Teacher Survival Strategies

The "90% Solution"

Teachers complain that they want a 100% solution because they can't leave any child behind (bad pun intended).

They also note that administrators frown on leaving any child (or group of children) in the lurch, and focusing upon only the students that are close to passing the high-stakes test offers a disservice to every other student.

Rapport Building: How Personal can your Professional Persona Be?

Rapport is the degree that you are in harmony with the people around you. For teachers, building rapport with students is crucial.

Build an Invisible Teflon®, Flack-Jacket, Stormy-Day Suit

Teachers encounter stressful situations, often minute-by-minute.

Sometimes this is the result of student activity, sometimes the byproduct of colleague interaction, sometimes the stress is set off by parents' protests, sometimes a response to a principal's foibles or pathology.

But, teachers need to remain calm, composed and in control.

Peep through the Eyes of a Principal and Broaden Your Perceptions

Teacher open their perceptions to the viewpoints that students carry to school because great teaching hinges upon:

The Skills and Technology of "Getting Down on Yourself"

There is a skill and a technology for "Getting down on yourself."

What does this mean?

Getting Classroom or Campus Grants: It's a lot Easier than you Think, If you "Think Like a Grant Benefactor"

Grant writing and grant-getting (garnering grants) carries a mystique that prevents many "ordinary" teachers from going after the money.

Web 2.0: Do Teachers Dare Indulge?

Subtitle: Prepare for Web 3.0!

There is a lot of hype about Web 2.0. And, teachers encounter the gamut. Beliefs range from…

Dealing with Nasty People

You don't have to teach very long before you encounter a nasty person…student, parent, colleague, principal, administrator, school board member, ad nauseam.

Turn the "Winter Blues" into a "Rainbow of Delight"

Your mental outlook affects your feeling of well being. And, this is more important during the winter months at temperate latatudes because the absence of sunlight is known to affect mood.

Dealing with the Mentally Ill: Whether Students, Parents, Colleagues or Supervisors

Mental illness affects people of all socioeconomic backgrounds, and of all personal and professional levels.

People of all ages, genders, religions, and political persuasions can exhibit mental illness.

And, mental illness crosses all educational levels, racial and ethnic group membership. No group has a monopoly on mental illness, and no group is immune.