Category: Feedback

Posted in Challenge, Feedback, General Inspiration, Get Psyched!, Hope for Teachers, Note to Teachers, Pep Talk, Perseverance

Fed Back and Tested (get back up, Teacher)

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

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Dear Teacher,

I don’t know about you, but yesterday was a rough one for me.  Not bad, so much, just rough.  You know those kind of days?

I gave a test.  I had high expectations.  It went horribly wrong.  My prediction of high averages were dashed on the rocks of reality.

I gave the students an opportunity to give me some feedback about behavior.  They rated me, themselves, and the class.  It is never nice to have to look into the mirror of perception!  Nothing surprised me too much, but it doesn’t feel good to know what you thought is true.

So here I am this morning left with two things to come to grips with:

  • The students didn’t learn what I thought they learned.
  • I have as much to work on in myself as I thought I did.

So, what do I do with that?  Do I beat myself up?  Do I wallow in it for a while?  Or do I pick my teacher hind parts up off the floor and get to work?

I have shared this quote before, but I love it and am going to share it again.  It is from Jaime Escalante, the teacher the move Stand and Deliver was about (I wrote about him here).  He said this:

“Life is not about how many times you fall down. It’s about how many times you get back up.”

It does not matter what a dose of real does to me.  It does not matter if it knocks me down.  It matters if I learn from it and change.  It matters if I find a way to make what I need to do or teach work.  It is more than an idea.  It is a necessity.

It is a necessity as a human being.  It is a necessity as an adult.  It is a necessity as a teacher.  But more than these, it is a necessity as a role model to my students.

I must get up.  I must brush myself up.  I must make changes.  I must try again.

I must because one day the must do the same.

It is not about me.

It is about them.

I will get up today.  I will brush myself off today.  I will make changes.  I will try again.

I will do these things because I am going to ask my students to do the same.  I ask them to do this every day.  They need to see me do it first.  They will see me do it today.

How about you?  What do you do when you are knocked down as a teacher?  How do you handle it?  How do you teach your students to get back up?  Do they see you do it?  Do the see you do it with grace?  Do they see you do it with style?  Will they and can they see you do it today?

I know that you get back up.  You are a teacher.  You have to.  Can you get back up better today than yesterday?  Can you show your students what it takes to bust through failure to get to success?

You are awesome!  You do get back up.  You do it with awesome.  Help you students to that with awesome today!  You are amazing!  You are making a difference!  Keep on teaching and getting back up, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

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Posted in Feedback, You Are Awesome!!!

A Favor to Ask…

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

Happy Saturday!  I hope you are having an awesome day with friends and family!

This is just going to be a quick post, and I am going to step outside of my normal posts and ask a favor.  I want some feed back from you, my readers.  This is aimed at those for whom this blog has meant enough for you to follow it via WordPress, email, and Twitter.  The blog has resounded with you and you get it.  We need encouragement as teachers, and we need challenges given with a positive spin.  I am more than happy to offer that.  Actually, it fires me up to be able to do that, and your comments and thanks for the encouragement has encouraged me.  I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Here is the feedback that I need.  I am approaching summer break.  I know that I have readers in the Southern Hemisphere as well as the Northern Hemisphere.  There are also teachers at schools that go year round.  I need to know what you would like from this blog over the summer.  If you don’t mind and have a couple of minutes, could you respond to the question that applies to you?  You can do it here or to my email: dearteacher@outlook.com.  If you do email, please give a subject that shows you are responding to this so I know it is not spam.

  • Northern Hemisphere-ers with a summer break:  What do you need/want from the blog?  Do you want some teacher encouragement over the summer?  If so, what kind?  How often (daily/weekly/something else)?
  • Nothern Hemisphere-ers that teacher year long and Southern Hemisphere-ers:  Would you still like me to post daily or would you be okay with a few times a week?  What kind of posts would you like to see most?

Thank you for your feedback!  I appreciate it!  I also appreciate all of the shares with others.  I want this blog to give encouragement to as many teachers as possible!  Please continue to share.  Thanks!

Once again, I hope you have an awesome Saturday and rest of the weekend.  I will close with a pep talk from the Kid President.  I am sure that we have all seen it, but it is still great encouragement.  Do something awesome not school related this weekend!

You are awesome!  Keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

For more hope and encouragement: @DearTeacherLT (Twitter) and Dear Teacher/Love Teacher Facebook Page.