How to Feel More Teacher Success
How often do you end the day exhausted, yet feeling like you didn’t accomplish enough? We can easily get caught up in thinking we’re not doing enough, reaching enough students, or simply not measuring up. In addition to teaching lessons, we find ourselves, counseling, coaching, mentoring, and more. The weight of it all can feel overwhelming, especially in a system that assesses our success with test scores. Maybe we can’t change the system right now, but we can create our own definition of success. If you’ve been feeling discouraged, try these strategies.
Set an Intention
An intention is an aim or purpose, something you plan to do or achieve. When you set an intention for the day, you determine your focus instead of letting circumstances rule your day. An intention also helps you determine what success looks like. My friend, Jay, is a middle school math teacher. Jay sets the same intention every day, to help students feel more confident in math. His intention is evident in his actions and interactions in the classroom. For example, he never marks a problem wrong. He just writes not yet. He’s constantly asking students to explain their thinking, and he helps them find their own mistakes. High fives and fist bumps are common in Jay’s classroom. At the end of the day, he reflects on the small moments when he observed a student get excited about math, and he decrees the day a success. What intention could you set to determine your focus and define your success?
Avoid Comparisons
Every educator's journey is unique, shaped by different experiences, strengths, and challenges. Comparing ourselves to others can lead to unnecessary self-doubt and a sense of inadequacy, especially when social media highlights everyone else’s success. Instead, you can focus on personal growth by setting individual goals, reflecting on your own progress, and celebrating small wins. Ultimately, embracing your own journey allows you to compare where you are today to where you used to be, rather than comparing yourself to others. How can you focus on your own progress rather than measuring yourself against someone else’s success?
Understand Your Negativity Bias
Negativity bias is the tendency to focus more on negative experiences than positive ones, making setbacks feel bigger than successes. As teachers, this bias can distort our perceptions of effectiveness, causing us to dwell on a difficult class, a disengaged student, or a critical comment while overlooking the many moments of connection, growth, and achievement we foster daily. This can make it harder to recognize and celebrate successes. By consciously counteracting negativity bias—such as by reflecting on positive interactions or keeping a success journal—you can cultivate a more balanced and accurate sense of your impact.
Parting Thoughts
Teaching is difficult and messy. Trying to meet the diverse needs of dozens of students with limited time and resources is a gargantuan task. It’s important to manage expectations, especially expectations of yourself. You do make an impact every day, but your impact may not be observable right away. Similarly, your students may not realize how much you’ve influenced their lives until after they’ve left your classroom. Those delayed thank you’s do occasionally reach you, and when they do, savor them. In fact, savor every little bit of love you get from students and families, and know that this is sweet evidence of your success.
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