The Next Level Teacher Podcast

Episode Summary: 
In this episode, we explore a unique analogy between farming and teaching. Just as farmers play the long game with their crops, teachers plant seeds of knowledge in students, sometimes waiting years to see the full fruit of their labor. From managing expectations and adapting to various environments, to maintaining rather than repairing relationships and skills, there are striking similarities between these two essential professions. Join us as we discuss how understanding a farmer’s mindset can help educators in the classroom, with practical tips for nurturing students and managing what’s within our control.
Key Takeaways:
Play the Long Game: Like farmers, teachers sow seeds that take time to grow—progress isn't always immediate.

Adapt to Your Environment: Just as farmers adjust their methods to the climate, teachers should tailor their approach to the unique needs of each classroom and student.

Manage Expectations: Growth, whether in crops or students, takes time. We may not always see the immediate impact of our efforts.

Focus on What You Can Control: Teachers, like farmers, face many external challenges, but focusing on what’s within your control is key.

Maintenance is Easier than Repair: Whether it’s relationships, classroom management, or student progress, it’s easier to maintain than catch up.

Episode Highlights:
Fall is a season of harvest, reminding us of the long-term impact teachers have on students.The importance of nurturing students over time and accepting that results may not be visible for years. Practical insights on how to handle classroom environments, build strong student relationships, and stay patient in the teaching journey.

For Teachers: If you're navigating the school year and need some inspiration to keep planting those seeds of knowledge, this episode is for you. Let’s take a lesson from our farmer friends and play the long game in education.

Click Here to Book Your Complimentary Coaching Call! 

Have you ever noticed that some teachers seem to enjoy the job so much more than others? What is the difference between those happier teachers and teachers who find each a drudgery? 

Tune in to unlock the secrets to a happier teaching career with five transformative teacher wellness strategies. From embracing imperfection to finding humor in daily challenges, these mindset shifts can make all the difference. 

Curious to see how these tips can elevate your teaching experience and bring more joy to your day? Dive in to discover how a few simple changes can lead to a more balanced and fulfilling career in education. 

 Recovering from a Rough Start: Essential Classroom Management Tips for Teachers

Episode Summary:In today’s episode, we discuss how to recover when the school year doesn’t start off as planned. Whether you’re dealing with new teaching environments, navigating post-pandemic challenges, or simply facing unexpected hurdles, it's important to remember that a rough start doesn't define your entire year. Host Brenna Nelson shares her personal experience of starting the year on the wrong foot and offers valuable classroom management tips to help you reset and regain control.

Key Takeaways:
It’s Okay to Struggle: Acknowledge that even seasoned teachers can face difficulties in the classroom. It’s crucial to show compassion to yourself and understand that a tough start doesn’t mean failure.

Calm Your Nervous System: When things feel overwhelming, your nervous system may go into fight, flight, or freeze mode. Learn strategies to calm yourself down, including deep breathing and grounding techniques. This will help you think more clearly and problem-solve effectively.

Own What’s True: Analyze what didn’t work without judgment. Ask yourself what actions or classroom management strategies were ineffective and how you can make intentional changes to improve the situation.

Shift Your Thinking: Instead of saying “I don’t know how to manage this class,” try reframing it as “I don’t know yet” or “I’m figuring it out.” This subtle shift can lead to more hopeful and productive action.

Focus on What You Can Control: While you can’t control student behavior, you can control how you respond. Set clear expectations, model respectful behavior, and enforce consequences. You can also manage your own mindset and take proactive steps, like seeking support from colleagues.

Avoid the ‘I Don’t Know’ Trap: Saying “I don’t know” leads to inaction. Instead, take one small step forward, knowing that action brings clarity.

Resources Mentioned:
Calm in the Classroom Course: Join the waitlist for Brenna's upcoming course, where she dives deeper into managing stress, anxiety, and overwhelm in the classroom. Sign up here.

Previous Episode: The 50-50 Principle: Explore the idea that life is always 50-50—positive and negative emotions—and how to embrace this balance. 

Whether you're struggling with classroom management or just need a fresh start, this episode offers practical advice for resetting and moving forward. Remember, every day is a new opportunity to shift your thinking and improve the teaching experience for yourself!

Tune in now to gain actionable classroom management tips and make this school year a success! 

 How to Create a Fresh Start This School Year – Practical Back-to-School Teacher Tips

Episode Summary:
As the new school year begins, it's the perfect time for a fresh start—whether you're a first-year teacher or a seasoned veteran. In this episode, we explore how teachers can reset their mindset, choose what to continue, start, or stop doing, and approach the year with renewed energy and purpose. We discuss key back-to-school teacher tips for creating intentional changes that lead to more fulfilling classroom experiences and personal growth. Discover how you can make this your best school year yet, with strategies that help you thrive.
Key Takeaways:**Start Fresh Anytime
While the start of a school year is a natural time for change, you can create fresh starts whenever you want.

**Evaluate Your Life and Choose What to Continue
Reflect on what’s working well, both in your professional and personal life, and commit to the things you truly want to keep.

**Consciously Choose New Habits
Identify areas where you'd like to improve or make positive changes—whether it's adding new classroom routines, personal habits, or relationship dynamics.

**Let Go of What’s Not Serving You
Stop doing the things that no longer align with your values or goals. This could be anything from over-grading assignments to saying yes when you mean no.

**Embrace Growth Over Comfort
Though making changes can feel uncomfortable, personal and professional growth leads to thriving, not just surviving.

Related Episode:
Listen to our episode on The 50-50 Principle.

Back-to-School Teacher Tips You Don’t Want to Miss:
Learn how to create a fresh start this school year by wiping the slate clean, redeciding on purpose what to keep, and adding new habits that will help you thrive in and out of the classroom. Tune in for these back-to-school teacher tips that promote intentionality, growth, and a thriving teacher mindset.

Subscribe & Review:
If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to our podcast and leave a review. Your feedback helps us grow and reach more educators like you!
Follow The Strength of Teachers on Instagram:
Instagram: @brennanelsoncoaching

#BackToSchoolTeacherTips #FreshStartForTeachers #TeacherMindset #ThrivingTeacherLife #TeacherWellness 

 Welcome to another episode of The Strength of Teachers! 

As the school year draws to a close, whatever transpired over the past nine or ten months is now your circumstance. And, just like everything in life, you get to choose what story you want to tell about yourself as a teacher over the past year. 

Were you the triumphant hero? Did you persevere and overcome every challenge and adversity? Or were you the passive victim? The lone survivor?

You get to choose how you want to frame the past school year. You might as well frame it in a way that serves you!

Tune in to learn how to think about your past school year in a way that helps you grow and evolve into the next version of yourself!


In this episode, we discuss:
*Framing Our Stories: Our ability to choose the narrative of our experiences.
*The Power of Intentional Storytelling: Encouragement to consciously shape our reflections.
*Identifying Neutral Facts: Distinguishing between facts and interpretations.
*Self-compassion and Reflection: Approaching personal growth with kindness.
*Addressing Unmet Needs: Taking proactive steps to fulfill personal requirements.
*Choosing Empowering Narratives: Adopting thoughts that serve personal growth.
*Embracing Rest and Rejuvenation: Highlighting the importance of intentional summer breaks.
The Strength of Teachers Episodes Referenced:Remember to celebrate your school year wins! Episode 35: Celebrating Teachers’ Growth and SuccessTake time to process all the end-of-year feelings! Episode 34: Feeling all the End-of-Year Feelings
Like what you're learning on the podcast and want to go deeper? Schedule a FREE call with me HERE.
Looking to Lower Your Teacher Anxiety?Check out these three quick and easy coping strategies you can use to lower your anxiety immediately while still teaching!
Grab your copy HERE!
Contact Me:Email: [email protected]: www.brennanelsoncoaching.comInstagram: @brennanelsoncoaching
Thank you so much for listening! Your engagement truly matters! Please follow and leave a review! Your 5-star review is greatly appreciated and helps this podcast find more teachers who may be struggling with stress, anxiety, and overwhelm! Let's do them a solid and spread the word! Look for the "Write a Review" prompt on your favorite podcast platform! 
Enjoy your well-deserved summer break! Episodes will resume August 2024!
 

Welcome back to another episode of "The Strength of Teachers"!  In this episode, we explore the importance of acknowledging our achievements, recognizing our personal development, and celebrating our resilience as workers in the world of education. 

While the teaching profession demands continuous improvement and learning, it is equally important to celebrate our triumphs and progress!However, this is easier said than done. 

As teachers, we often find it easier to focus on areas that require improvement rather than highlighting our successes. By embracing a balanced approach that acknowledges our strengths and achievements, we contribute to our well-being and to that of our colleagues and students.

Tune in to learn why we teachers struggle so much to celebrate our contributions and how to shift our understanding to generate more positive momentum in our teaching careers!

Episode Notes:
* Check out this episode we mentioned all about the importance of emotions:
Episode 25: Unwanted Thoughts
Episode 4: Your Infinite Worth
Try Out Coaching!
Like what you're learning on the podcast and want to go deeper?
Schedule a free call with me HERE.
Seeking More Calm in your Classroom?
Check out these three quick and easy coping strategies you can use to lower your anxiety immediately while still teaching!
Grab your copy HERE!
Contact Me:Email: [email protected]: www.brennanelsoncoaching.comInstagram: @brennanelsoncoaching
Thank you so much for listening! Your engagement truly matters! Please follow and leave a review! Your 5-star review is greatly appreciated and helps this podcast find more teachers who may be struggling with stress, anxiety, and overwhelm! Let's do them a solid and spread the word! On your favorite podcast platform, look for the "Write a Review" prompt! 

If you are like many teachers, you find yourself feeling lot of emotions as we wind up the school year. Maybe even conflicting emotions. 
On this podcast,  we talk a lot about our thoughts, about shifting our mindset to create more useful emotions. And there’s good reason for that: thoughts are the cause of all our emotions and our emotions drive all our actions which, ultimately, create our results. If we want different results in our lives, we need to address the root cause of our results: our thoughts. 
That said, we can’t do that–we can’t do thought work–if we haven’t first processed our present emotions. At least not very well. 

Thought work and emotion work go hand-in-hand. 

Tune in to his episode to learn how to manage all those end-of-school-year teacher emotions in a healthy way!
 Episode Notes:* Check out this episode we mentioned all about the importance of emotions: Episode 4: The Importance of Emotions

Like what you're learning on the podcast and want to go deeper? Schedule a FREE call with me HERE.

Looking to Lower Your Teacher Anxiety?
Check out these three quick and easy coping strategies you can use to lower your anxiety immediately while still teaching!

Grab your copy HERE!

Contact Me:
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.brennanelsoncoaching.com
Instagram: @brennanelsoncoaching

Thank you so much for listening! Your engagement truly matters! Please follow and leave a review! Your 5-star review is greatly appreciated and helps this podcast find more teachers who may be struggling with stress, anxiety, and overwhelm! Let's do them a solid and spread the word! On your favorite podcast platform, look for the "Write a Review" prompt! 
 

Episode Summary:
It’s Teacher Appreciation Week! here in the United States! The concept of celebrating teachers started back in 1953 when Eleanor Roosevelt lobbied Congress to pass some sort of measure to recognize the work that teachers do. 
The intention behind Teacher Appreciation Week is lovely: to celebrate the hard work of teachers and their efforts to educate the rising generations. 
However, what I’m noticing as I’m coaching and working with teachers is that sometimes we use this week against ourselves (despite the fact that it is intended to be a celebration). 
If we aren’t managing our minds, our default human brains can turn this week into the opposite of what its creators intended. We might not actually feel appreciated throughout this week. We may even use this week to point out all the ways teachers are actually NOT appreciated at all! 

Unfortunately, doing this will leave you feeling terrible!  
In this episode, I want to talk about some subtle shifts we can make in our minds to alter the way we think and feel about this week that will benefit us both now and in the future!

Tune into this episode to learn:
*Why teachers may feel unappreciated during Teacher Appreciation Week.
*What actually causes the feeling of appreciation.
*Two short and simple exercises you can do to increase the amount of appreciation you feel for yourself, your career, your colleagues, and more!


Episode Notes:* Check out this episode we mentioned all about understanding your self worth: Your Infinite Worth.
* Like what you're learning on the podcast and want to go deeper? Schedule a FREE call with me HERE.
* Looking to reduce your levels of Teacher Anxiety? Check out these three quick and easy coping strategies you can use to lower your anxiety immediately while still teaching! Grab your copy HERE!

Contact Me:
* Email: [email protected]
* Website: www.brennanelsoncoaching.com
* Instagram: @brennanelsoncoaching

Thank you so much for listening! Your engagement truly matters! Please follow and leave a review! Your 5-star review is greatly appreciated and helps this podcast find more teachers who may be struggling with stress, anxiety, and overwhelm! Let's do them a solid and spread the word! On your favorite podcast platform, look for the "Write a Review" prompt!

Teaching can feel like a thankless job. Teachers don't often see the effects of their labors for years, if at all. This can often leave educators wondering, "Am I a good teacher?" 

What even is a "good teacher"? How would I know if I am one? What if I'm not?

Tune in to learn how to determine if you are a good teacher! (It's probably not what you think!)

Mentioned in this Episode:
Episode 4: Your Infinite Worth
Episode 31: The Truth About Your Students' Test Scores

 Feeling Overwhelmed in the Classroom?Anxiety is all too common for teachers--especially this time of year! Grab your free guide to feeling better while still teaching here!
Is Coaching for You?Most people prefer to try on a new pair of jeans before they buy! Coaching can feel the same way: you want to know what you're getting before signing up!
Your first mini-session with Certified Life Coach Brenna Nelson is FREE! Click HERE to sign up today! 
___Attention: Teachers Who Feel Anxiety!Do you ever feel crippled by anxiety when trying to perform basic teacher tasks? If so, you'll want to sign up to be the first to hear about my soon-to-be-released course just for teachers. It's called, Calm in the Classroom: Anxiety Solutions for the Modern-Day Teacher. In this self-paced course, we dive deep into understanding the causes of anxiety and explore lasting anxiety symptom solutions! You won't want to miss this! Click here to get all the details when we are ready to launch! 

It's that time of year again! Testing Season! Teachers across the country are prepping their students for the end-of-grade standardized testing.

Standardized testing tends to bring up a lot of thoughts and emotions for teachers about their students, their careers, and themselves!

What do students' test scores mean about their abilities? What do they mean about you as a teacher? What do they mean about you as a human?

Tune in to learn how to adjust your thinking around your students' results to a mindset that will ultimately serve you (and your students) better!

Episodes Mentioned:
7. Why Emotions Are Important (How to Process an Emotion)
17. When Teaching Feels Messy (Clean & Dirty Pain)
29. How to Solve Any Teacher Problem (The Self-Coaching Model)


 Feeling Overwhelmed in the Classroom?Anxiety is all too common for teachers--especially this time of year! Grab your free guide to feeling better while still teaching here!
Is Coaching for You?Most people prefer to try on a new pair of jeans before they buy! Coaching can feel the same way: you want to know what you're getting before signing up!
Your first mini-session with Certified Life Coach Brenna Nelson is FREE! Click HERE to sign up today! 
___Attention: Teachers Who Feel Anxiety!Do you ever feel crippled by anxiety when trying to perform basic teacher tasks? If so, you'll want to sign up to be the first to hear about my soon-to-be-released course just for teachers. It's called, Calm in the Classroom: Anxiety Solutions for the Modern-Day Teacher. In this self-paced course, we dive deep into understanding the causes of anxiety and explore lasting anxiety symptom solutions! You won't want to miss this! Click here to get all the details when we are ready to launch!