Teaching is not a profession known for instant gratification. Sometimes, we teachers can feel completely unappreciated. Dubbed a “thankless job”, teaching comes with many daily challenges. Grading, meetings, more grading, planning and the seemingly hundreds of tasks we are charged with can make us feel frustrated and burned out. More often than not, we take […]
by Joe A. Martin, Jr., Ed.D. A teacher recently wrote me requesting advice on how to keep herself motivated. Here are some quick suggestions on self-motivation: 1. Hang around other self motivated teachers…it’s contagious. 2. Make a “FIRE STARTER” list about what motivates you (internally). 3. Keep your FIRE STARTER list someplace where you can […]
by Joe A. Martin, Jr., Ed.D. I think one of the most tragic things to witness as a teach Unfortunately, education is having just the opposite effect on students. When students graduate, it’s common to hear, “I’m done with this education thing. I’ll never pick up another book as long as I live.” In a […]
by Taylor Mali he dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued: “What’s a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?” He reminded the other dinner guests that it’s true […]
by Joe A. Martin, Jr., Ed.D. A relationship expert once said that during an argument, there’s usually three sides to every story: his side, her side, and of course, the truth. This is something we must definitely keep in mind as teachers. As educators (especially professors), we have been accused of having the biggest egos […]
by Jennifer Cheifetz Nobody likes conflict in the workplace, especially when it impacts the way you do your job. But that’s exactly when you know you have to do something about it. A teacher gets evaluated by administrators, colleagues, parents, and oftentimes students. Occasionally when those evaluations are uncomplimentary, they can lead to conflicts. The […]
by Professor Joe Martin It was the middle of the school year, and I was going through a rough stretch when it seemed like nothing I tried was working with one particular class I taught. I must note that although I wasn’t a beginning teacher, I was still considered a new teacher with less than […]
Strategies, Ideas, and Recommendations from the faculty Development Literature General Strategies Look over the syllabi of other faculty members. Syllabi vary in format and content. If your department does not have a standard format, use your colleagues’ syllabi as rough models. Anticipate the general questions that will be in the minds of students. Course-specific […]
Walk into any truly excellent school and you can feel it almost immediately — a calm, orderly atmosphere that hums with an exciting, vibrant sense of purposefulness just under the surface. Students carry themselves with poise and confidence. Teachers talk about their work with intensity and professionalism. And despite the sense of serious business at […]
The oldest, and still the most powerful, teaching tactic for fostering critical thinking is Socratic teaching. In Socratic teaching we focus on giving students questions, not answers. We model an inquiring, probing mind by continually probing into the subject with questions. Fortunately, the abilities we gain by focusing on the elements of reasoning in a […]
Rohini Saini
Vishal Jain
