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What is the Positive Teacher Network? An interview...

The Positive Teacher Network is always keen to partner with organisations and individuals who are inspiring others in the teaching profession. So when Gretchen Schultek Bridgers, from 'Always a Lesson' reached out to me, I was excited to connect and be interviewed for her highly rated education podcast.

You can listen to it via her website or directly in the iTunes podcast app.

The Teacher Wellbeing Revolution

Teachers and leaders have been talking about staff wellbeing for some time, but with very little change in the attitude from Ofsted and a reluctance to make it anything more than a recommendation, teachers have had to take things into their own hands.

ATL is talking about workload issues with their ‘About Time’ campaign, Twitter users have forged a flourishing network through #teacher5aday and there are many other unions...

Positive language to increase teacher wellbeing

What we say to ourselves is just as powerful as what we say to other people. Even those of us that don't like to admit that we talk to ourselves ;-) - most of us can acknowledge that we often think through language. We think 'I'm going home' and then we get in the car and go home. Or we think 'I'm so tired' and it reflects how we feel. ​

​The fact is, our language is a trigger for patterns of behaviour that are often unconscious. This is evident with the classic driving example.

Can a definition of Wellbeing help us achieve it?

There are a lot of different definitions for wellbeing. The Oxford English dictionary simply states that wellbeing is ‘The state of being comfortable, healthy, or happy’. The World Health Organisation include wellbeing as a key part of the definition of mental health: ‘Mental health is defined as a state of well-being in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able ...

How to make things happen even when you don’t believe it’s possible

​The best thing about setting goals is they don’t require you to believe in them. There is no faith needed, you don’t have to cross your fingers and hope for the best. You just have to follow this process.

​Setting goals is not new advice, but it is still great advice, it might even be advice you’ve offered to others. It’s just sometimes we forget to follow this great advice ourselves, or we don’t follow a trusted process.

The Most Powerful Communication Skill You Need to Know About

Have you ever had a disagreement with someone because you thought they were going to do one thing and they had assumed something different. Who was in the right? Well, obviously you were! Because in your head you were very clear about what you wanted, therefore you must have been right.

If you can relate to this, you need to read on...

How to Get a Jolt of Happiness for Very Little Effort

Remembering a positive, happy past experience increases happiness. I guess it’s not that surprising. It makes total sense. If you spend more time focusing on happy things you are going to experience happy emotions. Just like the exercise in visualisation last week, this process is about using the mind to change emotions.

Beat the back to work blues

​It’s the last day of half term and I’m sure some of you have considered the week ahead. Many of you are probably planning or preparing for it. But apart from the physical side of planning and preparation, involving getting resources ready and marking done, I want to delve into the psychological side of planning and preparation.

In essence, this just means considering what your thoughts are about the week ahead, but with a twist. I hope it is already all positive, focused and full of anticipation! But if it’s not....which I suspect it might not be for some, then read on for some great strategies to turn things around. 

​Prioritise your life like a Jedi

Time management is so important and one that many of us struggle with. It is hard to resist the urgent requests that are put in front of us, whether its a colleague asking for advice or a student that’s appeared at you door having a meltdown, or similar home life related urgencies.

In any job that gives service to others and certainly in teaching, we often have to respond to a situation now - not in 10 minutes when we’ve finished marking a book. However, there are times when it would be beneficial to not respond immediately, even if something appears urgent.

Read more to find out how...

Transform your Work Life Balance

Work life balance can feel like an elusive concept, partly because there is no ideal mathematical equation that works for everybody. As teachers we often work intensively at certain times of the year and then have, what many others see as, very generous holidays. But on a day to day basis, or even week to week, most of us want to make a stab at having a life as well as a career.

This is where we need to shift the way we think about what’s going on with the school/home balancing ...

​Learn to look at life differently  - Reduce stress and increase happiness

This week I want to talk about a model from Cognitive Psychology that when I first came across it, it blew me away. I know that sounds a little dramatic, but it’s a real eye opener for lots of people, myself included.
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The ABC Model actually has a D and and E to it too. But that might have to be saved for another post! The ABC part is crucial and great to get to grips with. It highlights that ...

One simple way to increase your happiness

The old age concept of gratitude and appreciating the small things in life, which has become a dominant area of research in psychology today.

The principle of appreciating the moments that we have right now, as they arrive, ties in with the idea of Mindfulness that I was talking about last week. But today I would like to introduce a different activity called ‘Three Good Things’ that encourages us to explore gratitude and actively look for the good ...

Mindfulness for Teachers

 I embarked on an 8 week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction course a few years ago to learn about Mindfulness practice in a formal way, but many people have come across it from Yoga and if you take 30 seconds right now to notice your breath...Seriously, right now, take a moment...notice your breath, notice the air coming into your nostrils and then out again.
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If you did that, you have just experienced mindfulness too! Being mindful is about being present, noticing what is here right now, ideally without... ​

Time Management and Prioritising

This is a super quick tip for getting the most important things done. It really works and I use it alot.

I don’t know about you but I’m a bit of a list maker. The problem is that I can end up with so many things on my list that I either get overwhelmed and do nothing, or start with the least important jobs. The obvious thing is of course to start at the top and work my way down. But it’s too tempting to put off tasks that I’ve decided will be less fun, or more effort and pick random ones from further down...