must go after it.  Our students emulate us.  So, we can’t stop dreaming and pursuing our dreams.

Once you know your dream, you’ve got to start moving towards making it a reality.  To do this, you’ve got to remember to do three important things:

1. Expect ANTAGONISTS – No matter how nice you are or what good you are seeking to do, you WILL have opposition. Haters will appear no matter what.  In fact, if you don’t encounter opposition, it probably means your dream isn’t big enough.  So, be ready.  People who aren’t pursuing their own dreams are likely to criticize people who are.
2. Be AUDACIOUS – To have audacity is to have the courage to think big, to show initiative, and to take risks for a dream. This might sound easy but try doing this while facing the possibility of failure.  Yikes!  Now, that’s a tall order!  But once you accept failure as part of the process, you’ll never be afraid to try.  As Robert F. Kennedy said, “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”
3. Think in the AFFIRMATIVE – You have got to remain positive about achieving your dream. This means that no matter how it looks, you have to maintain the right attitude…..the attitude that you CAN do it!  Believe in yourself and turn off the negative internal dialogue that sabotages your efforts.  Surround yourself with positive people, books and audios that feed you with hope and possibility.

The world needs what has been deposited within you.   So there’s no time for you to sit small.  Dream BIG but be willing to start small.

Take action and grow with it.  Take action even when things aren’t making sense.  Step out on faith even when you’re ridiculed.  Leap into it even when the odds seem against you.  Move ahead even when you are afraid.

Just get moving to make it happen!  If God plants a dream in your heart, He will equip you when you step out in faith to do it.  Just do it!!!

Leave a comment:  Are you a dream chaser?  What do you do to keep yourself in pursuit of your dreams?

After four and a half years of grueling studies and research, I was able to achieve a major milestone…obtaining my PhD.  Woohooo!

Why Community

As I was hooded and even prayed for by the dean, instant flashbacks flooded my mind.  One thing was certain, I didn’t do it alone!  It took many people to make it all possible.

As I leaned on my family, friends and even my cohort members, I garnered the psychological and spiritual strength I needed.  But I also received the expertise I required.  This was achievable because of a sense of cohesiveness and even a sense of family that was fostered among my peers.

You see, no one person knows it all or is good at EVERYTHING.  And if anyone holds such a belief, they are delusional!  As the saying goes, “No man is an island.”  And this idea was certainly reinforced during my doctoral journey.  This was the time when I had to acknowledge what I knew I didn’t know.

Defining Community

The flashbacks got me wondering about how this concept of “community” impacts our school environment.  Reflecting on my experience, I realize that having a sense of community in the workplace is more than just being a member of a group.  So we first have to know what it entails.

McMillan and Chavis define it as “a feeling that members have of belonging, a feeling that members matter to one another and to the group, and a shared faith that members’ needs will be met through their commitment to be together”.  There you have it: mutual commitment that allows needs to be met.  Voila!

But being a group member or being employed by an organization doesn’t equate to a sense of community.  (We could only wish it was that simple!)

Community is a process that nurtures a sense of collaboration and collaborative skills.  It involves pulling together the talents, experiences and insights of a diverse group of people who are committed to a common purpose.  Such a community features authentic communication that is respectful of differences and embraces conflict.

Benefits of Developing Community at Work

One thing is certain, developing a sense of community within the workplace yields great dividends.  Here are just a few benefits of taking the time to engage in the process of community in our schools:

1. A community provides support to avoid FRUSTRATION. When we isolate ourselves we are susceptible to loneliness and depression, and we risk the breakdown that can occur in communities.  Knowing that we have a group of people we can rely on is comforting.

We realize that we’re not in it alone and we don’t have to go through it alone either.  This reduces the tension that sometimes builds up.  In fact, people who feel a sense of belonging live happier and healthier lives.

2. A community brings about effective COLLABORATION. Having a supportive community means you have other minds at your disposal.  It creates interdependency between everyone’s collective efforts.  Skills can be pooled in order to make projects more successful.  I once had a slogan up in my classroom that read, “None of us is as good as ALL of us.”  This means that when we team up, we produce far greater results.
3. A community fosters creativity and INNOVATION. There is something dynamic about a community that gives birth to novel ideas.  Have you ever noticed that inventive programs tend to be produced by schools with a strong sense of community?   When frustrations are reduced and collaboration is encouraged, creativity and innovation are inevitable!

Even in our school environments, having a sense of community is crucial!  It might appear to be one of those intangible things that you can’t readily put your finger on, but you know it when you see it.

Yes, a strong community is beneficial not only to individuals, but also to the community itself and to society at large.  For the good of everyone, no one should ever…. EVER, try to do work or life alone!  One thing is certain, we need each other!

Leave a comment:  How has being a part of a community helped you to achieve a goal?  How can YOU help to build a better sense of community in your school?

Photo Credit: Lee via Compfight cc

The Impact of Envy at Work

It could be an evil glance, an unjustifiably snide comment or maybe even an outright attempt to sabotage your success. No matter how it materializes, envy stings and it creates serious tension.  Although teachers are usually thought to be fun-loving, kind and cordial, schools are not exempted from this. 

Envy sometimes mushrooms into a debilitating work culture that:

• impedes productivity,
• disrupts teams,
• generates dissatisfaction and stress, and
• causes colleagues to withdraw.

If it festers, it can result in a discontented work environment.  Talk about a real kill joy!

What Is Envy?

Though envy and jealousy usually travel together, they are two distinctly different emotions.  Psychologists agree that while jealousy arises when we fear losing something we already have, envy, on the other hand, occurs when we lack an attribute another person possesses.  In other words, envy is a two person scenario while jealousy tends to involve a third party.

• So, if you experience a tinge of anger over the well-disciplined class a colleague enjoys while your students always seem to be at odds, …..that’s envy!
• If you lament over how smoothly a teacher’s assembly goes when yours is a lack luster display of talent, …..that’s envy!
• And if you find yourself criticizing a wonderful idea offered by a colleague while you have nothing feasible to offer, …..that’s envy….plain and simple!

A Real World Example of Envy

Recently, I listened to a fellow teacher lamenting over a colleague who constantly undermines her contributions.  Her criticizing colleague gripes about the type of homework she gives, ridicules her for the strategies she uses, and even questions her qualifications.

I recognized right away that she was facing the green-eyed monster.  This became obvious to her after I pointed out that her calm demeanor, pleasant disposition, well-disciplined students and even the rapport she has with administrators are just a few things the envious instigator lacks.

Getting a Handle on Workplace Envy

If you are the recipient of envious behavior at your school, you must deal with it skillfully to safeguard your future with the organization.  Here are a few practical tips to consider:

1. Detect and possibly defuse envy during the early stages. Once you maintain a high level of awareness, you can identify when a coworker is beginning to show signs of envy, and stifle it before it mushrooms into full-blown resentment.  Perhaps you could try acknowledging his/ her positive qualities or giving him/ her credit for something done well.  It’s not a magic bullet, but it’s worth a try.
2. Don’t mirror the envious behavior. It’s easy to play the game of “tit for tat”, but it’s not very productive.    If you exhibit negative behaviors toward your colleagues, then they might think it’s only reasonable for them to treat you the same.  So take the higher ground and don’t stoop to their level.
3. Display a genuine happiness for others. Since envious behavior makes us look insecure, we should instead be inspired by other people’s success.   When we feel happy simply because others are happy, we gain a fresh perspective on life.  It’s easier to experience happiness for others when we realize that their success wasn’t achieved to spite us.  So, instead of taking it personal, we should practice generating genuine happiness for others and reap the benefits too.
4. Don’t measure your colleagues’ success against yours. Even though we hate how comparing makes us feel, we do it anyway. Nonetheless, when we measure our success with someone else’s yardstick, we come up short for every time.  This then becomes a breeding ground for depression, low self-esteem and…..ENVY.  We should compliment rather than compare, putting ourselves on the road to happiness and success.

When all else fails, remember that love works.  It’s not an emotion but a behavior, a powerful tool that works even at work.  There will always be people that do some things better than we do.  But our focus should not be on comparing ourselves to them, but on defining what makes us special and using it every day for good.

Leave a comment:  How have you successfully handled an envious colleague?  What do you do when you realize that YOU are the envier rather than the envied?

Photogrid courtesy of Lanet Glass (Photos: Lanet Glass & Aleka Colebrooke)

During the session, the educators were challenged to make personal development a priority.  Though it’s not always convenient to attend a seminar, the avenue of accessing books, CDs, blog pages and other online resources was highlighted.  Attendees saw how easily they could be mentored, motivated and moved to improve their personal skills. 

Perhaps the most rewarding part about organizing this PD session was the wonderful stories that unfolded.  It was heart-warming to hear a teacher describe her renewed commitment to take action and go after a personal goal of hers.  She even set a date for when it would materialize.  I truly believe the segments on goal setting and harnessing leadership potential had a lot to do with her major decision.

Another colleague talked about the encouragement she experienced being in such an enthusiastic and empowering environment.  She had recently buried her mother and needed a boost to help her as she returned to the classroom.  Though she knows it will be a process, hearing the personal story of losing my mother gave her hope.

Yet another teacher articulated the inspiration he received after hearing about my commitment to connect with my teenage son.  The teacher was driven to take a more active approach to investing time with his own children.  He noted the need to take more responsibility for his role, and because of the PD session, he was compelled to do his part.

Participants were admonished to strive to be originals though it seems as though we live in a copycat world.  They were given Dr. Myles Munroe’s key life questions to ask themselves as they reflect on how to remain unique.  One teacher quickly shared how this segment made her more determined to remain true to her biblical perspective, especially as it relates to her view of herself.

It is safe to say, from the feedback received, that all of the attendees left reinvigorated and ready to continue the transforming journey of personal development.   The seed has been planted.  I hope that they will continually ask themselves “What am I becoming?” For they know as Jim Rohn says, to have more than they’ve got, they have to become more than they are.

Leave a comment:  How has participating in personal development activities transformed your life? What benefits have you been reaping?

Image courtesy of Lanet Glass

If you are like most teachers, you probably can number the personal development seminars on one hand.  This is a serious indictment, especially for persons who work every day to shape the lives of future leaders.  When we consider that we teach what we know but duplicate who we are, then it’s a crying shame that we take little time to improve our personal skills.

Though I have been teaching since 1994, I must admit that all of the personal development training I’ve ever received came through my involvement in private business ventures.  Thankfully, I had a mentor who ate, slept and lived personal development.  So, she always encouraged me to do the same in order to increase my skill set.

Wouldn’t you agree that skills such as balancing life, listening attentively, arguing constructively, communicating effectively and people skills like influencing people positively are worth enhancing? Sure they are!

So, why is it that personal development, which focuses on improving oneself on a continuous basis, gets little attention among educators?  Perhaps if we consider the benefits of this dynamic process, we would readily embrace it.  Here are ten advantages of engaging in personal development:

1. Clearer ideas about the kind of life and work you want
2. Greater confidence in the choices you make
3. A better understanding of how you learn and how to improve your performance
4. Greater confidence in your own skills and talents that you bring to education
5. Better positioning for promotion
6. Improved reflective thinking capabilities that enhances your performance
7. Better problem-solving and planning expertise
8. A more positive attitude and approach related to a successful personal and professional life
9. More enjoyment and less stress as you keep yourself motivated AND
10. A sense of direction that brings improved focus and effectiveness

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but one that should nudge you to reconsider the value of personal development to you.

What you have today, you have attracted by becoming the person you are today.  So to have more than you’ve got, I challenge you to become more than you are.  Our students deserve it; our community deserves it and you owe it to YOURSELF.

Leave a comment:  In what type of personal development activity do you engage?  How has such an activity impacted you?

Image courtesy of Kiran Valipa @ unsplash.com

I’m sure we’ll always have those cynics who believe that teachers have the best hours ever since they work until 3 p.m. and get weekends off along with holidays.  But nothing can be further from the truth.  Anyone who works in the field of education knows that your work always extends beyond the walls of the school, and far beyond the time of school hours.

With this reality in mind, educators must remember to take work-free vacations as well as frequent breaks to help them stay on the top of their game.  Here are five reasons why you should enjoy taking time to rest:

1. Intervention for Physical Health – Constant exposure to stress can manifest itself on the body in so many negative ways. Therefore, time off to relax can act like medicine.  In fact, a yearly holiday can reduce the risk of heart attack in men by 30% and by 50% in women.
2. Improved Creativity – Working ardently to meet report deadlines, assess student projects and update classroom bulletin boards are not the ideal times for creative ideas. However, when you’re relaxed and in a free thinking state, some of your best ideas can emerge.  Perhaps this is because at work we tend to use the left side of our brain, which is the linear, logical side.  However, when we’re away from work, our right brain, the creative and intuitive side, is more at work.
3. Insights from Re-evaluating – When you take time to relax and rest, you are better able to review your performance to see how well things are progressing.  You get to see what is out of balance and requires adjustments.  When you are relaxed, you can easily see how to refocus your efforts for more productivity.
4. Increased Rejuvenation – It’s amazing what a little rest and relaxation can do to the mind and body. It can help to re-ignite the passion and enthusiasm that got you going back in August.  A study by Fritz and Sonnentag revealed that vacations boost energy reserves so that once back to work, you’ll need less effort to complete tasks.  So, taking a break from the routine of work to relax is truly worth it.
5. Impulse to Achieve – Clinical psychologists say that after a vacation, most people have a better perspective and are more motivated to pursue their goals. This is probably because a break allows you time to rejoice over what you’ve already accomplished.  Celebrating your successes should be a daily practice but be sure to indulge a bit more when you finally take a break.

Come on teachers, principals, and superintendents; do you need another reason to persuade you to enjoy your holidays and your vacations?  I hope not!  Just remember to DISCONNECT completely when you do take a break.  Turn off those electronic gadgets and unwind.  Invest in YOU and get a return on your health and happiness that money can’t buy.

Leave a comment:  How important is it for you to disconnect and take a break from the work you do?

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If this is you, then you might be in that group of people who value the work relationships that they have developed.

Why We Need Good Work Relationships

Humans are social beings who desire and even require social interaction with others.  Moreover, the workplace is a social enterprise where long-term relationships, friendships and even marriages are formed. So, quality relationships is a normal and vital part of a healthy work environment.

A Gallup poll revealed that people, who have a best friend or even a good friend at work, are seven times more likely to be engaged in their jobs and be satisfied. In fact, these people are 21% more likely to claim that at work, they have the opportunity to do what they do best every day.

Maybe you’re thinking that the benefit of being more engaged and committed because of good work relationships is a trivial one.  If this is the case, you might want to consider that effective work relationships can also open doors to key projects, career advancement and even pay increases!  I’m sure the latter got your juices going, right?

How to Cultivate Good Work Relationships

Achieving such relationships in our schools, may appear as an elusive goal, especially with the demands of 25 plus students, colleagues who prefer to keep to themselves and administrators who seem to be overly demanding?  Well, believe it or not, it all begins with us.  Here are 5 tips to help you cultivate meaningful work relationships:

1. Develop your people skills. How good are you at communicating, collaborating or engaging in conflict resolution with others?  Such “soft skills” or interpersonal skills form the basis of good relationships in and out of the workplace.  I know of teachers who communicate well with their students, but when it comes to dealing with adults, they’re all thumbs.  If you find you’re lacking in people skills, access resources to learn more and put what you learn into practice.
2. Deliberately schedule time to build relationships. Teachers are extremely busy people, in and out of the classroom.  Therefore, we must be intentional about making time to get to know our co-workers on a personal level.  Even if you only have a 5-minute window, you can drop by a few colleagues’ classrooms, offer an encouraging word or compliment someone about a creative bulletin board.

And let’s not forget that we all have to eat, right?  (Well, at least some of us do).  So perhaps we can share personal interests over lunch, or just find opportunities to spend time with co-workers outside of school.  Replying to their Facebook or Twitter post could help in this regard.

3. Demonstrate appreciation for others. Everyone desires to feel that their work is appreciated and this includes the janitress, the security guard and even your principal.  We can show appreciation by complimenting people when they do something well, and this will open the door to great work relationships.
4. Dial into the radio frequency of others. People’s favourite station is WIIFM: What’s In It For Me?  People love talking about themselves and their interests.  Indulging them by employing active listening skills will certainly help to foster good relations.  Listen closely and try repeating back to them what you heard them say.  This ensures that you and your colleagues are on the same page, and it lets them know that you’re really tuned in.
5. Determine to remain positive. In an earlier post, we talked about negative people at work.  We realized that many of us try to avoid such people because they drain our energy level.  On the flip side, positive people on the job are attractive, and their positivity is very contagious.  When you always try to see the good in situations, people are naturally drawn to you.  So, your positive disposition is a key factor in strengthening your relationship with colleagues.  Who knows, your positive attitude might just reverberate throughout the entire school or even throughout the entire school district.

Even though you are at work to get a job done, it will be a more satisfying experience if you enjoy the company of the people on your team.  In any arena, relationships are complex, but cultivating positive, effective relationships can aid you in achieving a successful and rewarding career.  Just remember that it all begins with YOU.  Be the change you want to see and experience.

Leave a comment:  What positive experiences have you had with building good work relationships?  As a result, are there any tips you would offer a new teacher about developing valuable work relationships?

Maybe you’ve had the delightful pleasure to have your students finally “get it” after many unsuccessful lessons on a particular skill.  So, you bounce into the staff room, bubbling with excitement over their response and eager to share it with your colleagues. 

Just then, Delilah Downer and Corey Crab, without missing a beat, begin picking away at why you shouldn’t get too excited over your success.  “Trust me; they won’t remember that for their exams.  That strategy isn’t really effective.  Don’t let administration hear about it ‘cause then they’ll want everybody try it.”

Soon, your demeanor changes and you literally feel the energy drain out of your body.   Jon Gordon refers to these characters as the energy vampires.  These people have the amazing ability to drag your mood down instantly with their pessimism.

But since we can’t fire them ourselves, we need to find ways to deal with these critical and negative people in the workplace.   We can’t always avoid them either.  So, here are few other strategies to consider:

1. Allocate less time to spend in the company of compulsively negative people. I remember all too well, how I found myself becoming bitter after listening every day to a highly negative colleague.  She found fault with EVERYTHING and EVERYONE.  Remember that whom you spend your time with will impact the person you become.
2. Accompany others so you don’t have to take on the negativity all by yourself. Approach the negative person with a small group of persons to help diffuse their negativity.
3. Assist by providing a listening compassionate ear unless their negativity spirals out of control. People don’t truly want to be negative and they are that way for a reason.  I read a somewhat funny quote that said, “People who are negative are either lonely, broke or bored”.  So when we listen to them, we should use non-committal statements like, “Oh, I see” or “Okay”.  Whatever you do, don’t engage them by going down that rocky road of negativity with them.  Maintain your emotional distance.
4. Adopt lighter topics to lighten the mood. Negative persons are triggered by certain topics such as work.
5. Affirm positive circumstances when dealing with negative coworkers. I did this the other day and was amazed at how well it worked.  A colleague began griping over a new procedure she was required to adopt.  I quickly complimented her on how well she had been implementing it and how others should follow her lead.  Like magic, she left Negative Street and diverted for a while down Positive Lane.  It was refreshing!  Try it.
6. Accept the fact that you can’t change anyone. Once you do, you won’t get so frustrated by negative people.  I’ve learned that hurting people tend to hurt other people.  So instead of lashing back or joining in their onslaught, be compassionate and kind.  Accept them as a work in progress.
7. Acknowledge a higher purpose for such people being in your life. What if these negative people had a divine purpose for being around you?  Instead of resenting them, we should consider whether God has a profound and significant purpose for sending them.  I believe that some people, like sand paper, help to rub off our rough edges.  The unfortunate thing about this is, we become polished on purpose, while they become useless and discarded.

Whether you’re in your classroom, in the cafeteria, at church or in your community, you WILL bump into negative people.  Whatever you do, don’t allow such people to turn you into one of them.  And don’t take them seriously either.  After all, the real issue they are having is not with you, but with themselves.

Leave a comment:  How do you deal with negative or difficult people, especially those with whom you have to interact?

Desiring a change is a good thing, but sometimes the options seem so few and the possible changes seem like a giant step out of our comfort zones.  Trust me I know the exact feeling! 

Perhaps you’ve been working in that same position, teaching at the same grade level or in the same school for such a long time, that you just want something different…..ANYTHING!!!  You can feel that you are a bit stagnant and that’s not good.  The last time I checked, stagnant water begins to stink and little life hangs around it.

Recently, I’ve had conversations with several excellent educators who expressed that same inertia in their professional lives.  They still loved being an educator but sensed the need to do something else, perhaps even something more challenging.

But what options are there, especially for educators?  Well, it all depends on your desire.  If you still envision yourself in the field of education, maybe you might want to consider such adjustments as:

• Changing the scenery by moving to a different grade level that you’ve seldom or never taught before.
• Requesting a transfer to a different school or school district.
• Seeking to specialize in an area where you’ve developed additional expertise.
• Taking on the challenge of a new initiative for students after school or even during lunch time.
• Engaging colleagues in an on-campus mastermind group that devises and engages in regular professional development initiatives.
• Applying for a leadership role as a grade level leader, department head, subject coach or an administrator.
• Accepting the challenge to mentor novice teachers in the field.

These are only a few ideas that you can consider.  However, if you find that nothing excites you, you may need to reevaluate your personal career vision for your life.  In doing so, you might find that it’s time to move on.  Nothing is worse than being in a place when the fervor for it has gone.  Not only would you be miserable, but you’ll make those around you miserable too.  Furthermore, you might be experiencing burnout and this is definitely not a healthy thing.

We were designed to keep growing, to be productive and to add value to others.  To do this, we must embrace change as a good thing, and remain committed to excellence.

Leave a comment:  Have you ever experienced that “feeling” that  it was time to do something different in your career?  How did you handle it?