What if you could predict the outcome of business negotiations and business plan pitches with 90% accuracy? If you had such an ability you might be able to make some money in the stock market. Researchers at MIT have discovered how to do it and their accuracy is 87%!
The secret?
Watch the body language of people pitching their plans. That's it. You don't even need to listen to a single word they say! Without hearing a single word, researchers watched the body language of the pitchmen and predicted with astounding accuracy whether they would succeed or fail.
Now, how do we project "magnetic" body language? How do we increase our personal charisma? How do we come across as more competent, caring, and trustworthy to our students?
These are the million dollar questions. Teachers who master magnetic body language have an incredibly easier time managing their classes. Their students are more productive. They simply enjoy their jobs more. And they are rated as more highly effective by their superiors.
Our bodies send off thousands of signals automatically and there are far too many signals to consciously control. Wait a minute! If I can't consciously control my body language, what's the point in reading this article? :-)
Here's the point: body language automatically broadcasts our inner mental state. If your inner mental state is frustration at the bureaucracy surrounding education, disgust over the dismal home life of your students, shock at obnoxious behaviors of students, etc, etc, etc... No matter how real the issues or how accurate your perceptions (many students' home life is truly sad and destructive!)--if those things dominate your inner mental state then you will broadcast your inner dissonance to all your students. It's guaranteed.
Even if you control your main expressions--force a smile, hold your arms in a relaxed way, etc--you still can't help but broadcast your inner mental state.
If there's a group of students that you "just endure" until the day or class period is over, you'll signal unconsciously. If you put on a smile while you "endure" then your smile "won't reach your eyes." Your smile won't appear genuine. And your students will know.
So... What to do?
You have got to find a way to think more positively, to look on the bright side. It's possible, but it will take work. Your mind will believe whatever story you tell it and will broadcast to everyone your inner mental state accordingly.
Have you ever found your heart beating rapidly during an exciting or scary movie? You know that what you see on the screen isn't actually happening, but your mind treats it as real and you experience very real physiological reactions. Your brain can't distinguish fact from fiction. This is true not only regarding movies but regarding body language. If you put a positive spin on your inner frustrations, your body will respond and your body language--thousands of tiny signals--will broadcast optimism, confidence, and compassion to those around you.
For some reason, some people prefer to dwell on the negative. They enjoy murmuring about the policies that make teaching difficult--and there's plenty of those to chat about! They prefer to complain and bicker about problem students--again, lots of difficult children out there! Instead, if they would channel their feelings and put a different spin on it their personal magnetism would automatically increase and their problems will actually decrease.
I have had difficult students, several famous throughout the entire school. In the lounge if a teacher said, "I have _____ in class," all the other teachers would respond with rolling eyes and groans. Everyone knows which kids are the most difficult. I've had students like that over and over again. The funny thing is, those kids aren't problematic in my classes. I haven't had to send a student to the principal for behavioral issues in more than 15 years. And the reason isn't because we have a school full of angels.
Well, this post is getting a little long. Hopefully I've convinced you to try to put positive spins on your situation. I hope that in doing so, the thousands of unconscious signals that you broadcast to others will change for the better. And as a result, you'll have more genuinely positive things occur in your career. Those things will increase your positive body language, and the "snowball effect" will keep on going. The toughest part about making a snow ball is getting it started! :-)
