(BLOG 22) Protect your Purpose as an Educator!
Check out a quick video regarding this topic: https://vimeo.com/158821588
Think back to the moment you decided to be an educator. The moment you chose to dedicate your life to what’s best for students was a moment of great depth.
When you made the choice to become an educator, you also formed a purpose around the work you would be doing for the rest of your lives. Take a minute to recall your purpose as an educator. Write it out on a piece of paper. Why do you teach? What is your purpose when you work with your students? What is your mission?
Answering that question always seems to reignite passion and refuel teachers’ tanks. It’s important to acknowledge why you jumped into this complicated an rewarding profession from time to time,…to remind yourself of the good work of teaching.
The problem is that our purpose looks and feels new and shiny when we first start teaching,…it also looks new and shiny every August after we’ve had 3 months away from our usual teaching schedule. That very same purpose seems to fade and get covered up by the day-to-day rigor of working in education.
What happens to our purpose when we encounter the daily HITS or Invitations that pop up daily? A HIT can be as minor as a student asking to borrow a pencil or as major as a salary schedule decrease. When the HITS come, if we’re not aware, our Purpose takes a back seat and we react out of instinct.
So here’s one reality: When our thinking is broken and is not working in our best interest (when we’re Below the Line), when the HITS come, we immediately react. That reaction is most often ineffective and not in line with or in support of our purpose.
Here’s the reality we hope you have: When our thinking is broken and is not working in our best interest (when we’re Below the Line), when the HITS come, can you PA– USE before you react. In the short moment when you pause, insert your PURPOSE as an educator and let that guide your reaction. That reaction is a better, more effective reaction that is more in line with and support of our purpose.
Keep in mind that your Purpose is easy to keep on the front of your mind in late August, but incredibly hard to even recall in February and March. Protect your purpose as an educator. Use the PA– USE to insert your purpose in daily situations.
Contact us to hear how we can open up this topic further with your faculty/staff, students, coaches, or business: info@top20training.com
