|
|
      |
| The Lounge | Champions | The Wire | Schedule | Audio | Arcade | The Top Ten | Historical | Email | Video |
|
|
|
| The Lounge | Champions | The Wire | Schedule | Audio | Arcade | The Top Ten | Historical | Email | Video |
 |
Teaching kids -- UGH!! (...and what I learned from it)
I have a confession to make: I don't like working with little kids. Don't get me wrong. I love children. I have nieces and nephews and I have friends with kids, and I love them all. The thing is, when it comes to teaching, I am not a fan of teaching the young ones. Under age 12 or so is no fun for me. You see, there are things I love about teaching. With children that young, I can't do any of the things that draw me to speaking and teaching in the first place. I have trained and taught the martial arts for years. A few years ago, I started teaching a class of 7 to 12 year-olds. While I liked all the kids in the class, I hated the act of actually teaching them. End result: I stopped teaching, felt burnt out, and left the martial arts for over a year (this was before I've learned some of the things I teach and write about though :-) ) Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. I have been doing shows where I work with a group to teach kids valuable lessons such as how to make better decisions and why it's bad to smoke. Most of the audiences for these shows consisted of children in the 5 to 12 year-old range. Just like five years ago, I found myself not enjoying the shows at all and feeling very unhappy. This time though, I had a much greater understanding of what to do. I knew I had two choices. I either had to stop doing the shows, or find a way to enjoy them. I decided to put my own theories to the test and force myself to find a way to enjoy these shows. I started by using my creativity to brainstorm out all the reasons I wasn't enjoying myself. I let my mind flow and created a big list. I then went through the list and picked out the key reasons I wasn't having fun. They were: 1) I kept running out of things to do because each activity kept the kids attention for much briefer periods of time then with older audiences. 2) I like to teach 'theories,' because I believe that that level of understanding is key for real learning. Unfortunately, heavy theory doesn't work well with the youngsters. 3) I felt it was a constant struggle to keep the kids' attention. 4) I was stressing over whether the kids were actually 'getting it.' Well, this was a great start! Having identified these four key factors, all I needed to do was address them. Once again, I turned on the creative muscles and brainstormed out what I could do for each one. After I had that list, I picked out the techniques and ideas that would address the problems. They were: 1) For each show, I created a list of activities that was about twice as long as I thought I needed, so I would never run out of things to do. 2) I created a list of ways to teach the ideas without getting 'theoretical,' and committed to trying the new approach (i.e. I let go of my traditional teaching style). 3) Rather than trying to keep entertaining the kids, I decided to add in some hands-on interactive activities throughout the show to get them involved and give them a break. 4) I stopped stressing. I committed to the mentality (which I am paraphrasing from Alan Weiss), 'show up, do the best I can, and go home.' I had my plan, I would do the best I could and work that plan, and that's all I could ask of myself. Lo and behold! The next three shows I did were actually fun! And they were all with kids between 5 and 12 years of age!! Here are some key lessons from my experience: 1) Address your feelings before it's too late. Years ago I waited too long and got burnt out. Recently, I addressed it earlier and am much happier. 2) Use your creativity to gain an understanding of what's bugging you, and then pick the key factors. 3) Use your creativity to create ways of addressing what's bugging you. 4) Create a plan of what you will do, and commit to working that plan. 5) Make sure you are having fun!! This article is not specifically about how to teach young ones. Rather, it should serve as a guide for how to use some creativity to add more fun and happiness into your life. Life's too short to stay unhappy! Avish Parashar has a refreshingly unique approach to speaking and training: identify the fundamentals of success and then give people the tools to implement those fundamentals. Avish's approach can be deceptive; it's fun, funny, interactive, engaging, entertaining, and ridiculously simple. Success isn't complicated, it's simple. So visit the web site to learn more about the "Ridiculously Simple Ideas That Everybody Needs and Nobody Uses." Learn More:http://www.avishparashar.com Free Creativity Mini-Course:http://www.avishparashar.com/creativity-free-minicourse.html
MORE RESOURCES:
Motivation - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
How To Motivate Yourself For Success? I was having coffee with my friend the other day. He just joined a multi-level marketing company. Harnessing the Power of the Unknown: Move from Repeating the Past to Re-inventing the Future The Unknown - it is scary territory for many, something to be avoided for others and shameful for those who feel they are supposed to know everything. What is your relationship with the Unknown? Take a moment to ponder it because your attitude towards and experience of this is what governs your ability to create, to innovate and truly bring more of yourself out into the world - in short to be successful. How You Developed Bad Habits That Rob You Of Motivation Bad habits rob you of your motivation.Today I want to tell you why I decided I absolutely had to take charge of my self-motivation. 7 Tips For Lasting Motivation And Greater Success Lasting motivation is possible once you adopt an outlook that allows you to be more successful. Here are seven tips you can use today to overcome procrastination and start achieving much more. Motivation: The Cure for Complacency Q. I've always tried to work hard enough to provide for my family and be content. Its Only Too Late If You Dont Start Living Now Remember when summer seemed to last forever? My mother use to say that some day we would realize just how fast time goes by. As usual, my mother was right. Todays Trivia I received an email today that said I could: "Make 500-10k from your living room," which I find to be an amazing claim, seeing as how I'm here, in my living room, making whatever hourly rate it is I charge for whatever it is I'm doing at this moment, and yet the living room itself is of no help in this regard. I could be making money in another room altogether. Motivation: Small Changes, Big Results When I was 8 years old, my parents let me go to the toy store with my buddy Mike and his Mom.My dad gave me a whole dollar to spend. The Rate of Change There have been many discussions and grumblings in the Western world about the ever increasing pace of change and the ability of the brain to accept it. The Internet (something uninteresting that the American Military was developing) suddenly became a required household feature. Struggling With Juggling 'The trick to juggling is determining which balls are made of rubber and which ones are made of glass.' --AnonAre you juggling too many things at once and are you finding it a real struggle not to let any of the balls drop? Almost everyone is juggling more than one thing at one time or another, so how do you make sure that you can cope and not reach the point where you are tempted to just chuck everything into the air and let it all go?Juggling in itself is no bad thing. Ten Tips to Create More Life for Your Life When people begin to investigate career change, often they don't want a new career at all. They love their career -- but they also want time for creating a life outside work. ADHD - Its a Wonderful Life As I usually do over the Holidays, I watched one of my all-time favorite actors in one of my all time favorite movies and that's Jimmy Stewart in "It's a Wonderful Life". Co-starring Donna Reed and made in the 1940s, the movie was not critically acclaimed at the time, but over the years has become a stable of the Holiday Season. Dont You Quit! "A man who has nothing to die for is not fit to live." -Martin LutherYou sat in that secret corner of your room. The Easy Way To Lasting Self Motivation Will power alone will never work over the long term. It isthe hardest way possible to get yourself to do anything. Hey Me, Get Out Of My Way Hey Me! Get Out Of My WayBy David Stoddard How often it is we give up wanting to do something even before we give ourselves an honest chance of succeeding. Perhaps, we begin writing our autobiography. Violating Boundaries: Assert Yourself and Take Charge "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin FranklinAre you sick and tired of being treated like a doormat and having people walk all over you? If you answered yes, read on. Why You Dont Ned Motivation As a life coach, I often hear people say they lack motivation - in fact, the "motivation discussion" is almost a ritual with my new clients. You really want something, in fact you almost need it, but you just don't have the drive to get to it. 4 Qualities of Highly Successful People What if you can be, do or have anything you want, what would you desire in your life?Now do you believe it can happen? Yes? No? In the words of Henry Ford, "If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right."Well then what actually happens for those people who do seem to get everything they desire?Let's take a closer look. Procrastination Emancipation It's early January as I sit down to research and write this newsletter. I launch my web browser, surf over to MSN. Wealth Building: Let The Wealth Building Secrets Of J. Paul Getty Inspire You To Great Achievement One of the shortcuts to creating wealth is to learn from those who have achieved great wealth.The late John Paul Getty is known as one of the greatest wealthbuilders in American history.
|
Section Site Map - Submit News - Feedback - Comments - Advertise with Us Copyright © 2006 Luminati Inc. All rights reserved. 
|
