Do you ever wonder if you are making a positive impact? You’ve been working really hard, yet some of you are questioning. Does what I do matter? Do students even notice or care how much I am working for them? When students are missing or disengaged and parents are angry or upset, how can I even win?
Sometimes when you are working hard, it is easy to lose heart. Here are five questions you should ask yourself to find out if what you are doing is making a positive impact.
Do you call students by name?
We all want to feel seen. One of the simplest ways to make people feel noticed is to use their name. We all like to hear our names. How do you greet students in the morning? Do you great them by name? How do you respond to students when they raise their hands? Are you calling students by name when they are engaging in positive ways or only when they are exhibiting negative behaviors?
If you are routinely connecting with students by using their names when you interact with them for a variety of reasons, you are already positively impacting them. They are feeling seen and heard.
Do you give positive feedback?
You are reading student work. You are having discussions with students both in a large group and in smaller groups or individually. You are answering student questions. These are all opportunities to give positive feedback. Even an incorrect answer can result in positive feedback. Here’s an example, “That is not the correct answer, but I can see that you have some good thinking going on.” You have just provided positive feedback.
If you are giving students positive feedback on work, behaviors, attitudes, thought processes, or social interactions, you are making a positive impact.
Do you help students to grow?
We all have a need for growth. Teachers are in a position to help students grow not only academically, but socially and emotionally as well. Do you meet students where they are academically and help them get to the next level? Do you guide students in appropriate social behaviors? Do you encourage students to have a growth mindset? Are you challenging students or encouraging them to try new things? If so, you are making a positive impact.
Do you teach the whole student?
You were hired to teach academic content. You have all experienced teachers in your life who taught you something other than academic content. They recognized something in you and helped you to see it in yourself. They gave you advice about life, not just about homework. They opened your eyes to something you are passionate about but might never have discovered by yourself.
These teachers were teaching the whole person, not just the student. If your interactions with students sometimes move out of the academic realm and into student’s lives, you are making a positive impact.
Do you still care?
This question is focused on you and your behaviors. We all know people who have called it in. They do the minimum to get by. They stop any extra interactions. They don’t go out of their way to do anything extra for a student or colleague. They have a negative attitude. A student failed? Not my problem. A parent called? Why should I bother to call them back? Faculty meeting? I’m not going to show up.
You don’t have to work yourself into the ground, and you don’t have to be on call 24/7. However, good teachers still care. If there is a way to help a student, they will show up for that student.
Do you still care about your students? If so, you are making a positive impact.
In our experience, teachers make far more of an impact than they realize. Your student may be walking away with an important life lesson. A seemingly ungrateful parent may recognize the ways you have helped their child, though they may never tell you. It is a truth in life that you may never know who or how you may have made a positive impact.
Our best,
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