Become a More Magnetic Teacher!
Students are drawn to magnetic teachers. There's something about magnetic teachers--their character, their attitudes, the way they carry themselves--that forces students to admire them. Likewise, a magnetic teacher is respected by colleagues and valued by administrators.What if you knew how to more effectively exude positive qualities to your students, colleagues, friends, and spouse? No matter how likeable you already are, what if brain research tells you that you can increase your "likeability" and become more magnetic?
Wouldn't you want to know how?!?!
It's a fact: Life is just plain easier for likeable people! And the benefits of being a magnetic teacher are so obvious that it's almost pointless to list them. Students will work harder for a teacher they like.
If you
"come off" as warm and caring and just plain nice, then your students
will enjoy your class even if they don't particularly like the content!
And you, as a teacher, will be happier too. You'll have more energy and
less stress.
That's what this site is for.
Being magnetic can be broken down into "three P's": Magnetic teachers are Positive and Personable and they Promote problem-solving.
- Positive. Let's admit it, the teacher's lounge isn't always a very positive place. The inside of our minds can use some adjustment toward more positive-thinking. Brain scans show that a single negative word can cause structural changes in our brain! Likewise, positive thinking also changes our brains and makes it easier to be positive in the future. It's a snowball effect for sure. For more information, see the book "Words Can Change Your Brain" by Andrew Newberg.
- Personable. Optimistic mindsets helps us with a whole host of personable behaviors that other people find attractive. Body language, facial expressions, and even tone of voice have immense impact on how others perceive us. For more about being personable, see the book, "The Exceptional Presenter" by Tim Koegel.
- Promoting Problem-solving. Thinking is difficult and students don't like to do it. However, successful thinking triggers the reward centers of our brain and dopamine is released. Successful thinking is fun. Magnetic teachers endeavor to make thinking successful. They make sure problems aren't too hard or too easy so that the reward centers of the brain rewards the students for thinking. See the book, "Why Don't Students Like School" by Daniel T. Willingham for more information. Also, visit UncommonScience.com to see lessons specific to chemistry and physics that promote successful thinking.
In a nutshell, I will be using this site to help teachers become more positive and personable while leading their students into successful problem-solving. (I'll also be sharing lesson ideas, some of which will be useful for all teachers, but science teachers may find the greatest number of specific lesson ideas.)
I almost stopped writing right here... So, if you feel like you understand what this site is about, then click over to the blog and check out some thought-provoking stuff...
If you want to read even more about how this site came about and why it's content will have the potential to help teachers become more magnetic, I suppose I have a few more things to say...
While observing teachers I have noticed that many well-meaning and hard-word working educators do not give off the impressions that they intend. Their students do not find them as "likeable" as they would hope. They don't exude as much warmth as they want to. They don't connect to their students as well as they would hope.
And the worst part? The teacher often doesn't realize it!
I am convinced (by scientific research) that everyone can become more "magnetic". You can become more likeable--both your students and your colleagues can like you more than they do right now.
After conducting presentations at workshops and conferences for almost 15 years, I decided on a whim to grab a few books from the library on public speaking. Honestly, I didn't know if I would even read any of the books. I certainly didn't expect to find anything very useful.
I was wrong.
I learned that the human brain subconsciously reads the body language of other people in less than 17 milliseconds! As I stand in front of a group of people, where I put my arms matters more than I ever knew. What I think about the people in front of me changes dozens of tiny facial muscle expressions and communicates either compassion or indifference, enthusiasm or apathy... and a host of other conflicting emotions.
And then it hit me: I never learned these things in college, graduate school, or professional development sessions. I had never learned about body language and the subtle signals I can unconsciously be giving off to my students. WHY NOT????
I found that a book about how to conduct an effective business presentation had many excellent tips for me as a teacher--tips that I never got from "teacher books." I decided to go out on a limb and check out more books about various subjects that, on the surface, didn't appear to have anything to do with teaching.
Reading about the characteristics of a good CEO was enlightening. Don't we all prefer the kind of boss who has high standards and motivates us to be our best, but if we forget to do something he/she doesn't jump on our backs and chew us out??? Perhaps the business people have some things that we teachers can learn. How do I react to my students when they don't measure up to my expectations? Maybe I can be more like the effective CEO.
I even found some good, practical wisdom in a book about how to be a stand-up comedian! For example, a good stand-up has to silence hecklers without getting irritated because losing one's cool is just not very funny. It demonstrated that a teacher can silence a "heckler" without becoming antagonistic.
So... On this site, I hope to share tidbits of what I have learned and what I continue to learn about being a magnetic teacher. I'll also be sharing lesson ideas that I come up with and I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas too. The lessons I share will probably be mostly chemistry-related, but the tips on being a magnetic teacher will apply to all teachers...and CEO's...and even comedians.
