Effective Communication Strategies for Dealing with Difficult Parents
Navigating conversations with difficult or upset parents (or caregivers) can be challenging but how you respond can make a significant difference in deescalating tensions and building constructive relationships. While it’s important to remain calm and professional, the words you choose play a crucial role in defusing conflict and promoting understanding. Here’s some guidance on what to say—and how to say it—when dealing with difficult parents. Listen Well Even if the parent is wrong from the very first thing they say, they will not be ready to listen to you until they have said whatever it is they have come to say. Focus on listening calmly and not responding. Your non-verbals can be give aways and fuel the fire. It is…
Finish Strong
The final term of the school year is a crazy busy time in schools. End of year assessment and reporting, class allocations, timetabling, budgets and planning for next year, swamp us at a time when our energies are low and many of us feel we are running on empty. At the end of the year we are likely to be more sensitive than usual, perhaps a little ‘thin skinned’ and emotional because we are run down and in need of that well-earned break. We shouldn’t be surprised. The same thing happens at this time every year. The important thing is HOW we respond to this challenge. Monitoring our self-talk and our sensitivity are particularly important at this time of the…
Simplify Your Life Through Routines- part 2
In Part 1 we shared the first 5 tips to survive the craziness at the end of the year and avoid feeling overwhelmed with work, deadlines and personal responsibilities. The key to managing these demands and simplifying your life is to establish routines. Here in Part 2 are tips 6 to 10 to help you create routines that can simplify your life and make your workday more efficient. 6. USE THE TWO-MINUTE RULE The two-minute rule, from David Allen’s, “Getting Things Done”, suggests that if a task takes less than two minutes, do it immediately. This keeps minor tasks from piling up and cluttering your to-do list, allowing you to stay organised and maintain momentum throughout the day. 7. SIMPLIFY…
Simplify Your Life Through Routines- part 1
In today’s fast-paced world, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed with work, deadlines and personal responsibilities, especially at this time of the year. The key to managing these demands and simplifying your life lies in establishing routines. When you structure your day with effective habits, you reduce decision fatigue, save time and ultimately get more done. Here are the first five of ten simple tips to help you create routines that can simplify your life and make your workday more efficient. 1. START YOUR DAY WITH A MORNING ROUTINE A solid morning routine sets a positive tone for the rest of your day. Wake up at the same time daily, hydrate and spend a few minutes doing something calming like stretching…
It’s Worth It! WTD Special Edition
Working in schools is challenging. At times we can wonder if it is all worth it. When we are feeling that way, it is important that we recognise the significance of our work. We aren’t working in factories, making widgets. We have the opportunity to change lives every single day. Whilst it isn’t easy and it is frustrating at times, ultimately, it is worth it! The following poem is shared to mark World Teachers’ Day. It was written for the cover of the Treasure Boxes provided as part of our Happy Teacher – Early Career Teacher program. The boxes were provided to first year teachers to encourage them to collect and treasure throughout their career, any notes or cards of…
Emotional Baggage is Toxic
Emotional baggage is heavy – How much are you carrying around? It’s the end of the year, and what better time to clear out the old to make room for the new. One of the heaviest bags we carry around is our emotional baggage, our past frustrations, resentments, guilt, anger or regrets. They are heavy, weigh us down, prevent us from moving forward and damage our health and happiness. The source of emotional baggage often comes from conversations we have had; what has been said and what hasn’t been said; the meanings we attribute to the conversations; the clashes with our sense of right and wrong, blame, shame and polar beliefs and values. Communication sits at the base of this,…
Working With People Is Stressful
Schools are people places filled with multiple relationships. By its very nature this contributes to our stress levels as we have to work with a range of people, with different personalities and a vast array of factors impacting on their mood on any particular day. One of the things that we know through working with a student whose behaviour is challenging is that WE can’t change OTHER people’s behaviour. We can’t really FORCE another person to do something if they really choose NOT to. We can’t change other people’s behaviour. Successful behaviour management strategies provide an environment where students are ‘encouraged’ to make better decisions. Ultimately the only behaviour that we can control is our own. Understanding and accepting this…
Struggling to Disconnect – Try Box Breathing
In today’s fast-paced world, the concept of “busy” has taken on new dimensions. With the constant influx of emails, notifications and social media updates, many people find themselves perpetually engaged, unable to switch off even when they need to. The line between work and personal life has blurred and many people find it difficult to switch off. As a result, the modern mind is in a near-constant state of activity, under load and struggling to find moments of peace. The Challenge of Disconnecting The digital age, while offering unparalleled connectivity and convenience, has also brought about a significant challenge: the inability to disconnect. Whether it’s the pressure to respond to work emails after hours or the allure of endless scrolling…
60 000 Thoughts per Day
Scientists say that we have over 60 000 thoughts each day. That is a scary, huge number! However, what is even scarier is thinking about which thoughts we listen to without even realising it and which ones we let fade off, out of our minds just as quickly as they arrived. I like using the analogy of our minds being like a busy train station. Our brain is the station and our thoughts are the trains coming in and out. Thousands of trains pass through the station on a daily basis and most of the time we jump on board the first train that goes past without even being aware of where it is going. We don’t think too much…
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
I’m not awesome at using spreadsheets and it’s not a significant part of my role. Is it helpful for me to spend hours trying to be ‘good’ at spreadsheets? It could be, but I can probably guess that I would be frustrated at least 80% of the time. I would have some serious self-doubt and self-loathing going on and I would be feeling down about myself when I realise how much I actually don’t know but really wish I did. So why bother? I know an amazing person at school who would gladly help me with any spreadsheet questions I have. When I leave his office, I always feel wonderful and proud of myself knowing I have been productive and…
Top 5 Reasons Why Some People I Work With Are So Difficult
Whenever I speak in workplaces about difficult managers and co-workers, there is always one question that always comes up… ‘How do we get rid of difficult people?‘ But I think a more important question to ask is, ‘Why are they so difficult?’ If you believe that the answer to that question is that they are … “100% pure evil!”, “They cannot help it” or “They are beyond help”, it will certainly affect the way you interact with that person and possibly make a bad situation much, much worse. Here are my top five, less-sinister explanations for difficult people at work. Although these explanations do not excuse their behaviour, they certainly can help you see their behaviour in a kinder light…
Feeling Overwhelmed – Simplify Things
At times we can try to be all things, to all people. However, this can be to the detriment of our own well-being. The following strategies, inspired by author Kelly Exeter, are intended to help you slow down and bring some calmness to your life whenever you are feeling at risk of becoming over-whelmed. Reduce the Number of Decisions You Need to Make Decision making is incredibly tiring. Staff in schools make hundreds, if not thousands of decisions each day. The pure volume of decisions that we make leads to cognitive fatigue. Establishing routines and pre-planning are great strategies for reducing the number of decisions we have to make each day (or at least reducing the number of decisions that…