"Don't play with fire."
And yet, there are professional “players” of fire - Cooks, Welders, Metalsmiths.
Why is it ok for them but not for us?
Managed risk. And experience. You can be sure, though, that they've all been burned more than a couple of times in their professions.
In my years as an educator, presiding over activities involving fire (e.g. we use a flame to do microbiology work that requires a sterile environment), I've only witnessed 2 incidents.
Both were minor and both occurred because strict instructions were willfully ignored.
Nobody was hurt, but a container had to be replaced, and somebody's fringe had a corner go missing. She laughed about it, and her friends were more concerned than she was, but she was fine.
More and more, I meet teachers who refuse to allow their students to handle fire or sharp objects.
Which is perplexing, because these same students have classes in the kitchen that require them to do those things.
It irks me when well-meaning adults treat teenagers like young children, mollycoddling and wrapping them around bubbles of protection. It's health and safety gone mad!
Please. They are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves, as long as we give them guidelines and show them that we trust them to follow these guidelines.
Furthermore, those of us who come up with programmes for them know what we are doing.
All these fears are doing is depriving students of quality experiences, education, and life lessons.
Which, to me, is a great tragedy.
You Don't Have to Go To Teachers' College To Teach What You Know
Nobody is born knowing how to instruct / teach others.
I suppose that's why there are teachers' colleges and institutes. And, doubtlessly, they produce some excellent educators.
At the same time, most of us won't need to know education history, theory, or philosophy in order to share our know-how with others.
These things certainly have their place and purpose, but they aren't very useful if all I want is to show someone how to do something that I happen to be good at.
The Importance of Alone Time - from The Introvert Teacher
The currency of all activities is energy. Without this all-important resource, we cannot possibly do anything.
Where do introverts get their energy? From within themselves.
How do they generate this energy? By having Alone Time.
Without Alone Time, any introvert becomes prone to burnout – a very real threat for teachers.
We are required to spend large amounts of time deeply involved with other people, and their needs and emotions affect us deeply. If we do not take proper breaks, the emotional drain and stress from our work can lead to burnout.
Symptoms of burnout:
1. A diminished desire to care for or about others.
2. Irritability.
3. A feeling of being unappreciated or misunderstood.
4. A feeling that work is overwhelming.
5. A feeling of being drained of energy.
6. Thoughts related to changing jobs or professions.
If you need to take a break to recharge yourself, do so.
Burnout afflicts introverts particularly badly because we need more time to ourselves and are unable to recharge ourselves if we cannot find it.
If you need to take a break to recharge yourself, do so.
Remember that you can only take care of others when your own needs are met. For example, during a flight emergency, you are supposed to place the oxygen mask over your own mouth before doing so for anyone else.
Life should not be any different.
You will find that you will be able to complete your tasks much more efficiently and effectively after a good break than if you just try to steamroll ahead without sufficient rest.
While you are resting, reconnect with your thoughts. Ask yourself why you chose to work in this profession in the first place. You may remember the first months when you started and how exhilarated you felt.
What has changed since then? Is there a way to regain that earlier excitement? Perhaps a project or goal will help you recover the sense of accomplishment that you have been missing.
Think of the lives you have impacted in the time that you have been working. Think of the positive things you have received: Kind words, thank-you notes and all the little things that make your work worthwhile.
If, however, you feel that you need a new direction or profession, then the break may be a good time to think about where you wish to head.
I've Been Listening To Podcasts And Audio Info, Wondering If I Should Do Some Podcasting Too...
I used to teach a podcasting workshop.
But this was a long time ago. Mobile devices already existed, but they weren’t anywhere as feature-packed and powerful as they are now.
My students had to find a quiet spot (at least as quiet as a school could be), record their podcasts on to a laptop using a small plug-in microphone, and save the file before submitting it for evaluation by the teachers.
A large part of the time was spent on activities other than the actual recording: writing and perfecting the script, as well as practising. I would have liked to give them the freedom to do off-the-cuff recordings, but time was very tight and the school wanted specific results.
Nevertheless, some of the groups of podcasters did very well.
During the slowdown in Singapore, I had the opportunity to listen to a rather large number of podcasts. In some cases, they were videos of the interviewer/ees in the studio. I also listened to a number of audiobooks (though I still prefer reading physical ones).
And all of this started to reignite my thoughts on potentially taking up podcasting again.
It’s surprising how affordable a proper microphone and shield are these days. You can have a decent set up for under $150.
I’m still not certain, though.
As with a lot of things, I’m not entirely sure what I would talk about.
I’ve had suggestions of just having conversations, talking about subjects that come up, and just working through them.
For that, I’m going to need to either have regular fellow podcasters or else a list of people to interview.
And, of course, a list of subjects to cover.
That’ll take some work, but it may be worth exploring.
