{"id":268424,"date":"2025-01-09T04:23:38","date_gmt":"2025-01-09T04:23:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/09\/how-to-make-good-teaching-more-sustainable\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:09:46","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:09:46","slug":"how-to-make-good-teaching-more-sustainable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/09\/how-to-make-good-teaching-more-sustainable\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Make Good Teaching More Sustainable"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"text\">\n<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\">\n                <\/aside>\n<p>            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><\/p>\n<p>by <strong>Terry Heick<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Simple premise, as titled: what sorts of \u2018things\u2019 make teaching unsustainable, and what sort of advice can help teachers reflect on these ideas to mitigate any damage and make the profession more enjoyable, and thus sustainable.<\/p>\n<p><strong>10. Grow a healthy and useful professional learning network.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">See also <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/pedagogy\/why-every-teacher-needs-a-professional-learning-network\/\">10 Reasons Every Teacher Needs A Professional Learning Network<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Human connections sustain humans. <\/p>\n<p><strong>9. The school year is a marathon, not a sprint.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>And this should have significant implications for instructional design\u2013spiraling, for example. Some ideas students can \u2018get\u2019 right away, while others will take all year. Continuously spiral those sufficiently complex ideas so students have a chance to master them.<\/p>\n<p><strong>8.\u00a0<\/strong><strong>You don\u2019t need a million tools and strategies to teach well.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You don\u2019t need a million tools and strategies to teach well, so use a handful that are flexible and powerful.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/pedagogy\/404040-rule\/\"><strong>40\/40\/40 rule<\/strong><\/a> is a wonderful on-the-fly measuring stick to help prioritize content, teaching, and assessment. Other useful tools that can come in handy? Metaphors, similes, and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/critical-thinking\/teaching-with-analogies\/\">teaching with analogies<\/a><\/strong> (using them to teach complex ideas\u2013\u201ca thesis statement is the _____ of an essay a\u2026\u201d; \u201cThe Civil Rights movement was like\u2026\u201d; RAFT assignments. Choice boards.<\/p>\n<p>Be picky.<\/p>\n<p><strong>7. Never take it personally.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Teaching is a deeply human endeavor, and so, of course, it\u2019s natural to \u2018take it personally.\u2019 By all means, do so. But as much as possible, endeavor to be a professional in the same way a surgeon is. While surgeons undoubtedly care about their patients <em>because<\/em> they care, they have to be professional, calculated, and objective. You never know what a student is going through, or \u2018where they are\u2019 in their development as human beings. Have a short memory, and be their best chance to become something great.<\/p>\n<p><strong>6. T<\/strong><strong>he students should talk more than you do.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This one\u2019s easy to forget, especially when you have so much to teach. There\u2019s the shift though\u2013try to focus on what students are learning and how rather than what \u2018you\u2019re teaching.\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">See also <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/pedagogy\/7-differences-between-a-good-teacher-and-great-teacher\/\">7 Differences Between Good And Great Teachers<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>5.\u00a0How you frame your thinking is everything.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t much different than a relationship, marriage, money, or any other career.<\/p>\n<p>You can\u2019t teach if you\u2019re exhausted, misinformed, too hard on yourself, disconnected, or misunderstand your role in some critical way (as a colleague, a peer, a teacher, a department leader, etc.)\u00a0It\u2019s not your job to save the world.\u00a0Every child needs something different<strong>.\u00a0<\/strong>In response, try to adopt learning models, tools, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/learning\/teacher-brain\/\"><strong>teaching strategies<\/strong><\/a>, and more\u2013and use them in a way that doesn\u2019t require superhuman effort from you to make it work.<\/p>\n<p>They should work harder than you do.<\/p>\n<p><strong>4. You\u2019re a professional and you control your own attitude.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You see what you want to see, so choose to see and assume the best in people and circumstances, and move forward from there. Schools can be places full of bad policies and absurd bureaucracy. There\u2019s too much pressure to accomplish too much from too many different places. You probably can\u2019t change most of that, so focus on what you can change\u2013and that starts with how you think.<\/p>\n<p>The students are always watching you.\u00a0<span style=\"text-transform: initial;\">How you treat people (even the \u2018problem students\u2019); how you show compassion or model accountability. Where you go for resources. How you define \u2018success.\u2019 What you do when you\u2019re frustrated or upset. Your dedication and craft and expertise. They may not see it all every single time, but they never stop watching. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-transform: initial;\">This means your voice carries on outside the classroom, where they\u2019ll continue to talk about you\u2013for years to come if you\u2019ve done it well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>3. How you make students feel can last a lifetime. Careful.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You are a larger than-life-figure to most students. You\u2019re a teacher\u2013you may be the loudest voice in their already busy mind. Consider the character you play in that mind accordingly. Further, how you frame students in your mind absolutely changes how you\u2019ll think about and respond to and teach students.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2.\u00a0<em>You<\/em> come first<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This is counter to what teachers have long practiced\u2013and been conditioned to believe.<\/p>\n<p>While student-centered classrooms are what we strive to provide, they absolutely cannot come at the cost of teacher well-being. In fact, any teaching or education practices in general that come at the cost of teacher well-being are inherently unsustainable.<\/p>\n<p>And any system (e.g., public education) that misuses and \u2018destroys\u2019 the parts (e.g., teachers) it depends on to function is, at best, flawed and irrational and, at worst, destructive and unsustainable. Just like airlines remind adult passengers to put the oxygen mask on themselves before their children, educators, too, must put themselves first. You can\u2019t teach if you\u2019re not \u2018okay\u2019\u2013and you can\u2019t consistently be \u2018great\u2019 if you\u2019re not thriving as a human being and professional educator.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">See also <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/pedagogy\/student-centered-teaching\/\">Examples of Student-Centered Teaching<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>1. Find your thing<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>While teachers have to possess and demonstrate skill and expertise in a wide range of areas, from psychology to technology to content areas and people and communities, we also often have a \u2018thing.\u2019 <\/p>\n<p>Whatever \u2018it\u2019 is, it\u2019s equal parts identity, purpose, love, and curiosity. Whether it\u2019s the students, your craft, your content, your community, or something else entirely\u2013be clear in your own mind about why you do what you do, and never let it go.<\/p>\n<p><em>Advice For Teachers? 10 Things To Not Lose Sight Of This Year; adapted image attribution flickr user sparkfunelectronics<\/em><\/p>\n<p><!-- HFCM by 99 Robots - Snippet # 15: Taboola Footer Feed --><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/end HFCM by 99 Robots --><br \/>\n<!-- CONTENT END 1 --><\/p>\n<div class=\"et_pb_row abfd_et_pb_row abfd-container-divi\">\n<div class=\"et_pb_column\">\n<div class=\"abfd-container\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/author\/terryheick\/\" class=\"abfd-photograph-link\">  <\/a> <\/p>\n<div class=\"abfd-details\">\n<div class=\"abfd-biography\">\n<p>Founder &amp; Director of TeachThought<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/pedagogy\/advice-for-teachers\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] by Terry Heick Simple premise, as titled: what sorts of \u2018things\u2019 make teaching unsustainable, and what sort of advice can help teachers reflect on<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":268425,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268424"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268424\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}