The Teacher Toolbox

Two stories led me to creating this Stressbuster.

Story 1.

After just one year of teaching, a very talented music teacher friend of mine tossed it all in and went off to do ‘other things’. At his farewell morning tea I had a quiet word to him and inquired, ‘So mate, what led you to make this call?’

‘Look around this room Adrian,’ he whispered, ‘look at their faces, there is not a happy soul among them and I feel like I’m turning into one of them. I don’t want that for myself or my family.’

I must agree, I felt pretty much the same as him at the time.

Story 2.

A couple of months back I had dinner with a couple of second year Uni students after they had just finished their prac experience. As the wine flowed they recounted their experiences in staffrooms and how they found them such depressing places.

So are you one of the people who contribute to a toxic workplace, or are you one of the few who make the work environment a great place to educate and celebrate learning?

More Stressbusters

My latest Stressbuster takes its inspiration from the fact that we all need to have a whinge occasionally. But in my experience there are those that need to whinge a lot more than others and they often never offer any solutions. They continue around and around and around on the same treadmill. It gets tiring but we listen politely.

I’m sure you know someone you can print this cartoon out for.

hehehehehe

cheers

Adrian

PS Know full well I composed it ‘just for you’!

I find the funniest thing about this Stressbuster is that it actually happened. Every year one of the schools I  worked at took the kids to sing to the elderly. This one year we noticed that this one elderly guy had his very own minder. When he’d ask questions he was very, very loud and the kids had a bit of a laugh but rose to the occasion.

Feel free to check out more of my Stressbusters

cheers

Adrian

After a momentary lapse in reason Mr Jones realised he had been teaching too long.

I’m not sure about you guys, but I know sometimes I wonder if ‘they’ might really have an ‘a’ in it?

cheers

Adrian

Today I finally finished a homepage for my Stressbuster Cartoons. If you need a chuckle as term is getting a little stressful then this is the place to be. You might even find something to print out or email to your workmates.

cheers

Adrian

Dear World,

Meet Ima Swami – he is going to be pointing out many of the things that they don’t teach us at university and a few other life truths

Ahh Grasshopper… beware the teacher who refers to themself in the third person. They inhabit a strange alternate reality.

cheers

Adrian

PS Feel free to tell stories from your life that demonstrate this anomaly .

For me looking on in here in Oz, NECC http://www.necc2008.org/ is the choir i.e. most of the teachers who attend already use Read/Write tools to connect with the world and are aware of the need for a 21st C skillset.

So here is my message to the choir… print this out, leave it laying around so people will take it home to the ‘chalkface’

You’re not a typewriter! You’re not an electronic text book! You’re not an electronic text book! You’re not a games console! You’re not a glorified piece of @$%*ing cardboard!!!

You’re the all seeing all dancing tools that enable interaction with the world!

Adrian

PS Thanks for the inspiration Brad - Language Warning on this one people!

Stressbuster IX

“Once more into the breech dear friends, or close the wall with our English dead!”

Henry’s Victory would have been much more decisive had the battalions to the rear not misheard the command.

Stressbuster VIII

Eric was about to find out that uncontrollable laughter was not the correct response to, ‘Has anyone seen fluffy?’

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In a propoganda coup, what was widely reported as ‘The Last Great Act of Defiance’ was in fact only part of a more complex cunning plan.

hehehehe

Adrian

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