The Toughest Thing For Teachers To Do
From Skillful Teaching”s “The Teaching Craft: Your Wednesday Weekly Dose”
Mastery takes a lifetime. Can you teach from where you are at any given moment without needing to be somewhere else, somehow better? Can you teach from where you are no matter where that is?
Last week we had an amazing teleclass with Cori Martinez. And I am thrilled to be ableto share the recording and notes with you today. But that”s not really what I wanted to write about.
Something came up during the call that I”ve heard (and felt) over and over again in teacher trainings, in coaching sessions, and in workshops and classes. It sounds something like this:
“This is all fantastic information, but I just feel too overwhelmed to even consider how I might incorporate it. I”m not ready to add this in…I wouldn”t even know where to start.”
Familiar?
I think I”ve had that thought at nearly half of the trainings I”ve ever attended whether they were Pilates related or not. New information, new ideas, theories, repertoire can all be hard to digest. It sparks in us both the burning desire to be that teacher who can do all of those things with grace and ease and a total panic that we might not ever be that teacher because we are so aflood with information we can”t even see where to begin.
How do we balance these feelings? How do we hold strong to our dream of being the best we can be, achieving spectacular things and take it slowly enough to honor where we are right now, content and confident in the skills we already have?
It”s not easy. And at the same time it”s the easiest thing in the world.
All it takes is staying present.
I say that being present and teaching from where we are right now is one of the hardest things for us to do as teachers. The truth is it”s the harest thing for everyone to do.
If you are reading this right now it”s because there is some part of you that wants to be more than you are today, to improve your skills as a teacher and be able to make a bigger impact. This desire alone often takes us into the future where we are better than we are now, know more than we do now and have all the right skills dialed in so that our teaching and career are perfect.
When we live out “there” where we are “better” we can easily become discouraged, overwhelmed, full of self-doubt, and cut ourselves off from the gifts we have already cultivated, selling ourselves short in the moment in order to strive toward something else.
I know this feeling well and I always think of this sentiment:
If I am sitting in a chair on one side of the room and I need to get to the door on the opposite side, I have to first stand up and take one step, then another, then another. That”s just the way it happens. That”s the journey.
When I remember this simple and mundane idea it settles me back into where I am. I can enjoy the chair I am sitting in, its smooth wood, familiar contours, beautiful color a reflection of my hard work and talents.
It”s from that place that I can mindfully move forward with kindness to myself and enough energy to tackle the new stuff without needing to be across the room.
As for the actual effort of incorporating new information here are some simple ways to start.
1. Start Small: Breakdown the material into digestible pieces. Start with the stuff that makes sense, that which is based on understanding that you already have.
2. Acknowledge What You Already Do/Know: In some instances it”s helpful to brainstorm the ways in which you might already be using said new technique. Find out how you can comfortably make the connection between what you do now and want to do.
*This can also be helpful in terms of addressing any self-doubt or lack of confidence that might have arisen. Giving yourself acknowledgements for where you are currently helps buoy you as you swim into uncharted territory.
3. Observe, Listen, Study: Before you dive in and try to change your entire approach or add a complex idea to your teaching, take your time to study others who are doing what you hope to do. Watch videos, observe in-person, read more about the idea, philosophy or technique.
This takes patience, which I personally have very little of, so I know it can be tough. Trust me, though, you”ll be so grateful for the time it takes because when you do arrive where you want to go, you”ll be ready to be there. Things get very sketchy when we rush our progress.
4. Safe, Anonymous Practice: Sometimes we need to just practice the technique, or idea. We need to get used to saying the words and trying it on. I always encourage my student teachers to practice teaching to an empty room or record themselves. What low-risk way can you begin to add new skills? Teach other teachers, friends or family and get feedback before you put yourself in a more high-pressure situation.
Recent Success:
One of the teachers who was on the call last week was struggling with these feelings with regard to using story. After some discussion about how she might begin — although I knew she wasn”t convinced — she decided to go for it.
Well, about four days later she sent me a note excitedly sharing the fact that “she really can and does use story,” and how helpful it was to use this tool consciously to connect with her student in a deeper and more effective way. She just needed a place to start.
So exciting! I know you can do it too.
One last thing:
Just today one of my teachers shared this with me, which I thought was pretty damn perfect for what we are talking about. It already made me feel better about something I am working on.
“Enough is as good as a feast.” P.L. Travers — Novelist, journalist, activist.
Now, here”s your chance to investigate how you can teach from where you are and investigate how to use story in your teaching. Ready, set, go…
Get the “Using Story” Audio Class and Outline.
Until next time,
Chantill
How are you showing up? Why are you showing up? Why do you teach? What IS teaching? Why do you care? This is Skillful Teaching: A Whole-person approach to being an expert teacher, not an expert technician. There's a difference. Want to know what it is?
I now have a few clients, including my husband. I’m thrilled. I listened to the teleclass on including story in one’s teaching to connect with your students, to weave in a theme, to engender trust,… I was one whose sentiment was, I have enough on my plate just trying to remember the repertoire, much less start talking about myself! Good idea though! I was told there are ways to bring in story so that it doesn’t take away from concentration. Maybe it’s an antidote at the beginning of a session, maybe you want to rant, I mean, teach, on your own blog, I was told.
Yesterday morning, in preparing for my session with a young woman who had shared with me that she was going through a difficult breakup, I thought I might share with her my talisman, whom I address as Rooster Girl. I found Rooster Girl, a kind of neutsuke (sp?)-like charm made from crushed white jade with painted hair, wings, but since it was old the paint was partially rubbed off.
I immediately fell in love with her; in fact I hadn’t fallen in love with a magical thing or being since I was a small child, like the love for an old simple wind up music box, a small stuffed panda bear with an open happy mouth, a charm bracelet with aquamarine glass beads and a little charm that says March in curly writing, or a tiny bottle painted with blue and green flowers that on the inside contains turtle dust, for good luck.
As we were sitting on cushions for check-in I asked how she’d been doing, how her body was, and how had she been taking care of herself during this time. Then I brought out my talisman (who is a girl)–taliswoman? and suggested she might look around her home to see if she has such a “protector.” Lo and behold she showed me the pendant hung from a silver chain around her neck. It looked like a winged woman of some sort.
And there we were. In accord with a shared reality, or a shared value, and so trust comes easier and we know that though the focus of the work is very much physical, it seems that such sharing brings in another element and deepen the experience.
Centa