For the last 3 weeks I've been volunteering at Kevin's & Perry's old school, supporting the language department, on a Monday and a Friday. I've had the privilege of spending time with students from years 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and even 13, engaging with these young people on a one to one, two or three basis, and encouraging them to engage in French and Spanish lessons. There have been some real - in fact, massive - achievements for me;
🇪🇸 students have completed their work who may not have otherwise
🇫🇷 students have received positive praise points, their first since before Christmas
🇪🇸 students have stayed in an entire lesson
🇫🇷 teachers have been able to focus on smaller groups
I have also learned quite a lot about myself;
🌤 people really do respond well to praise; adults, students alike. It doesn't need to be big, it DOES need to be authentic and genuine, such as how many students really do have beautiful writing, or an interesting school bag, or have tidy hair, support a well-performing sports team, have turned up on time
🌤 the power of remembering someone's name is massive; being honest and apologising if you don't - and asking them if you can look at the front of their book to remind yourself has gone down well in every single instance
🌤 I can be calm pretty much most of the time, I don't need to raise my voice
🌤 most of the principles of Dale Carnegie's 'How to Win Friends and Influence People' apply universally, even out of business
🌤 Ted Lasso is a modern personification of Dale Carnegie, and by 'channeling my inner Ted Lasso' I have had some fabulous positive engagements (I'm working on 'being more Rebecca' - that's a different story)
I am not going to be pursuing a full-time teaching career any time soon and my previous admiration of teachers, particularly language ones, has gone through the roof. And if anyone wants a calmer, more positive and rewarding approach to life, you can do worse than Dale and Ted.
The next chapter for me is starting and I'm hoping to carry on at least some of this volunteering for a little while.
#DaleCarnegie #TedLasso #learnings #NextChapter
