Tip 52: Teacher, find a Mentor
Seek advice from experienced teachers, find a mentor. It’s tough to learn to do something on your own, but having someone to show you the way will save you a lot of time and a lot of trouble. So, if you find an experienced teacher that you can trust, ask them for advice.
Most teachers will generously give advice and tips or, if you have a problem, go to them and they will help you. I’ve had many mentors who have helped me a lot and made this video series because I want to help other teachers out there.
I don’t see myself as a mentor yet, but I’d like to share some ideas and tips that I’ve received from excellent teachers. So, make your life easier. Seek out experienced teachers that can mentor and guide you to become a better teacher more quickly.
Tip 53: Reflection: Keep a Teacher’s Journal
Continually reflect on your practice and consider keeping a journal. Time passes so quickly, ask any teacher. Where one day you start the year and suddenly, you’re at the end. So, what you should do is to take some time to reflect on your lessons and teaching.
Think about what you’ve done—the good things, the bad things and how can you improve. A good way to do that is to have a journal and make regular notes to remind yourself of all the things that you’ve done, what you’ve learned.
By writing it down, you could look back and see how you’ve improved. This is a great tool and habit that I think a lot of teachers don’t use enough. Keep a journal to reflect on your teaching and then that will help you improve as a teacher.
Tip 54: Set High Expectations
Communicate high expectations, set high goals for your learners. As a teacher, we want all our students to succeed but if we want them to achieve the highest results. We’ve got to have high expectations of them. So, when you work with your students, they should know that you want the very best for them and you should constantly push them. Don’t accept mediocrity! Tell students this is what I want you to do, even if they don’t achieve it but get close, then that is a bonus.
It’s like running a race. If you run with someone that’s very slow, then that will not push you, but if you run with someone faster than you, your time will be a lot better.
Have high expectations of yourself and also set high goals for your students. Don’t be too hard on yourself or your students if you don’t reach it. Think about how you can actually achieve those standards in the future and how it helped you to at least focus on achieving a goal.
