How to find your motivation as a teacher
It can be tough to keep up your motivation as a teacher. You might feel overworked, drained, and demotivated. You're not alone. With the added stress of the pandemic, many teachers are struggling to keep up their love for teaching. So what can you do about it? Check out these tips on how to recover your motivation and keep doing what you love.
So what can you do about it?
Find your "why"
Remember the reason you got into teaching in the first place. It might be helpful to write down your motivations for becoming a teacher. When you're feeling lost, look back on this list and remind yourself of the qualities that make you good at your job. You might find that your students are what motivates you the most. In which case, see tip number two.
Invest in your relationships with students
A big part of why we become teachers is because we want to make a difference in our student's lives—to help them grow and learn. If you're feeling uninspired, take a step back and assess the state of your relationships with your students. Maybe there's a student you haven't connected with yet or maybe there's something holding you back from fully connecting with all of your students. Once you identify the issue, try to find a way to overcome it.
take a step back and assess the state of your relationships with your students
Take care of yourself
It's important to remember that you can't pour from an empty cup. If you're running on fumes, it'll be hard to muster up the energy to be an amazing teacher day in and day out. Make sure to take care of yourself both physically and mentally. This looks different for everyone, but some self-care ideas include:
• eating healthy meals (I'm a big believer in healthy eating)
• exercising regularly (I exercise 4-5 times each week)
• taking breaks throughout the day (including breaks from your devices)
• meditating or doing yoga
• reading for pleasure
• spending time outside
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Set goals
When we don't have anything to strive for, it can be hard to stay motivated. Set small goals for yourself—both short-term and long-term—and then find ways to celebrate when you achieve them. Creating realistic goals will help give you a sense of purpose and accomplishment as a teacher.
Find a teacher management system that works for you
Try the Muzikboxx App
I often find that it is the administrative tasks that pull my motivation down. You’re trying to schedule students, issue invoices, chase payments, reschedule students because they’re unwell or have other events that clash with their regular lessons, you need to keep track of what you do in the lesson with the student, you take notes for students in their lessons, you need to photocopy or create exercises, etc to help your students, and then you have students who practice and those who don’t and you’re scratching your heading asking why? Having an all-in-one management system that does can alleviate this mental stress and reduce your time tackling these tiresome administrative tasks. If you’re like me and haven’t found a good system, try the Muzikboxx App, an app made for music teachers by music teachers.
Hopefully, these tips will help get you back on track! Remember that it's okay if you're not firing on all cylinders all the time—we all need a break now and then." Take some time for yourself and recharge so that you can come back feeling refreshed and ready to take on whatever challenges come your way."
Monica Rouvellas is the founder of the Muzikboxx App an all-in-one app for music teachers and students. Monica founded the Muzikboxx App with the aim to help teachers spend less time doing admin and time-wasting activities so that they can focus on teaching students, and the aim is to help students have support and resources at their fingertips to assist them with their at-home practice.
About the Muzikboxx App
MuzikBoxx can be categorised as a two-sided marketplace geared towards music teachers and students in Australia. The solution provides teachers with the added advantage of reducing time spent on operational activities like invoicing and scheduling but also acts as a CRM and an accounting system. We help teachers present their services, allowing students and parents to find the perfect teacher in just a few taps. Plus students have tools to assist them with their practice which the teacher can then see prior to lessons.
If you are interested in becoming a beta tester with free access until the end of the year, click here.