Episode 48: There's NOBODY quite like YOU!

Just a little reminder to STOP comparing yourselves to others... because there's NOBODY quite like YOU!

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Transcript

Welcome

Welcome to Teaching la vida loca, a podcast for World Language Teachers seeking inspiration, unapologetic authenticity and guidance in centering joy, and facilitating language acquisition for the people who matter most, our students, I'm your host, Annabelle. Most people call me la maestra loca. And I'm an educator just like you, and inspiring teachers is what I do. Hi there, welcome to episode 48 of teaching la vida loca, I am recording this in the middle of Conference in the Cloud, it is going so well. I am loving the energy that is coming out of this year, I am loving all of the new presentations that I've never had the opportunity to share with people, it's been super fun to add novelty to my typical workshops and presentations. And it's brought me a lot of joy, seeing how the participants are engaging and what their takeaways are so far. So if you are part of Conference of the Cloud, thanks for joining us this year. If you're not, there's still time to join us. Or you can access the recordings, you can get a recording only option through January.

Comparing

On the note of conferences, this is going to be a short and sweet podcast. And it's a little bit of what I shared yesterday on my Instagram. But I really wanted to expand upon my thoughts in Episode 48 here. It is so easy when you're doing summer PD and you are traveling to conferences or gathering tidbits of information on blogs or catching up on podcasts that you didn't get to listen to throughout the school year. Or maybe you're attending a virtual conference like Conference in the Cloud. And you're getting all of this inspiration and all of these ideas from all these wonderful educators and colleagues and peers who are educators in the classroom, it is very easy to fall into the comparison game, incredibly easy. As you're observing expert teachers show classroom videos of something that they're sharing, or maybe they're showing you a strategy and images of how it went with their students and the products that came out of it. It is very easy to go oh my god, I definitely have done nothing like that with my students in the last few years, or I don't think my students would ever participate like that, or oh my gosh, I feel like such a failure. And it's so dangerous.

Please Remember 

It is so important to take a breath, take a step back and remember something the teachers that are presenting are sharing their favorite activities, strategies, resources, they are talking about things that they have had time to implement, practice and feel success within their classroom, they are sharing what they are best at. Sometimes they are paid to share these ideas because they are considered experts in this thing. So, to expect that you are implementing it for the very first time that it would look like that for you and your students is not realistic. Because I promise you it didn't look that way the first time they did it with their students, I promise you, I promise you that all of us who are sharing at these conferences, have and continue to have roller coaster days up and down, success with some activities, and terrible days with things that we present on, terrible, disastrous train wreck days with strategies that we share with you in our classroom. So, when we share at the conference, we don't always share, well sometimes I do. But we don't always share the train wreck videos, we want to share with you the ones that were successful, right.

Teachers Just Like You

So, as you're watching, as you're observing, remember that the presenters you're watching are just teachers, were teachers just like you. And if they haven't been in the classroom for a long time, that's even more food for thought. If you're watching a presenter, who is a coach, or a mentor, or somebody who is sharing that is no longer in the classroom, they might have a lot of ideas to share. In fact, their ideas might be what has financially been able to help them leave the classroom. But keep in mind, they aren't in the classroom anymore. So, if you're like, oh my gosh, I don't know if it's going to look like that for my kids. It might look different for you. Because you are in the classroom. You're the one driving this. You're the one experimenting, right? It's so important to not compare yourself, to seek the inspiration, and then hold on to your authentic self and the way that you present these ideas to your students. As you're listening to this podcast or other podcasts, get inspired, get the ideas, get excited about implementing it. And then if it crashes and burns, come back, tell me what didn't work. Let's problem solve together, reach out, right. But don't sit there and go, oh, that failed. That sucked. I guess I'm just not that great. No, it's gonna look different for everybody. And the way you put your own special spin on it is going to be unique to you. Right, and your kids will love that.

More to Come

I have one more thought, specifically, based on you putting your own spin on something. I have a very exciting podcast episode coming for you very soon. recorded with profe Bennett, my dear friend, Morgan Bennett, Morgan and I, about a year and a half, maybe two years ago, recorded an Instagram live together talking about the absolute essential piece of sharing things that you learn at a at a conference or a PD or online or through an email or wherever. It is so important that we are giving credit where credit is due. So, let's say you learn something, and you take it back to your classroom and you feel so inspired, and you try it with your students. It is so important that you give credit where credit's due even in front of your students. I learned this idea from this crazy lady. People literally call her La Maestra loca at a conference, and I wanted to try it today. But certainly, if you were sharing something that you gleaned from a workshop, a presentation, or a podcast, with somebody in your building, give credit, say where you learned it from. So, be on the lookout for a podcast a very special one with my dear friend Morgan Bennett, where we share just why that's so important. And we talk about some of the alarming and frankly, disturbing things that we are seeing on social media, or teachers are literally poaching ideas from smaller accounts, and not ever giving credit. It's incredibly damaging. So, look out for that episode is definitely gonna be a little bit different than typical ones you're used to from me.

Brain Break

And then finally, before we go, I think it's time for a little brain break. Okay, so today's is quite simple. It's just stretching, it is stretching. It's something I have done continually. I'm doing it right now I'm stretching my arms over my head, stretching my arms behind me. It's something I've done continually the last three days at Conference in the Cloud. Because sitting all day in front of a computer, it's easy to forget the importance of brain breaks and movement. And it's super important when you're at workshops, conferences, whether they're in person or virtual, that you're giving your body some time to stretch, to breathe, to recenter yourself, because oh, you don't want those stiff muscles at the end of the day. So, as far as stretching in the classroom, this is a great brain break to do. It also is powerful for kids to feel the effects of stretching after the fact. That's a powerful gift you can give them that they can take into other spaces. It's okay to teach them to stretch if they feel like they need to move in the middle of a class. Sometimes just moving your head from side to side is a powerful way to engage different muscles in your body and center yourself. So, I hope you've stretched today. That's the brain break.

Please Share

My dear friend, I told you this episode would be short and sweet less than 10 minutes. If you found this episode useful. Please send it to an educator that you think would love it, take a selfie, if you listening to it in the car or, no don't take up while you're driving remember safety first. But take a snap a screenshot of you listening to it post it to social Tag me and explain why you love this episode and help me spread the word about teaching la vida loca. Until next time I will be presenting I guess, presenting la vida loca and back to school before I know it. And I am sure you will be too. Love you lots. Teacher, take care of yourself. Remember, Comparison is the thief of joy. Thank you, Teddy Roosevelt, for that quote.