Unit 10 TESL-0100-E01 Blog Post

 Hello everyone,

Unit 10 has reminded me that I need to take better care of my own well-being if I am going to be able to teach any students. As I continue with my studies, I will keep the lessons from this unit with me, because I hope I will be able to manage my stress better and my time better. I know so many people right now who are burning out, especially other students like me. If I do not focus on my well-being, how am I going to be a good teacher at all? What are some ways I can stay away from falling into a poor routine when I'm teaching? 

1. Set realistic goals.

I need to be able to recognize my limitations and strengths and my feelings and needs, otherwise my goals will not be realistic for me. If I try to work in a framework that does not fit me, my goals will not work out. I need to set my own goals as well and need to make sure that others are not dictating them. Also, writing down very specific short-term and long-term goals. 

2. Set priorities.

I need to be able to understand what tasks are more important than others. If I do not do this I could spend my time wasted working on tasks that are not a top priority.

3. Take risks.

I need to learn from my failures and be accepting of possible new failures. Perhaps it is failure of a new technique that I'm using in my classroom, or maybe I tried using a new learning game with my students that they did not enjoy. I need to turn it into a learning experience and learn how to calculate my next risk. 

4. Practice principles of stress management.

Setting time aside to take care of myself and making sure to balance my professional and personal time.

This week I also enjoyed looking at how my PLN network has changed over this course and how I have developed it more. I am also excited to keep adding things into my network and to be continually expanding my TESL knowledge. You can find ESL/EFL teachers on just about any social media platform, so it is convenient to connect with teachers. 

I am looking forward to the holidays, because I plan on establishing a new routine and figuring out what works for me. Trying coping mechanisms that I can use to help manage my stress and finding things that motivate me to manage my time better. But I'm glad that I took this course and if I have to take it again it is not the end of the world, I will embrace it gladly.

Thanks for reading!

 

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Brown, H. Douglas. (2001). Chapter 23. Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy (2nd ed.). Pearson ESL.