Go Backward to Move Forward A Resilience Strategy to Motivate Educators
Who influenced your decision to become an educator?
- Did you have a dynamic and inspiring teacher?
- Did you have highly engaging classmate?
- Was there a teacher or administrator who wasn’t as effective as you knew you could be?
What events took place that influenced your decision to become an educator?
- Were you inspired by a spectacular lesson?
- Did have extraordinary extracurricular opportunities that helped to define your path?
- Did you have a memorable day in school that shaped your decision to enter education?
What subjects inspired you to become an educator?
- Did you strongly connect with a specific subject?
- Did you find your passion within a certain class?
- Was there a specific type of learning that spoke to you in school?
What did you desire to do as an educator?
- Did you want to positively impact the community?
You are doing that. - Did you want to make a difference in your students’ lives?
You are doing that. - Did you want to share your love for teaching and learning?
You are doing that.
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They say you can’t go home.
However, a resilience strategy that can really work for you is doing just that. Go back. Maybe it’s just a year, maybe 10, or 30, or more – to that moment you decided to enter the field of education. Do you remember? You didn’t just stumble into it. It took years of schooling. It took late night studying. Practicums, student teaching, job searching…. You devised a plan and you followed through. This is because you wanted to be an educator.
Whether you are a teacher or administrator, you are who you are because you made a decision to enter education. And, there were reasons behind this decision.
Think back to why you started.
By going back to why you started you can connect with those initial reasons of entering the profession and leverage your past inspiration to reclaim your joy.
Take time to remind yourself of the reason you got into education. Why was it so important that you enter this profession? Chances are you had some lofty idealistic goals when you started out. There is no reason that those same goals shouldn’t still inspire you today. The difference is now you are making those goals happen.
As the school year goes on it is easy to get bogged down in the minutiae. Days go on repeat – meetings, planning, grading… Our world can shrink down to the size of a classroom and we can forget the real and inspired reasons that we are in education.
A powerful way to cut through the noise is to tap into your inner pre-service teacher-self. Remember why you started and take inventory. Your inspiration is still there. Your goals are still intact. Only, instead of going into education because you want to make a difference, you can see that you ARE making the difference. You have become the teacher that is inspiring future teachers. Your motivation to keep going is within you – and by looking back it becomes much, much easier to look forward.
Check out the Joy in Teaching infographic for the top reasons that teachers enter the field. Can you relate? Remember Why You Started Teaching – Printable Infographic PDF
Remember, you are never alone – there are a number of ways you can stay connected with Joy in Teaching:
