T.G.I.F. Newsletter - Intellectual Humility, Effective Teaching Teams, and Kindness

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This is the 37th T.G.I.F. Newsletter. This newsletter will always be free. Your support helps with site costs and provides some much-appreciated motivation. 🙏. You can keep me energized with a coffee ☕, or by using the button below. Thank You!

T.G.I.F. is a weekly newsletter featuring education news, and teaching, personal development, and professional learning resources.

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Recommendation - If you haven’t tried Poo~Pourri* you’ve been missing out. Protect the atmosphere of your teacher restroom with fresh fall smells*.

Hello Friends and T.G.I.F. 😁 Here are some things I thought were worth sharing this week.

The News

Here are some articles that grabbed my attention.

• Humility - Now, more than ever, students need to develop healthy skepticism and alertness to propaganda. Intellectual humility, or the ability to recognize that one might not always be right, seems in short supply as well. Social and emotional learning (SEL) can help students develop these skills.
• Go Team - If you’re a teacher, I hope you have an amazing team to work with. I’m grateful that I’ve had this for my entire teaching career. I can’t imagine teaching without them. Effective teams have a foundation of solid habits. Here are three of them.
• We’re Still Here - It's understandable why many teachers have decided to call it quits. The struggles and stresses of teaching are real. How would schools need to operate in order to make teachers want to stay? Students experience greater well-being when they learn in a school where their teachers are happy. In his article, Many Eyes Are on the Teachers Who Leave - What About the Ones Who Stay, Patrick Harris II says,  “We are in a national crisis. Teachers are leaving and the pipelines ushering in fresh talent are eroding. As we sit with the weight of this reality and validate the experiences of the teachers who left, we must also remember, and humanize the experiences of the teachers and students who stayed.”  I have great respect for all the teachers who are still in the game. Thank you for everything you do.
• Resource - NASA DART Asteroid Smashing Program.
• Teacher Power - Teachers often don’t get to see the impact they’ve had on their students. If you’ve received a nice note from a former student, then you know how good it feels.

Growth

Personal Development and Wellness Resources

• Ikigai - What’s your reason for being? This is something each individual explores on their own. This isn’t about money or success, it’s about finding joy in the small things in your life and preparing for the next iteration of "you" that will wake up each new day.
• Kindness - The research is in. Acts of kindness are good for those who practice them, but they’re also contagious. Most people underestimate the impact a good deed has on the recipient. Do something nice for someone today, and then smile when you imagine the ripple effect.
• Micro Breaks - Even small breaks have benefits. These “micro-breaks”  can improve concentration, minimize stress, boost happiness, and help prevent the strain placed on your body that occurs when you stay in the same position too long.

Inspiration

Here is a quote I’ve been revisiting this week:

"So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning." Mitch Albom. Tuesdays with Morrie*

Favorite Things

• 🫢 Awe - That feeling of looking out at the ocean or up at a mountain. Here are 10 ways to get awed.
• 🚿 Shower Thought - People rarely listen just to listen. They listen to respond. [source]
• 🍁 Fall - It’s my favorite season. It might be a good time to switch up your routines.
• 🧰 Gadget - 6-in-1 Multi-tool and Pen* - For people who are always in the midst of multiple projects all going on at the same time.

Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend!