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Being an Energized, Organized, even Cutting Edge and Happy Professional
Teachers can convey a positive, professional image (or not). By considering what your organizational habits and strategies are, you can make changes that will enhance the impression you give to others, including students, colleagues, administrators, parents, and the public. Energized. Organized. Current (even cutting edge). Professional. Happy. Enjoying your work. Giving the clear impression that you believe that children and young adults are worth the effort.
Is this the image you are projecting, both to yourself and to others? Or, is your image projecting something else? Consider these questions:
- Is your classroom a cluttered jumble?
- Are you always in a rush?
- Do you complain that you do not have enough time to get everything done?
- Are you constantly telling everyone that you are too busy?
Is it possible you run around like your hair is on fire, announcing how stressed you are? So here's another set
- What image do you suppose these situations and behaviors portray to others?
- Is this the image that you want to project to students, colleagues, parents, and the community?
- What do you think they infer from your chaotic manner of operating?
Here are some possibilities of what others may be thinking:
- Principals or other administrators wonder, "How can I give this person any more responsibility?"
- Students' parents wonder, "How can this teacher handle my child and her learning needs?"
- Colleagues worry about you and don't hold you as a model for someone to emulate.
- The larger community sees someone who is unable to manage the responsibility expected of them and ponder whether paying higher salaries makes sense.
- Students become anxious about asking you for extra help--or they wonder if their assignments will be lost when they turn them in.
Overall, this is not the image that professional teachers seek, is it?
It is not who you think you are or even who you think you are not that really determines success. It's who you think you are becoming. ---Doug Firebaugh
To move ever closer to becoming (and portraying the image of who you are becoming), do the following:
- Picture the educators you know who project the most positive, energized, productive image.
- What, exactly, is it that conveys this image? Write down a few of your impressions.
- Next, spend a few minutes describing the image you want to project. Use individual words, phrases, or sentences...whatever works best for you.
- Then, think about how becoming more organized and productive will enhance your ability to project the professional image you desire.
Get a clear picture (and goal) in mind. This does not have to be a pointless exercise. Use these goals during your next evaluation. Your administrator will be impressed with your willingness to project the image of a highly-effective professional educator. You will have someone in your corner cheering you on. Focus on who are you are becoming. It's worth the effort.
Learn enough about your goal that you would recognize it if you saw it. ---Robert Fritz
Educators have the most influential positions in our society--and need every bit of support that can be mustered.
(c) 2008 by Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D., "The Ph.D. of Productivity"(tm). Through her company, Emphasis on Excellence, Inc., Meggin McIntosh changes what people know, feel, dream, and do. Sound interesting? It is!
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