By David O'Hagan | Published: Thursday, December 22, 2011
Get Passion
Recently, I read a blog post from Angela Maiers on passion-based learning. The post was great, and it highlighted some key points that relate to both teaching (integrating learning into a student's whole life) and leadership in general. Her point 'a' on reaching out to the disenfranchised, while stating "we need to prepare kids to be successful in the real world, not just while in school", is very relevant in preparing children to be both inspired and equipped to deal with various personalities, deadlines, and stresses of 'real life.' Angela's point 'h' however is key, and the one I'm focused on here. Everyone wants passionate students; however, it is teachers that have a wonderful opportunity to draw out passion in their students.
Children are impressionable, and passionate teachers help students become excited about their learning and growth. Conversely, passion can grow and wane based on a number of factors. Below is a list of methods that anyone can use to continually increase or boost one's passion, whether they are involved in teaching and learning or merely adding a greater interest in daily life. Regardless of one's position, the end result is a greater energy and enthusiasm for one's work. And, for teachers, this heightened enthusiasm can generate passion in their students, parents, and colleagues.
Clearly, everyone differs regarding individual learning styles and their application. Whether ones teaches in a traditional setting or uses an LMS, develops software, gardens, or writes blog posts, the following suggestions can be used, adapted, and evolved to kick-start passion in one's own life and others as well. Modify the strategies below as necessary, and do not expect immediate results. We are human after all and require practice to become proficient at new concepts.
Key ways to boost passion in our lives
Generate fresh ideas
- New ideas inherently ignite new energy and passion. Give these a try:
- Volunteer: Exposure to areas of society and the world you're not familiar with is eye-opening and can give you fresh motivation and greater insight.
- Meditate: It's amazing how much clarity, as well as new ideas, can come when you actively slow down your mind.
- Travel: Take the children on a national or international trip or explore a nearby village you've never visited. Learning about new cultures, traditions, and styles is a fantastic way to give you a new perspective and question the status quo.
Minimize idols
- Identify and cut out distractions from your life. Most of us are dealing with jam-packed schedules, so allow less of your precious time to be consumed by distractions that do not add to your life (e.g. excessive television, hours of video games, record setting phone conversations, etc).
- Note: Distractions can be a very good way to decompress and relax; however, ensure that they don't take up too much of the free time in your already busy schedule
Teamwork
- Form and/or join a peer group, networking group, or other like-minded organization; Partnering with others is an excellent way to build in accountability, practice constructive criticism, generate excitement, and have a sounding board for your ideas and plans.
- Seek out people with a positive energy who are excited about life, since personalities and characteristics can often be infectious.
- It's very energizing to cultivate new ideas (whether on your own or as a group/team), as well as have your ideas and goals validated and encouraged by others.
- We're human and meant to interact with others; however, people too often work solo and in a vacuum.
Fail
- A significant lack of opportunity for failure exists in many of our schools today. As a result, teachers, who are adults that acquired years of failure-aversion experience, indirectly share this with their students:
- What child wouldn't love a gregarious teacher willing to put themselves out there in the school or in the community in front of the students with the risk of it not going as planned? Seeing that teacher stumble or fail, but pick themselves up and dust themselves off and try again is inspiring.
- Failure ultimately promotes confidence in one's self, while confidence then creates passion, which then flows through to one's work. We're never too old to learn from failure, although we're now less fearless so require additional encouragement to fail
- Stretch your own comfort zone a little and experience failure and the growth and inspiration that comes with it
Read/Watch/Listen
Celebrate success
- It is quite easy to post wins, comments, and praise received that you and your students have achieved
- Create a success board in the classroom, office, or home; remind yourself and your students of your achievements. These visual reminders serve as fuel to generate energy and passion for new ideas and thinking
- Note: It's not vain to take pleasure seeing your name in lights with praise attached; consider the Dale Carnegie principle: 'A person's name is to that person, the sweetest and most important sound in any language.'
Getting passionate (or re-igniting passion within yourself) isn't an overnight job. Give it some time and switch up and vary the above suggestions. But keep in mind that a renewed passion in you can have a fantastic ripple effect on others, multiplying the positive results.
If you're passionate about your life and your role, you will inspire students, fellow colleagues, spouses, children, and others. It's awesome how momentum can build and impact many when it starts just with you.
Posted in: eLearning Higher Education Kindergarten - Grade 12 Transforming Teaching & Learning
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