Most adults spend their days either with other adults or with their own
children. Not so with teachers. Teachers spend their days with interaction
limited to children and other people’s children, and many of these
children are teenagers.
School is where teenagers socialize
with friends, fall in love, get their hearts broken, discover who they
are, connect to the world. School is where everything or practically
everything happens. As a result, the phenomenon of adolescence
permeates schools. Schools are veritable petri dishes swarming with
the adolescent fever.
When we practice selfcontrol
we are able to monitor our thoughts, feelings, and desires and
not act upon them in a knee-jerk manner.
They therefore need us to practice this skill
when they can’t, and to challenge their faulty teenage decision-making.
In the end, teenagers need to be surrounded by adults who can protect
them from themselves when necessary, and this is where our good judgment
comes into play.
The
the ability to deal productively with
conflict.
When we practice our grown-up skills in the teenage world, we know
we are in charge and we don’t lose sight of this fact even in the face of
adversity.
It also includes the capacity to explore relationships
and pay attention to information about one’s self that emerges within
relationships, particularly relationships with teenagers.
all of us make mistakes with students because at some point
all of us get knocked off balance by the phenomenon of adolescence.
Given that mistakes are inevitable, it’s good practice to think about our
behavior and its repercussions on a regular basis, and to have some clear
and specific guidelines that govern our actions.
Just keep in mind that our work and behavior in schools is
an open book, and this is how it should be.
Playing by the rules is the best way to maintain appropriate relationships
with our students, and it’s also a great way to support other
adults.
One way to acculturate adults
to thinking about their work is to conduct regular seminars for new
faculty throughout their first year or two of service.
we have a right to feel good a lot of the time,
so if we don’t we should commit ourselves to figuring out what’s wrong.
Teachers need to think about projection because when we work in
schools our past experiences get triggered all the time by our present
environment.
When we adopt a right
view of our professional situation, using something like the professional
satisfaction pie to keep track of our needs, we should maintain a sense of joy and satisfaction in our work.
Teenagers have a tendency to hear everything, especially when
it’s spoken by adults, and we shouldn’t lose sight of this fact.
All of us who work in the teenage world should take care of our basic
physical needs like sleeping, exercising, and eating well.
children. Not so with teachers. Teachers spend their days with interaction
limited to children and other people’s children, and many of these
children are teenagers.
School is where teenagers socialize
with friends, fall in love, get their hearts broken, discover who they
are, connect to the world. School is where everything or practically
everything happens. As a result, the phenomenon of adolescence
permeates schools. Schools are veritable petri dishes swarming with
the adolescent fever.
When we practice selfcontrol
we are able to monitor our thoughts, feelings, and desires and
not act upon them in a knee-jerk manner.
They therefore need us to practice this skill
when they can’t, and to challenge their faulty teenage decision-making.
In the end, teenagers need to be surrounded by adults who can protect
them from themselves when necessary, and this is where our good judgment
comes into play.
The
the ability to deal productively with
conflict.
When we practice our grown-up skills in the teenage world, we know
we are in charge and we don’t lose sight of this fact even in the face of
adversity.
It also includes the capacity to explore relationships
and pay attention to information about one’s self that emerges within
relationships, particularly relationships with teenagers.
all of us make mistakes with students because at some point
all of us get knocked off balance by the phenomenon of adolescence.
Given that mistakes are inevitable, it’s good practice to think about our
behavior and its repercussions on a regular basis, and to have some clear
and specific guidelines that govern our actions.
Just keep in mind that our work and behavior in schools is
an open book, and this is how it should be.
Playing by the rules is the best way to maintain appropriate relationships
with our students, and it’s also a great way to support other
adults.
One way to acculturate adults
to thinking about their work is to conduct regular seminars for new
faculty throughout their first year or two of service.
we have a right to feel good a lot of the time,
so if we don’t we should commit ourselves to figuring out what’s wrong.
Teachers need to think about projection because when we work in
schools our past experiences get triggered all the time by our present
environment.
When we adopt a right
view of our professional situation, using something like the professional
satisfaction pie to keep track of our needs, we should maintain a sense of joy and satisfaction in our work.
Teenagers have a tendency to hear everything, especially when
it’s spoken by adults, and we shouldn’t lose sight of this fact.
All of us who work in the teenage world should take care of our basic
physical needs like sleeping, exercising, and eating well.