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4 Tried and True Ways to Increase Student Engagement Ep. 78

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4 Tried and True Ways to Increase Student Engagement  S. 5 Ep. 78

young boy excited to learn, 4 Tried and True Ways to Increase Student Engagement

Check out this episode and learn ways to get students excited about learning and increase student engagement! 

Show Notes:

In this busy back-to school time, we are sharing several of our best back-to-school inspired episodes to help you to start your school year strong!

Episode summary: 

Do you ever wish that your students were more engaged, that they cared more about what they were learning or that they would take learning more seriously? If so, you might need to increase student engagement.

Let’s face it, it is more fun and less stressful to teach students who are engaged. When students are engaged, you have fewer behavior challenges. Your lessons run more smoothly, and you accomplish more in less time. Students complete tasks and turn in their assignments. They also remember more of what they learned. Does that sound like a dream?  It’s possible. In this episode we’re talking about tried and true ways you can increase student engagement.

In this episode: 

It is more fun and less stressful to teach students who are actively engaged. When your students are engaged, there are fewer behavior challenges. Discussions are fluid and energizing. Your lessons run smoothly and you accomplish more in less time. Students will complete tasks and turn in their assignments. They will also likely remember more of what they learned. The chances are that when students are engaged, they are also having more fun and enjoying learning!

What’s not to love about that?

We are always excited to talk about student engagement because few things are better in teaching than watching students when they are fully engaged in their learning.

Today we explore these 4 tips to increase student engagement in more detail:

First, take a lesson from the business world. Before you shut off the podcast, trust us on this one. You will understand why in just a few minutes. The second tip is build and activate a learning strategy toolbox so you can plan engaging lessons. We will also explore our third tip which is about switching up the learning environment. Finally, we will talk about the importance of adding joy to the classroom.

These 4 tips will help you to increase student engagement exponentially.

Engagement Tip 1: Take a lesson from the business world.

One of our favorite authors is Dan Pink, the author of Drive and A Whole New Mind , both which we have referenced on other podcast episodes, among other best sellers. In his New York Times bestselling book Drive- The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us, Pink looked at four decades of research on motivation and then summarized into one book for business leaders to help them keep their employees motivated, satisfied, and performing at their highest levels.

What Pink learned has direct application to the classroom. Basically, in order for people to be motivated to work and learn and be engaged in what they’re doing, they must feel a sense of autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Once those three things are incorporated, motivation and engagement skyrocket and management issues decrease. Let’s take just a minute to talk about autonomy, mastery, and purpose.

Autonomy

Autonomy means that students have some say in what they are doing or learning. They don’t need total control, but they need to make some of their own choices. This might be setting their own learning goals, choosing which learning materials to use, or choosing between several types of projects. You might give them a choice in partners or groups, a choice in tasks, or a choice in which book they read.

Students will still need some sort of accountability, but giving them some say in what they do will greatly increase the chances that they will do it.

Teachers are sometimes nervous about giving students control, thinking that they will lose control, but the opposite happens. Students don’t need ALL the choices, they just need some choices. Teachers can control the choices.

Daniel Pink offers this advice: Control leads to compliance, autonomy leads to engagement. 

Mastery

The second thing that creates engagement is the opportunity for mastery.

Engagement leads to mastery. Think about it, did you ever really master anything without being engaged in it?  We’ve all had the experience of memorizing something for a test, only to forget it the minute we walk out the door. That is not mastery.

Mastery is the ability to get better and better at something that matters. Our educational standards require students to master skills. What can teachers do to increase mastery?

  • Make sure tasks are not too easy or too challenging.
  • Give students time to get into flow, time where they can focus and work on a task uninterrupted.
  • Make work look like play. There is often joy in the pursuit of a goal. Have you ever been so involved in something that you lost all track of time? Learning and work and enjoyment are not mutually exclusive!
  • Encourage a growth mindset where students believe that with effort, they can get better and better at something.

For example, think of kids and gaming, where they work hard trying to reach the next level. Or think of adults with golf, or completing their step rings on their watch. It becomes a competition with yourself to keep getting better and better and reach the next level. It is why professional musicians who are at the top of their profession keep practicing for hours a day. It is also why athletes keep running, or keep shooting hundreds of baskets every day. They are going for mastery.

Purpose

The third aspect of motivation from Daniel Pink’s discussion is purpose.

When students understand the purpose for their learning, they are more motivated to learn. Students are less likely to engage when they view work as a waste of time. Can students answer the question, “why is this important?” If so, they understand the purpose of the lesson.

Tell students the objectives of the lesson. Share the outcomes. Show them the learning standard.  However, that is not enough, standards can seem dry and unimportant without context. Make sure students know what they are going to learn. Tell them and post it on the board. For example, you could use this prompt:

“Today you are going to learn to…” Then make sure students understand how they will use this information or why it is important.

This piece creates relevance. When students understand how they might use something, or how it will help them in the future, or how it will improve their skills such as critical thinking or the ability to analyze, they will be more likely to buy in to the activity.

You could say, “Here are some of the ways you will use this information or skill in the future…”

Or, better yet, ask students how they think the information or skill will be useful in their future.

You can increase student engagement by paying attention to autonomy, mastery and purpose. It is not just a solution for the business world. It is also a powerful formula to increase student engagement.

Engagement Tip 2: Build an active learning strategy toolkit so you can plan engaging lessons

Are you using active learning strategies in your classroom? Teachers who are looking to build engagement are always adding new active learning strategies to their toolbox and then using these strategies when planning to make sure their lessons are engaging. A great active learning can usually be used in any curriculum area and across different grade levels.

We love active learning strategies and have written several blog posts with our favorite active learning strategies, all of which we will link in the show notes so you can have easy access to them. Most of our favorite active learning strategies can be completed in 10-15 minutes.

Here are four of our favorite active learning strategies:

Walk the Walls 

This strategy works as a strategy to get students ready to learn new content or as a way to review what they have read or discussed. It is a good warm-up and generally takes 10-15 minutes.

Determine a set of 6-8 questions related to the day’s lesson. For example:

Which mammals have you seen in person? (3rd grade science)

Why do you think enslaved people joined the confederate army? (9th grade US History)

How do you think you would have reacted to finding an abused dog? (5th grade reading)

What are some different ways to greet someone in Spanish?  (1st year Spanish)

Gather 6-8 large pieces of paper. Place one question on each sheet. Place the sheets on the walls around the room. Instruct students to take a marker or pen and walk around the room quietly writing their answers on each sheet. When time is up, discuss their answers.

Speed Dating (or for elementary students “Line Learning”)

Prepare a list of questions for discussion. The questions can help to introduce new content or review previously learned content.

Have students stand in two lines, facing each other.

Set a time limit, such as one minute. Determine which line will talk first and which line will listen. Ask a question. Students have one minute to talk about the answer with the person facing them. Then reverse speakers. For the next question, have one row move one place to the right so that each person is facing a new partner. The person on the end goes to the other end of the line. Repeat.

In addition to these strategies, remember you can always add small engagement elements to your toolbox and lessons as attention grabbers, community builders, and learning disguised as fun. For example, introduce a lesson on states of matter by playing music from the movie Frozen. Then conduct experiments with ice, snow, and water.

Engagement tip 3: Switch up the environment.

Too much time in the same environment can make anyone feel restless. New and unique environments can increase engagement dramatically. There are many ways to switch up the environment without abandoning your curriculum or academic standards.

Consider what you can do to switch up the environment:

  • Move to a different space for a lesson or a day- consider going outside. On beautiful weather days, if students are staring out the window longingly, let’s face it, you probably are as well! Consider how you could take all or part of the lesson outside. Or could individual student work portion of a lesson be done in the hallway? Could you go on a nature walk or use sidewalk chalk to practice spelling words or math problems?
  • Change up your classroom. Rearrange the desks. Add a reading tent in the corner. Make your bulletin board and interactive board where kids can engage with the classroom content.
  • Bring in more “things”. Let the students see, feel, hear, touch and maybe even taste what you are learning about. These can be used for manipulatives in learning and can help students see relevance.
  • Add “Walk and Talks”. Have students pair up. Give them an assigned topic to discuss. Often you can use the discussion questions you would have used with the entire class. Have them walk and talk in your school hallway or outside about the question for a minute or two, then switch partners. Bring them back to a large group to share their insights. Repeat as time allows. This activity is also great for language classes when students must talk in the language they are learning!

We do want to remind you to be clear and specific in setting your behavior expectations and directions when you switch up your environment. For example, you might say something like, “I know we would all like to work outside today. Before we can do that, I need you to agree to follow my rules and behavior expectations. First, while we are outside, you promise to focus on doing the work of the lesson. When I call for your attention, you promise to stop and listen to directions. If you do not follow these rules, we will immediately return to the classroom. Please raise your hand if you can agree to these rules.”

Engagement tip 4: Add joy to your classroom.

Joy helps students love learning. If students love learning, they will be engaged. Joy encourages creativity, which opens the door for creative problem solving. Joy encourages curiosity and self-motivated learning.

Here are just a few of our favorite ways to increase joy in the classroom:  

  • Try to incorporate laughter into your lessons. Laughing reduces stress. Look for opportunities to inject humor into the day’s activities. Offer to tell a joke if students line up quickly and quietly. Get a joke book if you need one. Telling a joke takes less than 30 seconds and adds fun. We all remember a teacher who told corny jokes. Notice that we remember that teacher.
  • Add Music. There are songs that fit into all areas of the curriculum. Check out You Tube for songs about multiplication or grammar from School House Rock. Better yet, let students work in groups to write and perform their own songs based on their topic of study. Music brings about engagement and as a bonus, it also helps with retention!
  • Read funny literature. When you are reading aloud to your students or finding literature to incorporate into your lessons, look for and choose funny stories. When students have positive experiences with literature, they learn that reading is fun. If reading is fun, they will be more likely to do more of it.

Joyful classrooms are less stressful, less anxious places. Neurological studies have shown that students’ comfort levels can influence long-term information storage and transmission. Teachers and students face many challenges in today’s educational climate. Living without joy does not have to be one of them.

Recap: 

We often hear that students today aren’t engaged. The days of “sit and get” learning are in the past. By understanding how autonomy, mastery, and purpose lead to motivation, and by following up with lessons that include fun and actively engaging activities you can increase students’ engagement and maximize learning in your classroom.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

4 Great Active Learning Strategies for All Content Areas

Mix and Match Active Learning Strategy

8 Simple Ways to Create a Joyful Classroom

Related Podcast Episodes

Inspired together Teachers Podcast Episode 2: What Every Teacher Needs to Know About Motivation

Connect with the Inspired Together Teachers Community:

Download our FREE resource: The Inspired Teachers Guide to Taking Back Your Life.

Website: https:www.inspiredtogetherteachers.com

Instagram: Inspired-Together-Teachers

Facebook: Inspired Together Teachers

Inspired Together Teachers Network  Facebook Group

Linked In:  Inspired Together Learning

More About Inspired Together Teachers:

Are you a teacher struggling to balance your best work with your best life?

If you are dedicated and caring but often overwhelmed and exhausted, join us at Inspired Together Teachers. We’ll give you inspiration, strategies and tips that help you navigate life’s challenges as a stronger, more confident, and more joy filled person, both in and out of the classroom.

Inspired Together Teachers will give you practical tools to experience more of what matters most in your life.

Co-hosts Paula Schmidt and Michele Vosberg are award winning educators with the experience and skills to help teachers thrive in life and work. They’ve taught at all levels, worked with thousands of teachers, and conducted workshops around the world. They are also the authors of the #1 best-selling book The Inspired Teachers Journal: A Weekly Guide to Becoming Your Best Self.

Paula and Michele would love to have you to join them on their quest to lived inspired lives.

 

Inspirational Teachers In Children’s Books Ep. 72

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Inspirational Teachers In Children’s Books  S. 5 E. 72

Book teachers mrs. Frizzel and Mr. Faulker, Inspirational Teachers in Children's Books

Check out this episode to hear about some beloved and inspirational teachers in children’s books and learn what they have to teach us as teachers. insert podcast link to player here

Show notes: 

Episode Summary:

Could you use a little inspiration from some fabulous fictional teachers to renew your passion for teaching? Maybe you would love a guide to help you work with children with differing abilities, or another teacher to help you devise a plan to improve your classroom. Perhaps you could use a good teacher role model for how to handle difficult situations.

In this episode we’re talking about our favorite teachers in children’s books. In a world where teachers are often maligned and underappreciated, these teachers are fun, clever, imaginative, effective, and yes, even a little magical.

Who are these amazing teachers?  We think you will recognize some old friends and make some new acquaintances.

Listen in for some great tips from beloved teachers in children’s books.

In this episode:

In Episode 68 we shared important life lessons we can learn from characters in children’s books.

Today, we are back with some lessons we can all learn from fantastic teachers in children’s books. If you are listening to this live, it is summer and you might find yourself with time to read a few children’s or YA books. The following amazing teachers have traits that make them good role models for teachers.

Mr. Slinger  in Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse  by Kevin Henkes

Mr. Slinger is cool. He is sharp as a tack and wears artistic shirts. His classroom includes a writing center called “The Lightbulb Lab… Where Great Ideas are Born.”

One day Lily comes to school excited about her new purple plastic purse that holds jangling coins and plays jaunty tunes. When she can’t stop sharing, Mr. Slinger takes her purse and puts it away until the end of the day. Lily writes Mr. Slinger a terrible letter. He handles it with grace and understanding. We love Mr. Slinger, who manages to be both firm and kind, and is not above joining in with a little dancing.

See also, music teacher Mrs. Twinkle in Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes.

Mr. Falker in Thank You Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco

Trisha is a fifth grader who struggles to read and suffers from taunting by the other children. Feeling stupid, she hides at recess, until the new teacher, Mr. Falker discovers her. Mr. Falker takes her under his tutelage and helps her to understand that she isn’t dumb. He recognizes her artistic talent and helps her to understand her value. With the help of many after school tutoring sessions, Mr. Falker teaches her to read and ultimately changes her life.

We love Mr. Falker because he does not give up on kids.

The last page?  We dare you not to cry.

Mrs. Peterson in The Junkyard Wonders by Patricia Polacco

As if writing about one brilliant teacher wasn’t enough, Polacco gives us another amazing teacher in Mrs. Peterson. Mrs. Peterson is the teacher in a special education classroom known as “The Junkyard.”  She recognizes the special gifts of her students and brings out the genius in them. She understands that a junkyard is a place with wondrous possibilities, and makes the students understand that they are full of potential.

Mrs. Peterson turns a class into a community of learners. They support each and work together in project based learning. Most importantly, she helps them to believe in themselves.

Miss Nelson in Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard

Miss Nelson is sweet and kind, but her class begins to take advantage of her good nature. One day she is absent, and there is a substitute- the mean and terrifying Miss Viola Swamp!

As the children experience the unforgiving Miss Swamp, they learn to appreciate Miss Nelson. But where is she?  We’re not telling…but it involves a diabolical scheme!

We love the way Miss Nelson solves a challenge with a bit of creativity!  There is a lesson in that for all of us!

Miss Frizzle in the Magic School Bus books by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degan

What’s not to love about Miss Frizzle?  Science and history have never been more fun. What does Miss Frizzle have that makes her special?  She has wild red hair, amazing clothes that relate to her lessons and of course…a magic school bus. The fabulous Frizz leads the students on outlandish field trips…to the solar system or through the inside of the human body. In later years she rocked ancient history, exploring Imperial China, ancient Egypt and a medieval castle.

We might never be as cool as the Frizz… but  she inspires us to try to make learning come alive for our students. She sparks curiosity in her students, and that is a great way to inspire learning!

Miss Agnes in The Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill. 

When a remote Alaskan village loses its teacher, the community wonders if school will be closed. In walks Miss Agnes, a skinny woman who wears pants and has “a little mileage on her.”

In this historical fiction book, Miss Agnes is a woman ahead of her time. She carts away the old, decrepit textbooks. She brings out art supplies and music. She connects with the children and their families, valuing their culture and knowledge. She invites in a child who has been left out of school because she has a physical disabilities.  She also teaches some of the elders of the community. She individualizes lessons, teaching students skills when the students are ready. She believes in the power of learning.

In the classroom of Miss Agnes, learning is meaningful, reading comes alive and people understand how knowledge can transform you.

Mrs. Granger in Frindle by Andrew Clements

Mrs. Granger is the teacher we all love to hate. She is strict. She is old-fashioned. She is unrelenting. Mrs. Granger has x-ray vision. And she loves the dictionary.

Nick is smart and rambunctious. He likes to liven things up and cause a little disturbance.

Don’t we all know some children like Nick?  They are full of energy and mischief and you can’t help but both love them and get frustrated by their antics.

When Nick discovers that we all have a role in changing language, he decides to test the idea by inventing the word “frindle”, which is a synonym for pen.

A battle between Nick and Mrs. Granger ensues. Who has the power to determine what words mean?

The final lesson is worth waiting for and you see the magic of a teacher’s influence!

Miss Edmunds in Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

Miss Edmunds is different from everyone else at school. Some call her a hippie. Miss Edmunds is a free spirit who sings folk songs and plays guitar. She is the kind of music teacher who lets children try different instruments and sing with abandon.

Jess loves Miss Edmunds. She encourages his drawing talent and takes him to an art museum. More importantly, Jess feels safe with her. She understands him. She won’t crush his dreams or stifle his imagination. She is a kindred spirit for a soul who desperately needs one.

We all need a Miss Edmunds in or lives, someone who believes in us and sees our potential. Some teachers have the power to save students by building relationships, and watching Miss Edmunds is a master class in building relationships with students.

Miss Stretchberry in Love That Dog by Sharon Creech

We never officially meet her

Miss Strechberry

We see her through the poetry of Jack

reluctant writer

Jack writes poems

Miss Stretchberry guides him

with a gentle hand

and no pressure

and Jack’s poems

shine.

         see also Hate That Cat by Sharon Creech.

Madame Poitier from Sahara Special by Esmé Raji Codell

The new teacher, Madame Poitier, also known as Miss Pointy, is a breath of fresh air. She wears sparkly dragonfly barrettes, brings flowers and a red lamp to school, and teaches classes with names like “Time Travelers” and “Mad Scientists.” She teaches children to leave their troubles at the door and all of her rules begin with “yes.”  She focused on social and emotional learning before it was a thing.

We think that Miss Pointy is a thinly veiled description of the author herself, known for the book she wrote about her first year of teaching Educating Esmé.  That is a good thing, because Esmé is also one of our superheroes. We’ve had the chance to meet her in person and she is everything a good teacher should be!

Who are your favorite teachers in children’s books?  We would love to hear about them in the comments below.

And if you’d like a reading list of 25 Great Books About Teachers That Every Teacher Should Read, fill out the form below:

Recap:

The world of children’s and young adult books is filled with good teacher role models. Thanks for joining us today to learn from Frizzle, Falker, and other fabulous teachers in children’s books.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

All books we referred to in this episode are linked in the headlines above.

This post uses affiliate links. If you purchase an item through our link, we will receive a small portion of the profit with no extra cost to you. This helps us to pay for the costs of bringing this free podcast to our community.

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

Inspired Together Teachers Podcast episode 68 Important Life Lessons from Beloved Children’s Books

Inspired Together Teachers Podcast episode 69 Our Best Summer Reading Suggestions

 

Connect with the Inspired Together Teachers Community:

Download our FREE resource: The Inspired Teachers Guide to Taking Back Your Life.

Website: https:www.inspiredtogetherteachers.com

Instagram: Inspired-Together-Teachers

Facebook: Inspired Together Teachers

Facebook Teacher Warriors Group: Inspired Together Teachers  Facebook Group

Linked In:  Inspired Together Teachers

More About Inspired Together Teachers:

Are you a teacher struggling to balance your best work with your best life?

If you are dedicated and caring but often overwhelmed and exhausted, join us at Inspired Together Teachers. We’ll give you inspiration, strategies and tips that help you navigate life’s challenges as a stronger, more confident, and more joy filled person, both in and out of the classroom.

Inspired Together Teachers will give you practical tools to experience more of what matters most in your life.

Co-hosts Paula Schmidt and Michele Vosberg are award winning educators with the experience and skills to help teachers thrive in life and work. They’ve taught at all levels, worked with thousands of teachers, and conducted workshops around the world. They are also the authors of the #1 best-selling book The Inspired Teachers Journal: A Weekly Guide to Becoming Your Best Self.

Paula and Michele would love to have you to join them on their quest to lived inspired lives.

 

 

 

 

 

Limitless Potential: An Enneagram Roadmap for Educators

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Limitless Potential: An Enneagram Roadmap for Educators

You asked for it, and we’ve got it. This summer, in our new workshop, we’re talking about some of the hottest, most asked for topics in education today! 

Learn about the tool of The Enneagram– the key to understanding yourself and others in ways that improve relationships, communication, classroom motivation and management, and how to help reduce the effects of trauma. When you understand human potential in yourself and others, you can develop potential and change lives for the better.

Join us for our 2024 Workshop

Limitless Potential:

An Enneagram Roadmap for Educators

June 6, 2024

Ready to register?  Register here

Limitless potential, two hikers with waterfall

 

Workshop Description:

We embark on a journey with our students and colleagues every day. Understanding and unlocking hidden potential in ourselves and others has benefits for all of us as we journey together.

As individuals, discovering and developing our potential helps us understand our strengths and build on them in order to bring our best gifts to our lives and work. Understanding the potential of our students helps us to build better relationships and guide each student based on their individual needs. Understanding and developing the potential of all faculty and staff helps the entire school to thrive.

In this workshop we will use research on finding and developing potential in ourselves and others. We’ll use the tool of the Enneagram as a roadmap to understand patterns of behavior which hold keys to unlocking potential. We’ll also look at the ways trauma inhibits us from developing our potential and discuss practices that can help move from trauma to resilience.

Developing human potential is not an end game, it is a path towards growth. This workshop will provide Enneagram tools and specific strategies to help educators with their own growth, as well as ways to help others to achieve growth.

This workshop is ideal for anyone working in the field of education, with particular emphasis on teachers, administrators, or paraprofessionals who want to find balance in their work and home lives. Optional IA license renewal credit available.

What would it feel like to …

discover and understand your own unique potential and how to bring it into the world in a way that feels joyous and freeing?

stop struggling with motivating students and understand how they are motivated?

recognize patterns of behavior in yourself, students, teaching teams and even your family to finally understand why people do what they do-AND to leverage this knowledge in order to positively influence behaviors?

create a nurturing and supportive environment that encourages each student to flourish and allows for strong staff teams that foster growth?

know you are making a difference in the lives of others as you recognize their unique gifts and challenges and use that knowledge to bring their potential to life?

Our objectives for the day:

  • Participant will study how mindset, motivation, and environment intersect to unleash hidden talents and abilities.
  • Through interactive exercises, participants will discover their unique strengths and talents, gaining insights into how to leverage these for maximum impact in the classroom.
  • Participants will learn techniques to recognize and nurture the potential within each student, creating an environment where every learner can thrive- including those who have experienced trauma
  • The participant will gain a foundational understanding of the Enneagram, including its nine personality types, core motivations,  behavior patterns and how these manifest in teaching and learning environments.
  • Using the Enneagram as a guide, participants will learn strategies to create a nurturing and supportive environment that encourages each student’s potential to flourish and allows for strong staff teams that foster growth.

What is the Enneagram?

The Enneagram is a psychological map of the human personality. We all have patterns of behavior, the Enneagram helps you recognize and understand those behavioral patterns.

At its best, the Enneagram is a tool that can lead you to self -awareness. You can learn to recognize patterns in your own behavior, and understand how those patterns play out in your personal life, your relationships, and in your work. You can learn to change the patterns that aren’t serving you well.  You can, in a sense, learn to get out of your own way. This can open up a path for you to become your best, truest self.

The Enneagram can be applied to all areas of your life. It can help you understand your communication styles, how you interact in relationships, your basic fears and desires, how you lead, and even how and why you are motivated.

We can also use the Enneagram to understand others.  The Enneagram will help you understand human motivations, which is extraordinarily helpful in working with students. You will likely learn to see students in a new way, which helps you understand them better and understand why they do the things they do. The insight we gain from the Enneagram can help us improve how we relate to others. It can help us to walk through the world with a stronger sense of compassion and empathy.

The Enneagram does not assume that personality is fixed or permanent.  The Enneagram, unlike many other personality assessments or tools, invites us to grow and change. It’s like a road map, it shows us where we are at the moment, and it gives us a plan for where we can go.

Workshop Details:

Join us for a fun day of active learning as we focus on ways you can understand and develop potential using the tool of the Enneagram as a guide.

We’ll include a continental breakfast, lunch and snacks! 

We will provide a continental breakfast of fruit, danish, coffee and juice, as well as a lunch BLT or California Wrap Buffet with french fries and salad, coffee, iced tea, or milk,  and snacks.

We’ll also provide all the materials you’ll need- you just need to show up!

When: June 6, 2024   9:00 A.M.-4 P.M. 

Place: Dubuque Golf and Country Club, 1800 Randall Place, Dubuque IA. 

A follow up mini-course is available on our multimedia platform. You will receive log-in details upon completion of the live workshop. The mini-course is optional unless you wish to receive licensure renewal credit.

Time:  The live portion is June 6, 2024 from  9-4.  The follow-up mini-course is open 24 hours a day so that you can work when it best suits your life.

Come with a friend! 

We often attend workshops together, and we encourage you to invite a friend to join you- or even your teaching team!  Workshops are more fun with a friend and you can process your ideas together.  We’ve often shared that some of our most productive and innovative ideas have come when we’ve attended a workshop together.

Your instructors:

Paula Schmidt, Ed.D. and Michele Vosberg, Ph.D. Founders of Inspired Together Learning and the Inspired Together Teachers podcast and blog.

Paula and Michele are award winning, lifelong educators with a passion for helping teachers to be their best. They have trained thousands of teachers and conducted workshops throughout the world. They are the voices behind the Inspired Togethers Teachers podcast and the Inspired Together Teachers blog. They are also the authors of The Inspired Teachers Journal: A Weekly Guide to Becoming Your Best Self. You can read more about Paula and Michele on the Inspired Together Learning website here.

Cost:

The cost for the workshop is $135.

If you wish Iowa Licensure Renewal Credit there is an an additional $35 fee payable to the AEA on the Iowa AEA website.

 

Register for the workshop here.

Your Professional Development Plan:

This course was designed with a research base and with best practices in professional development in mind. We include course objectives and connect research to classroom practice. Upon completion you will receive a certificate for 15 content hours of professional development. Depending on your state or district’s requirements, this may count for professional development credit.

Licensure Renewal Credit: 

Optional Iowa license renewal credit is available. If you apply for licensure renewal credit, you must complete the 8 additional hours of content provided in our online course platform where you will read short articles, watch videos, and comment in a discussion area. The mini -course portion of the course is asynchronous and available to you 24/7.

In order to receive renewal credit, you must register for both the workshop AND the renewal credit.

This requires registration for the workshop on this page, AND additional registration on the AEA website.

How to Register:

Register for the workshop here.

To register for Iowa Licensure renewal:

You must register for both the workshop and the AEA credit.

Register for the workshop here.

Then you must also register for the licensure renewal credit through the AEA on the AEA web site here.  You will need to log in with your AEA credentials or create an account. The course ID is #226718KS. 

Licensure renewal credit is an additional $35. 

You must register for both the workshop and the renewal credit in order to receive Iowa AEA renewal credit. 

Testimonials:

two girls w

 

Here is what educators who have attended our workshops have said: 

“This workshop was truly inspiring. It made me look at the positive and really try to change my mindset for better. You both made it fun, engaging and personable.”

“This is what professional development should be like. ”

“Thank you so much! I learned a lot about myself and how to reshape my thinking. There were many ideas to bring back to our staff and students.”

“BEST PD in a longtime!!!!  Thank you so much! 😊  I could listen and expand on this so much longer!!!! WOW! This is a blessing to many!”

“This is quite possibly the most essential workshop I have been to.”

“Thank you for an inspirational workshop. Good reminders to use positive self talk and to surround myself with a strong support system!  Ya’ll are wonderful!”

“Thank you so much for this refreshing workshop. This is something I needed to be a part of right now. Great information.”

“Your dedication and passion for education is so inspiring, and I look forward to using more of these practices and strategies in my everyday life. Thank you for helping me become a better educator and a more confident individual.”

 

Are you ready to unleash your potential and recognize and help develop potential in your students and teams? 

 

“The expectations people hold of us often become self-fulfilling prophecies. When others believe in our potential, they give us a ladder. They elevate our aspirations and enable us to reach higher peaks. Dozens of experiments show that at work, when leaders hold high expectations, employees generally work harder, learn more, and perform better. In schools, when teachers set high expectations, students get smarter and earn higher grades- especially if they start out with disadvantages.” 

Adam Grant

Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things

Learn to recognize potential in yourself, in your students, and in your teams. Come and join us as we discuss strategies for bringing potential to life!

Ready to register? Register for the workshop here.

Questions?

Email us at inspiredtogetherlearning@gmail.com

We are excited to work with you and focus on ways you can help bring potential to life using the tool of the Enneagram!

Register for the workshop here.

We are excited to see YOU on June 6th!

Paula and Michele

 

 

Register today!

Why Kids Don’t Do What You Tell Them to Do Ep.58

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Why Kids Don’t Do What You Tell Them to Do  S.4 E.58

children playing with a tin can telephone, Why Kids Don't Do What You Tell Them to Do

Listen to this episode to learn 10 reasons why kids don’t do what you tell them to do. 

Show Notes: 

Episode Summary:

Do you ever feel the exasperation of asking kids to do something only for it to fall on deaf ears? These “kids” could be your students at school or your family members at home. They could be young children or teenagers. No matter the age, do you find yourself wishing they would just do what you ask so life could be easier? We don’t have all of the answers to this age-old dilemma, but in this episode we share some useful suggestions to decrease your frustration and get you and the kids in your life more in sync.

In this episode:

We’ve all felt the exasperation of asking students or children in our lives to do something only for it to fall on deaf ears.

As a teacher, this likely happens to you at school several times per day, regardless of whether you teach the littles, the elementary aged kids, the middle schoolers, or the teens.

If you are a parent, or beloved auntie or uncle, this probably happens at home on the regular as well.

Giving so many directions in a day, with so many opportunities for a non-response from the children in your life, can really build up your frustration level.

Our first response when we get no action from a child after a direction is given, is usually to repeat our direction, which often results in more non-action, until finally we resort to yelling or letting our frustration clearly show in our voices even if we don’t yell. We hate that we have succumbed to yelling, nagging, or showing our disapproval through our voice tone and they hate it too.

Why don’t students do what we ask of them? If we could figure it out, it might lead us to another, better way of communicating.

Today we will explore 10 reasons why the kids in your world might not be listening and how you can best communicate your expectations in a way they will understand. This is not an exhaustive list, but it will give you some things to think about when you feel frustrated when children don’t do what you ask.

1) They didn’t process the request. 

This is particularly true of very young children. If you ask a three year old to go to the corner of the room, pick up her toys and put them on the shelf, you are not likely to get compliance. You lost her in the three part direction- she heard “go in the corner of the classroom,” where you find her happily dumping out a bin of blocks.

Many older children also have processing delays; they hear part of the request and forget the rest. Try giving simple directions. Use picture clues such as signs. Another idea is to give cues. For example, before we can go to lunch there are three things I need you to do. Listen for the three things. First…  then second… then lastly…  Ask children to repeat the directions.

2) They didn’t hear the request.

Let’s face it, it is a noisy world.

Have you ever said something to someone, only to realize that they couldn’t hear you?

Maybe a child has still has their ear buds in from their time on the computer. Maybe there is a lot of peripheral noise. Many people have difficulty hearing in a noisy environment. At school, today’s classrooms often include multiple teachers working with multiple groups. Excessive noise can be a challenge.

Make sure you have attention before giving a request. Use hand or light signals. Look them in the eye. Try a loud whisper or a catchy call back to attract attention. If they don’t hear you, they can’t comply with your request.

3) They don’t understand the reason for the request.

As much as we might like to think “because I said so” is a good reason, children often respond well to a request when they understand the motivation for the task. Saying ” I don’t want you to walk around the classroom right now” becomes a challenge to be contested. Explaining that you don’t want them to walk around the classroom at the moment because you are giving important directions that will help them with their homework works better.

Children might see a fire drill as an opportunity to talk to their friends. When the teacher explains that it is important that they to be quiet so that she can listen for fire safety personnel or to hear if someone needs help, they are likely to move through the halls quietly. Whenever possible, give children reasons why you want them to do something.

4) The task is too challenging. 

This might not apply to simple tasks such as asking a child to put on her shoes, but it often applies to tasks such as homework. A struggling reader might shut down when confronted with the task of reading a long chapter of a book that is beyond their reading level. A child who feels that playing a musical instrument is too hard or the requested practice time is too long will not practice.

In the classroom, children may not understand the directions and give up if the work seems too difficult. For many students, it feels better to not complete work than try it and fail. They would rather be known as a trouble maker than as a failure.

Make sure work is at a level that is not too easy, but also not too hard. Encourage students by helping them to understand that trying and doing something wrong is an opportunity for learning.

5) The task is not challenging enough.

Students often reject tasks that are not challenging as “boring” or a “waste of time.” If a student can successfully complete ten two digit subtraction problems, do they really need to complete 100 more?  Our brains like novelty and interesting things. Rote copying of answers directly from the textbook to the paper does not stimulate interest  or curiosity. Whenever possible, make sure tasks have some level of challenge.

Sometimes we do need to do repetitious or boring tasks. Anyone who has ever played airplane to get a small child to eat vegetables understands the power of fun and novelty. When you ask children to pick up the classroom, turn on the timer on your phone to make it a game. See if they can beat their best time. Practicing spelling words?  See if you can find ten different ways to spell them- with a pen, by writing with your hand on someone’s back, writing with your foot by making letters in the air…

In Episode 46 of this podcast, which is titled “What’s stopping you from achieving your goals” we referenced the research of Edwin Locke, a psychologist who spent decades study goal setting. His research applies here as well. He found that challenging goals improve performance more than easy ones. As Locke and other researchers have discovered, there is a sweet spot for challenge when setting a goal. People who set goals that are too easy, are actually less likely to achieve them. However, if you set the goal so high that it is nearly impossible to meet, you will quickly lose motivation. You need to find the “Goldilocks” of challenge level for your specific goal. We see a direct connection to asking students to do something. You need to give them challenge so they are more likely to achieve it but not so much that they think, “I’m never going to be able to do this, so why should I even try?”

6) They are meeting a personal need. 

After talking with your class about the importance of using kind words when disagreeing, you find out that after school one of your students used unkind words to exclude another student from her social group. The exclusionary language might have been a method for your student to gain peer approval or social status from other students. Her need for peer approval is higher than the need for teacher approval, so she doesn’t do what you asked.

Playground fighting is another example of how children demonstrate a personal need. You’ve talked with a student who is fighting with his peers at recess. He continues to fight. He might be fighting to meet a need for power; as long as he can hit other kids, he feels powerful.

When a child’s behavior is caused by their desire to meet a particular need, often you can help the child figure out a better way to get their needs met. Ask questions. What does it mean to be “popular” and how else can you gain popularity?  Likewise, what other things could a child do to feel more powerful? What opportunities could you find to give a child power in positive ways?

7) They feel a need for autonomy.

No one, including children, likes to be controlled 100% of the time. Think about how you feel when you are micromanaged. You like to have some control over your tasks and how they are done. Children do as well.

If children never have choices, they may refuse to cooperate with requests. Children who don’t complete homework despite adult requests may perform better if they are taught to set up a schedule and to choose which homework to do first. Many students will take more responsibility for their work when they are allowed to chose a datebook or planner and keep track of their own work. If children are used to someone else constantly dictating what they do and when they do it, they are not likely to want to or be able to manage without that constant reminder. Children need to be taught skills that will allow them to be independent.

8)  They don’t like or respect you.

It is human nature to resist doing something for someone we don’t like. Children are often reluctant to do something for someone they don’t respect. Many adults believe that they deserve respect just by being adults, but many children and adolescents don’t see it that way. Respect is more of a two -way street. It is given and earned on both ends.

If you think that respect is at the heart of the issue, ask yourself why. What can you do to build respect?  The way to solving this problem is by building relationships. Do you treat the young person with respect?  Do you ask about and care about their experiences and feelings? Do you listen to them?  Do you take their perspective into consideration?  Building relationships takes time, but is worth it.

9) The timing of the request is off.

Sometimes, students fail to complete a request because the time is not right. For example, students might not complete homework directly after school because they are hungry or thirsty or need some physical activity after a long day of sitting. Being extremely tired is another reason for slacking; think of how much work you get done when you are very tired.

In Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, our basic needs, such as the need for food, water, air and sleep come before anything else. Take these needs into consideration before asking children to comply with a task.

10)  They are suffering from trauma.

After the most basic human needs for survival, Maslow’s next step tells us that we must feel physically and emotionally safe before we can learn or attend to other tasks.

Children who have or who are experiencing trauma have bigger issues than following directions. Their safety needs must be met before they can work on other things. They may not be able to focus on your directions because the trauma is impacting their learning and behavior. There are no quick fixes here but creating a safe space and building relationships with the student are crucial.  Do your best to get to the bottom of the issue, and get help from a professional such as a school counselor, social worker, mental health professional or a physician. You can also research trauma-informed teaching to learn strategies to get you started.

Recap:

It can be extremely frustrating, discouraging and even exasperating when the kids in our lives don’t do what we ask or tell them to do. In this episode we considered 10 common reasons why kids don’t act on our requests or directions. As we mentioned at the beginning of the episode, it is not an exhaustive list, but it will give you some things to think about when you feel frustrated when children don’t do what you ask. Ultimately, by better understanding why the child might not be responding, we can consider and act upon better ways of communicating.

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

Episode 46 What’s Stopping You From Reaching Your Goals? 

Connect with the Inspired Together Teachers Community:

Download our FREE resource: The Inspired Teachers Guide to Taking Back Your Life.

Website: https:www.inspiredtogetherteachers.com

Instagram: Inspired-Together-Teachers

Facebook: Inspired Together Teachers

Facebook Teacher Warriors Group: Teacher Warriors Facebook Group

Linked In:  Inspired Together Teachers

More About Inspired Together Teachers:

Are you a teacher struggling to balance your best work with your best life?

If you are dedicated and caring but often overwhelmed and exhausted, join us at Inspired Together Teachers. We’ll give you inspiration, strategies and tips that help you navigate life’s challenges as a stronger, more confident, and more joy filled person, both in and out of the classroom.

Inspired Together Teachers will give you practical tools to experience more of what matters most in your life.

Co-hosts Paula Schmidt and Michele Vosberg are award winning educators with the experience and skills to help teachers thrive in life and work. They’ve taught at all levels, worked with thousands of teachers, and conducted workshops around the world. They are also the authors of the #1 best-selling book The Inspired Teachers Journal: A Weekly Guide to Becoming Your Best Self.

Paula and Michele would love to have you to join them on their quest to lived inspired lives.

 

 

The Enneagram for Educators Ep. 34

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The Enneagram for Educators S. 3 E. 34

Enneagram for educations, Enneagram 9 types chart

Listen to this episode to learn about the Enneagram, a tool which helps us to understand our thought and behavior patterns as well as how we are motivated. 

Show Notes: 

Episode summary: 

If you have ever struggled with motivation in your life or classroom, today’s episode is for you! We are going to introduce you to the tool of the Enneagram, which has great potential for educators. The Enneagram will help you understand people’s thinking and behavior patterns and how they are motivated. As certified Enneagram trainers, we are excited to share this episode which is the first episode in our special series on the Enneagram.

In this episode:

What is the Enneagram?

We are so excited to bring you this series on the Enneagram.

You’ve probably taken several different personality traits assessments. Some examples are The DISC, True Colors, StrengthsFinders, the Myers -Briggs Type Indicator, and many others.

The Enneagram is similar to these assessments, but also very different.

In many personality assessments, you learn about yourself, but aren’t really called to do anything. They offer a picture of who you are. The Enneagram shows you who you are at the moment, but even better yet, it gives you a glimpse of who you could be. It’s like a road map, or your personal GPS, it shows us where we are at the moment, and gives up a plan for where we can go. The purpose of the Enneagram is transformation.

The Enneagram focuses on patterns of behavior and the motivations behind them. The Enneagram is not just about understanding  our patterns, it is about using that knowledge to transform our ways of thinking, acting and relating to ourselves and others.

Why use the Enneagram?

  • To understand our strengths and our challenges
  • Understand the basic needs, fears and desires and motivations of ourselves and others
  • To understand how to move towards our unique greatness
  • A way of coming to and owning your authentic self – be more of who you really are
  • Walk through the world with a stronger sense of compassion and empathy.

Here are some things to consider when talking about the Enneagram:

The Enneagram is more than just a party trick or a little magazine quiz that is fun but doesn’t mean much. You’ve all done those quizzes on social media- Which Harry Potter Character are You?, or Which Disney Character are You?.

Those are often fun in the moment, but don’t tell you much about yourself and have no lasting meaning.  They certainly don’t help you to transform in any meaningful way or help you to understand others in a way that helps you improve your relationships.

The Enneagram has a long and deep history. In fact, what we are going to talk about in this series just gets at the very tip of the Enneagram iceberg. You can study this deeply, reading hundreds of books and taking extensive training.

We are both Enneagram certified trainers, so we’ve been doing the work. Even though we have had lengthy trainings, read a lot, and have had experience using the Enneagram in workshops, we feel that we have barely touched the surface. If you are like us, you may find out that once you start learning about the Enneagram you want to understand it more and go much deeper. We’ll just say that the potential is there for deep study.

You may have learned your “number” or type, or heard other people talking about their number. The number is not important- it’s really about understanding the patterns of each type.

You have to apply the knowledge of the patterns in order for the Enneagram to become useful. If  the Enneagram helps you to see patterns in yourself or others, and then you use that insight to improve the way you conduct your life, it doesn’t really matter what type you are.

Here are a few things to keep in mind: 

All models are wrong, but some are useful.

You are more than your number.

This isn’t an attempt to put labels on people or to put them into a box. People often protest about being put into a box, but the Enneagram shows you that you are probably already in a box.

We all have access to three centers of intelligence. 

Let’s start with a little quiz. Here are three statements, which one is most like you?

  • I am connected to my rational side. I tend to analyze and think through things. I follow my head.
  • I am connected to and often lead with my feelings. I follow my heart.
  • I am connected to and often follow my gut instincts. I go with my gut.

The answer to your question should be a good first indication of your Enneagram type or number. It can help you narrow from nine types to three types.

The Wizard of Oz Analogy

Before we start explaining the three centers of intelligence and which types align with each center, take a minute and think of three characters you have likely met. This is the trio that travels with Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz books and movie.

There is The Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion. Each of these characters is traveling on a journey to find something.

What is the Scarecrow looking for? A Brain. The Brain is the representative of the head type of intelligence. This is the type of intelligence we often think of first- thinking, brain smarts, using your head. This is also known as IQ- or intelligence quotient. This will include Enneagram types 5, 6, and 7. We’ll talk more about that in the next few podcast episodes.

Then there is the Tin Man. What does he want? A Heart. This is feeling intelligence, also known as HQ or heart quotient. You know you are using heart intelligence when say things like, “I just feel that this is the right thing to do,” or “ I know it in my heart.”  The heart types include types 2, 3, and 4.

And last but not least is the Cowardly Lion. What is he looking for? Courage. Courage, is GQ,- the gut quotient. You are using your gut intelligence if you say things like, “I feel it in my gut.”  This is an instinctual type of intelligence- you go with your gut. You are quick to make decisions and confident in your choices. The gut types of the Enneagram are types 8, 9, and 1.

We will do a separate episode for each of the three centers of intelligence and go into much more detail about each type in those episodes. This episode is the first in a series.

Stay tuned for next time when we continue our Enneagram journey. Make sure you follow the Inspired Together Teachers podcast in your podcast host so you don’t miss it. Or sign up for our free newsletter on this website.

Recap:

The Enneagram is a great tool to help you understand yourself. It is really helpful to discover your behavior patterns, and more importantly what motivates you to do the things you do. You’ll understand more about your strengths and your challenges. It is like your own personal roadmap for personal growth. The Enneagram will also help you to understand others, and to build better relationships. In this episode you learned about the three centers of intelligence and whether you are a thinking type, a heart type or a gut type. Join us next time  as we begin digging to the individual Enneagram types.

Related episodes: 

Get Out of Your Head

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Free Enneagram test:

https://www.truity.com/test/enneagram-personality-test

Book:

The Road Back to You by Ian Cron and Suzanne Stabile 

Connect with the Inspired Together Teachers Community:

Download our FREE resource: The Inspired Teachers Guide to Taking Back Your Life.

Website: https:www.inspiredtogetherteachers.com

Instagram: Inspired-Together-Teachers

Facebook: Inspired Together Teachers

Facebook Teacher Warriors Group: Teacher Warriors Facebook Group

Linked In:  Inspired Together Teachers

More About Inspired Together Teachers:

Are you a teacher struggling to balance your best work with your best life?

If you are dedicated and caring but often overwhelmed and exhausted, join us at Inspired Together Teachers. We’ll give you inspiration, strategies and tips that help you navigate life’s challenges as a stronger, more confident, and more joy filled person, both in and out of the classroom.

Inspired Together Teachers will give you practical tools to experience more of what matters most in your life.

Co-hosts Paula Schmidt and Michele Vosberg are award winning educators with the experience and skills to help teachers thrive in life and work. They’ve taught at all levels, worked with thousands of teachers, and conducted workshops around the world. They are also the authors of the #1 best-selling book The Inspired Teachers Journal: A Weekly Guide to Becoming Your Best Self.

Paula and Michele would love to have you to join them on their quest to lived inspired lives.

 

 

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