Enthusiasm + Passion = Energy

From the desk of Leigh Ann . . .

“Passion is energy.  Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.”  – Oprah Winfrey

This month’s focus at ERG is Enthusiasm, so I traced the etymology of the word and found it comes from the Greek meaning “divine inspiration.”  Cool, huh?  I think one of the most essential characteristics of an effective teacher is enthusiasm.  Those inspired educators who love to learn pass on the spark that engages and motivates others.  Their passion creates an energy that is contagious and they become a catalyst for learning.  This makes them incredibly powerful people who can create positive attitudes that lead to improved student performance, more responsible behavior choices, and simply a desire to be a lifelong learner.

Now – powerful people, here we are trudging into the second half of the school year.  Keeping that enthusiasm and energy alive can be challenging, especially with snow days, assessments, meetings, red tape, and the general exhaustion that comes from jam packed schedules.  How can we stay enthusiastic and be the inspired educators we want to be?

• Reflect on the first half of the school year.  What went well and what needs tweaking?  Think about organization, academics, behavior, social and emotional growth.  Build on your success and brainstorm with colleagues and your students about ways to grow and improve.  Get excited about future possibilities.
• Mix things up a little.  Change your daily schedule slightly, rearrange the room, or offer students more responsibility in areas when appropriate.  Coming into a fresh space with some new possibilities can be engaging and energizing.
• Deliver instruction in different ways that meet the many modalities of learning.  Hands on learning opportunities are much more stimulating than sitting in a seat completing a worksheet.  Play games, act out concepts, tell stories, create books or comic strips, write or sing songs, and draw pictures that show understanding of skills.  Visit websites like http://www.teachertube.com/ , http://prometheanplanet.com ,  http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/ . or http://edu.glogster.com/ to get inspired.
• Offer “brain breaks” for you and your students.  These are opportunities to move and get the blood flowing to your body and brain.  Stretch, dance, tell stories, play a quick game, offer a minute of movement and then get back to business.
• Clean up and organize your space.  Get students involved in organizing and recreating a fresh learning environment.
• Find a learning network to stay aware of current best practices.  Check out educational books, journals, blogs, and websites.  Find new ideas that excite and stimulate your thinking.
• Choose to be positive even when the mandates and testing schedules get in the way of precious teaching time.  We cannot always choose our circumstances, but we can choose the attitudes with which to face them.
• Model for students the excitement that comes from learning new things.  We have to let them know that learning comes through active exploration and also from the making of mistakes.  We don’t just automatically know all the answers.

As educators, we do make a difference in people’s lives.  If we can spark the love for learning in our students and create an energy and desire to learn, we have something really exciting to celebrate.  Who knows – you might just be the inspiration for the next Einstein or you might spark a love for United States history in a future president.  This passion for learning is not just a gift we give our students, but a gift we give ourselves as well.

“I have no special talents.  I am only passionately curious.”  – Albert Einstein