teaching jobs

Excuse me… Stop and listen

Take a moment to think back to when you were at school. In primary school I remember being obsessed with transformers, The Spice Girls and what my friends though of me. I was a slightly overweight, pasty and short student who cared deeply about the opinions of the ‘popular children’ and who always strived to please the teachers. I was a diligent student. I remember one day in the playground telling my Year 3 teacher, Mrs. Richards, that a group of students wouldn’t let me play with them. They were being mean and calling me names. I recall it, as if it was yesterday, Mrs. Richards stopped her conversation with one of her colleagues and shooed me away. I persisted, and told her my traumatic tale again, and once again she shooed me away with a waving hand. At that moment I walked away trying hold back tears. At that time in my life being accepted by my friends was a big deal – in fact, it was my world. Mrs. Richards was a great teacher; passionate, kind and dedicated; yet in that moment she was busy, probably tired and otherwise disinterested.

I too have been guilty of Mrs. Richard’s mistake. Sometime you get busy and your mind is a million miles away. As teachers we can never be too busy, or too distracted to engage with our students. We need to get into their wonderful world so that we can truly engage with them.

When you on playground duty be present – Playground duty can be chore, but you need to loo at it as a wonderful opportunity to connect with your students outside of the classroom.

Emphasise with your students – Think back to when you were their age. What was important to you? Just watch the faces of you students light up when you actively participate in their lives.

Be interruptible by your students – no matter how busy you are.

As teachers, your words are held in high esteem. By taking a little bit of time each day, you can step inside the wonderful world of your class – world full of imagination, friendship drama and infinite possibilities.

Posted by Mathew Green on April 28, 2017 / Posted in Uncategorized

How to finish the year strong.

It’s easy to sprint out of the starting blocks, tick off your to-do lists and kick goals in Term One of the year. We are excited to be in our new school, on our new class or to be a part of a new team. There are clear, concise professional and personal goals clearly displayed (probably with colour-coded sticky notes). The beginning of any school year is an exciting time. By the Term Two we are well into the swing of things, we have routines established, our new behaviour management program is chugging away and things are humming along beautifully.

Then the Term Three starts, niggling issues start to rear their ugly heads, people start annoying us and we start to get that familiar tickle in our throats. Then, suddenly we realise that Term Four is upon us; reports, parent teacher interviews, behavioural issues, end of year function and the flu season. Before we know it the end of the year is a stone’s throw away. Finishing the year strong is really important as it helps us to launch into the next year. It’s understandable that you might feel lethargic and tired at this point of the year, but now is the time to dig deep and finish strong. Here are some suggestions for finishing your year strong:

Say a specific thank you.

Despite what kind of year you’ve had – inspiring, frustrating, awful or awe inspiring – there is always someone who you can thank. Maybe your supervisor, your principal, a parent or a classroom assistant. Specific and intentional gratitude or praise is amazing for the recipient, but it’s powerful for you too! Gratitude instantly lifts your mood and gives you a better perspective on things.

Tidy your storeroom.

The good ol’ storeroom. That ‘blackhole’ where partially completed class projects, those papier-mâché volcanoes and old syllabus documents are hiding. You’ve put off the clean out for the last three terms, and now things in there are trying to escape. Book an hour or two into your next two weeks and get stuck in there. Be ruthless with decluttering and you’ll love yourself for it in the new year.

Create moments.

Amidst the chaos and complexity of this term take the time to create memories with your students. Create space to talk, to laugh and reflect on the year that it has been.

Plan for 2017.

Take some time to think about what you would like 2017 to look like. Is it time to focus in on your teaching pedagogy or is this the year that you will start working on your resume for your next career step? Whatever the case, take a few moments to dream, imagine and plan for 2017.

No year is perfect. There are a host of things that you could have, should have and probably will do better next year. Despite the year that you have had and regardless of how you feel right now you can still decide to finish 2017 strong.

Posted by Mathew Green on December 09, 2016 / Posted in Uncategorized

What engages your students?

As a teacher you have a responsibility to find the thing that engages and motivates the children in your class. In my first year on kindergarten I had a particularly challenging child. He was from a country that had been through horrific civil war, and was continuing to work through some of the worst cases of human rights violations that I have ever heard of. The story of his past brought me to tears when I heard it for the first time. His mother had fled their home country while pregnant with my student. On the way to a refugee camp her entire family was murdered, but somehow she managed to escape with her unborn child. The child was born in a refugee camp and I can barely imagine the type of things that he was exposed to in the early years of his life. Somehow he and his mother made it to Australian shores and received refugee status.

When this child arrived at school he, as you would expect, displayed very challenging behaviour. He would punch other students to get his way and he stole items from the school that he liked. The student simply could not appropriately settle into the school environment. I didn’t know how to cope with this child, how to manage his behaviour or how to get him to relate to other students. My supervisor at the time advised me to design an Individual Learning Plan (ILP) for him so that I could find out the things that he would respond to best. After weeks of trying different approaches and behaviour management strategies I began to feel frustrated that I would never find the thing that engaged him.

Then one day we were doing a lesson using instruments and talking about beat and rhythm in songs. Out of nowhere the student began dancing and performing his own responses to music. He smiled for the first time in my class and I learnt that he, just like all of the other students in my class, had talent that was waiting to be discovered.

This story highlights the importance of individualising your lessons and the power in finding the things that motivate and engage each and every student in your class. As an educator you have the responsibility and privilege of creating stimulating and engaging learning environments for your class. Every single student in your class has talents and has the capacity to excel in a number of areas.

Posted by Mathew Green on January 23, 2014 / Posted in Uncategorized