Four Things I Do When a Student Says They Don’t Like My Class!

Depending on the student and the reason why, I might actually do…

THIS

But after I do this, there are four specific things I do, that actually work, when I receive constructive feedback from my students and even their families.

I Look Back to Move Forward

At the beginning of the school year, my students complete Content Attitude Surveys. From time to time, I go back and reread their responses to determine if any of their thoughts are an indication of them not liking my class. Most times, it’s there. I respond based on what information I glean from the survey. Sometimes you have to go back, back to move forth and forth. Click here to get the free surveys!

I Check Relationship Status

Sometimes, I need to take a step back and reflect on the relationship the student and I currently have. I have to ask myself some questions:

• Are they having positive experiences in my class?
• Are they making progress?
• Am I communicating that progress?
• How am I communicating progress?
• Are they receptive to the way I am giving feedback?
• Are they receiving any positive feedback?
• Do this student and I bump heads?
• I am the adult in this situation, so what can I do?
• What do or don’t I know, about this student, that can help me to help them?
• Do I really know my student?

I Get Quiet and Listen

I take what the student says seriously (more often than not). Behavior and attitude are communication. Again, I ask questions about the behavior and attitude, then I shut up, and I listen to the response as best as I can with the time that I have. (This is easier said than done, but in the whole scheme of things, it is worth it). Sometimes, I incorporate their ideas. I listen.

I Try to Never, Ever Take it Personal

But sometimes, it is personal.

Some students do try to personally attack us or our character, but sometimes, its not usually about us at all. They could be struggling with something unbeknownst to us. Perhaps past experiences in school or in similar subjects/content areas were unfavorable. Maybe it is about us, and the student thinks we are inconsistent, are unfair, are disorganized, are unclear, or talk too much. Don’t take it personal, especially if it’s true. The best way is to validate the student, and use the feedback as an opportunity for growth. An opportunity to show a child and model what to do and how to act when they receive unfavorable feedback. I rarely take things personally.

Now with most things, these steps depend on how well you know your students.

Again, at the beginning of the year, I give surveys to my students to help with this. I also gather information from their families, former teachers, and student files. I prefer to be proactive vs. reactive. Based on what you know or don’t know about your students will ultimately determine the best way to handle when a student says, “I don’t like this class.”

How do you handle when a student says they don’t like your class? Share in the comments below.

Happy Teaching!

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My Instagram Teacher Account was Hacked!

Tuesday, January 4, 2022

It started out like any other day. I was up early, getting ready for work, and still running late. But I made it to work right on time. Our staff meeting was canceled due to so many teachers being out of the building (panoramic teaching), so I set up my room for the day’s lessons.

This was our second day back from winter break, so on Monday, I made sure to spend time reviewing norms, expectations, and reconnecting with my scholars. They loved the New Year’s Goals in GIFS and PICS PowerPoint Project they worked on after they completed their Do Now (Math Spiral Review). To my surprise, Tuesday was a breeze, and they were ready to dig back into our work with fractions.

At some point in the morning, I received a message in my Instagram DMs (Direct Messages) from someone who I thought was my younger cousin, A. He asked for my number and explained why, and I sent him my number. No questions asked. That was my first problem. I gave my phone number to someone who I thought I knew without asking any questions.

I am going to tell you this now, NEVER GIVE ANYONE YOUR PHONE NUMBER WITHOUT CONFIRMING WHO THEY ARE FIRST! Also, if you have already given them your number, why would they ask you again without first saying that they lost your number?

Tip Number 1

Y’all! I didn’t ask a single question! I wondered, but I never asked why he didn’t ask his mom for my number. I didn’t ask what happened to his Facebook account which is why he needed my number. I didn’t ask why he was asking me and not someone else closer to him. I didn’t even ask if he asked anyone else. I didn’t ask him any questions until right before the damage was done, and it was too late. I responded with my cell phone number. That’s it. I was focused on work.

At this point in time, everything was fine on my end. I was still able to access my Facebook and Instagram accounts.

Later on in the day, “my cousin” reminded me to send him a link that showed up on Facebook so he could get back into his Facebook account. I don’t get on Facebook that often. As a matter of fact, I don’t even have the app on my phone, therefore it took several hours before I logged into my Facebook account to copy and paste that link into my DMs for him. He responded later asking if I had a chance to get the link yet.

I am going to tell you this now, NEVER SEND AN UNKNOWN LINK THROUGH YOUR DMS! NEVER! Especially if you have not verified (via text, phone call, video call, or another person) who you are talking to. Most likely the person you think you are talking to has already had their account hacked. I learned about 15 minutes after my account was hacked that my younger cousin’s account was hacked earlier in the same day. Had I reached out to his mom, I would’ve known that.

Tip Number 2

Once I got home, I sat down to help my son with his homework, I copied and pasted the link in the DMs, and asked if it worked. He said, “Yes, and thank you.” At this point in time, I started asking how he was doing and how college tours were going. He said, “Good.” I told him I was proud of him and that he is going to do great in college, and I ended by saying I loved him. I was slightly annoyed by his short responses and thought he was being rude, but he’s a teenage boy, we don’t talk that often, and I actually didn’t have time to talk or text at length. I thought about texting his mom later to see if he was okay. He is one of the sweetest boys I know. I should’ve known it wasn’t him. I ignored all of the red flags!

Right before I copied and pasted the link in my DMs, to who I thought was my younger cousin, A, I posted in my stories. I was about to work out and I shared that in my stories. But I had a limited amount of time before I had to be at my next destination. After I finished my workout, I planned to add a post-workout photo to my stories. I took the selfie. Clicked the Instagram application, and it said I was logged out of my account. I never log out of my account. So I simply typed in my username and password. It said the password was wrong and my email address had been changed to renewedteachuu@gmail.com.

I panicked. I knew what happened. Someone took advantage of me hacked my Instagram and Facebook accounts.

I was able to get my Facebook account back within 24 hours by uploading my ID to the site and filling out some reports, requesting password resets. I had to try multiple times, and at one point, Facebook told me I was doing too much and wouldn’t let me upload my ID anymore. Now that I am in, I can even see posts from my Instagram account via my Facebook Business page. BUT I STILL CANNOT LOG INTO INSTAGRAM!

Immediately after the hacking, I started getting text messages from people that had my number asking me if I changed my IG Handle to @the_renewed_teachuu. Of course, I didn’t. The hacker went in, changed my login, my password, the phone numbers linked to my account, and they even added two-factor authentication to my account which I had not even done yet!

I am going to tell you this now, if you haven’t done so yet, ADD TWO FACTOR AUTHENTICATION TO ALL OF YOUR ACCOUNTS! ASAP! Two factor-authentication is an electronic authentication method that allows you to better protect your online accounts only granting access to a website or application after successfully presenting two or more pieces of evidence beyond your login and password.

Tip Number 3

My hacked account has since been changed back to @the_renewed_teacher but I still do not have access as mentioned above. The person that has control is using my name and sharing screenshots of DMS in the stories that look like I made tons of money. I mean I wish I had the money, but this is not my money y’all!

I have asked Instagram for help, written them emails, done video facial recognition. I can still see my cell phone number linked to the account, I can still receive text messages and emails at my number and email address from Instagram to put in codes to unlock my account, but I do not have the 6-digit number for the two-factor authentication. I went back to my screenshots from 2018 when I first sign up for Instagram to see if I had a screenshot of the 6-digit code and I don’t.

When I started writing this post on Wednesday, January 12th, I wished I had a happy ending. I hoped and prayed to get my account back.

As of Sunday, January 16 at 12:29 am, The Instagram Team came through! I NOW HAVE CONTROL OF @the_renewed_teacher!!!

You can’t hold a good woman back or keep a good woman down!

I have shared three tips on how you can prevent your account from being hacked:

1. NEVER GIVE ANYONE YOUR PHONE NUMBER WITHOUT CONFIRMING WHO THEY ARE FIRST!
2. NEVER SEND AN UNKNOWN LINK THROUGH YOUR DMS! NEVER!
3. ADD TWO FACTOR AUTHENTICATION TO ALL OF YOUR ACCOUNTS! ASAP!

In my next blog post, I will share what I did to get my account back in case the preventative tips above do not work.

Stay tuned for updates and more ways to renew your passion for teaching in the coming weeks!

You can’t keep a good woman down!

Happy Teaching,

Krystal L. Smith, The RenewED Teacher

Teaching Online: It Just Got Real

RenewED Teachers are always looking to see what is new, and how they can enhance their skills in the classroom! However, COVID-19 has most of the teachers in our country (perhaps the world) outside of their classroom these days. Because of that, many of us are moving towards some version of Remote/Distance Teaching and Learning, E-Learning, and/or Digital Instruction.

While many teachers have dabbled in flipped instruction, not all classroom educators, especially K-12 teachers, have experienced teaching 100% from the comfort of their home. According to www.teachthought.com, a flipped classroom is a type of blended learning where students are introduced to content at home and practice working through it at school. In addition to this, face-to-face instruction is mixed with online (internet/web-based) instruction. I started dabbling with this in 2011 with Edmodo.com, Remind.com, and  today with ClassDojo.

BUT IT JUST GOT REAL!

There is no blended learning right now. It is all online in the event that our Governor extends the Stay-at-Home Order beyond Tuesday, April 14th. (Update: President Trump extended social distancing through the end of April).

Now many educators have already began their digital journey and appear to be killing it! Many have been using Zoom and Google Meets. I am familiar with both, but when my district sent a survey asking how familiar I was with Microsoft Teams, I had to type in a one on that scale. That’s when my search began. And like these other educators killing it on Zoom and Meets, we are going to kill it on Teams!

What is Microsoft Teams?

Microsoft Teams is a web-based program that has capabilities for “students, teachers, and staff [to] seamlessly work together, create content, and share resources all from a single, easy-to-learn and simple to use platform” (microsoft.com). Microsoft Teams allows teachers to create classrooms, keep students remotely engaged, facilitate remote learning, collaborate, communicate, and personalize online instruction.

Teaching and learning online is our inevitable future. I have come to accept that this will be our new normal for the next few weeks. With that, I have continued to do research. I have also texted links to my colleagues and posted helpful sites on my Facebook page and groups I am a member of. The resources are plentiful.

Although I do not feel overwhelmed at the time, I am sure that other educators are, and this blog is here to help teachers focus on self-care. Part of healthy self-care is being pro-active and being prepared for what is here or may come. To help us all prepare for this digital instruction we are about to participate in, I am sharing the 10 resources I have come across throughout my research. It is my hope that this post will be an easy access point, a hub of sorts where teachers can visit and get tips on how to use Microsoft Teams.

P.S. If you haven’t already done so, download the Microsoft Team app to your phone or tablet.

10 Helpful Microsoft Teams Resources for Educators 

Videos/Demo

1.Microsoft Teams Interactive Demo

Demo Screenshot

2. How to use Microsoft Teams for Remote and Online Learning

 

3. Explore How Microsoft Teams Can Be Used in the Educational Space

 

4. Online Lessons using Microsoft Teams for Remote Learning

5. Top Ten Tips when Teaching with Teams

Articles/Websites/Blog Posts

6. The Microsoft Team wrote this article titled, “How Schools can ramp up Remote Learning Programs Quickly with Microsoft Teams.”

7. Jenifer Gonzales, the author of The Cult of Pedagogy, discusses her experience using Microsoft Teams.

8. From Tony is Here, Tony Phillips provides a “Teacher Guide to Presenting Remote Remote Lessons using Microsoft Teams.”

9. Dr. Monica Burns from Class Tech Tips discusses collaboration and feedback.

10. Because I foresee teaching changing due to the impact Covid-19 has had on the world, I believe this article by Steve Forbes titled “How to Improve Productivity Using Microsoft Teams” will be beneficial to us in the future.

By doing a basic Google search or going to YouTube, you will find a plethora of resources on Google Teams. This is just a starting point. I hope you enjoy these resources, and I hope they are helpful.

Have you used Microsoft Teams before? How have you found equitable ways to include ALL of your scholars? Share tips and additional resources in the comments section.

Until next time, Happy teaching and learning!

Krystal L. Smith

Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3 – Cultivating Grit – A Guest Post by Jillian Smart, M.Ed.

The Value in Cultivating Grit

In January, I returned from hiatus with a blog post on confidence-building strategies. The take-home points are that we (1) value mistakes and model healthy responses to failure, (2) encourage learners to focus on what they can do, and (3) maximize critically thinking opportunities.

Since we’re in the thick of it, I’d be remiss if I did not also recap student strategies for less stressful testing. Testing season is an intense time for educators, learners, and parents. There’re a number of ways to decrease stress and enter testing season with greater confidence. One of our guest bloggers, Jillian Smart, M.Ed., shares four strategies…

1. Review information daily
2. Clarify gaps in learning
3. Change daily habits
4. Build endurance

Jackson Education Support

 

There’s a connection.

Confidence-building strategies and strategies for less stressful testing are linked by grit. When we cultivate grit, we learn (and teach others) to persevere over long periods of time. For instance, one confidence-building strategy is that we model healthy responses to failure. It’s not likely that modeling a healthy response once is going to cut it. Dealing with failure in healthy ways requires a lot of personal growth initially.

Learner perceptions about failure can be deep-rooted. The more deeply rooted our behaviors and thoughts, the more exposure to new behaviors and thoughts we require before change happens. This is not only true of our response to failure; it’s true of our response to challenge. Habits are hard to break if we aren’t gritty about making the change.

Students with low confidence and poor test performance behave and think in ways that are not self serving. We don’t want to overlook environmental factors that obliterate a child’s confidence in himself or leaves her ill-prepared to compete academically. We also don’t want to nurture narcissism. For a moment, we want to highlight something that learners can do for themselves: cultivate grit.

Cultivating Grit – Available May 5, 2018

Cultivating Grit: An approach to increasing confidence explores character development: grit, growth mindset, and motivation. I draw on personal and professional experiences as well as current research to share do-it-yourself confidence-building strategies with educators and parents. Cultivating Grit takes readers and listeners on a journey through an eight-part discussion with five reflection activities to be completed individually or as a group. The premise is that by helping learners increase confidence, performance improves in class and at home.

It’s a journey.

Those who experience failure are erroneously viewed as lacking grit. Grit skeptics seem to think that persevering over time means that we never miss the mark, that we always get the “thing” we’re passionate about… if we work hard enough. Though some focus on one goal, execute the plan, and live happily ever after, many more of us will have to work very hard at a number of our passions.

Sectors of society are afflicted with the “this is how we’ve always done it” approach to education and training, which is much too rigid for us to reap the benefits of all our talents. I encourage you to have a closer look at the opportunities we uncover by understanding and cultivating grit in our lives.

We’ve found that character development is the secret to student growth. Cultivating grit is an important piece of character education for educators and parents. Request your free download of Cultivating Grit today.

Jillian Smart, M.Ed. is an author, coach, and educator. She partners with educators and families around the world to facilitate development of more independent learners. Jillian launched Jackson Education Support as the vehicle for this work. The program she has developed is a breakthrough that has garnered much support and applause since the launch. The 96% success rate among exam preparation and tutoring clients evidences program efficacy.

Her approach is unique in that she leverages character development to affect cognitive development. Character development experiences with clients and professional development training serve as the foundation for this book.

As we continue to learn and grow together, please fill free to connect with and reach out to Jillian by visiting her site at Jackson Education Support or follow her on Facebook. In addition, please share your ideas on how you prepare your scholars to build confidence and overcome testing anxiety.

Thank you for reading, commenting, sharing, and following!

Until then, Happy Teaching!

Krystal L. Smith, The RenewED Teacher

It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye…Deuces to Another School Year!

Hello my fellow educators! Happy first day of https://open.spotify.com/embed/track/3NHfaIO3ELy1nm9tpMwzp9” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>summer!

Do you remember this song? I’m sure you do!

Image by Angela George, CC BY-SA 3.0

My last day with students was Wednesday, June 7th. My official last day was Monday, June 12th.

Believe it or not, the last day of school is a bitter sweet day for us teachers. Many of us finally get to do all of the things we had to give up during the school year such as working out, spending ample quality time with our families, watching our favorite prime time shows, reading, vacationing, doing absolutely nothing…ya’ll know what I’m talking about. 😉

But why is the last day or end of the school year so hard to say goodbye to? Why is it bitter sweet? Different teachers have different reasons. Consider the two following experiences teachers can have.

 

 

Did you have a particularly rough year with a group of students who’s behavior seemed

Image courtesy of Pixabay.

beyond your control, a lack of support from administrators, colleagues, and your students’ families? If so, I’m sure you couldn’t wait to see many of your students leave! Maybe there were a select few students that you cherished throughout the school year, but overall you dreaded waking up and walking into your building each day. You probably even counted down until the last minute! You may have shed a tear or two out of shear joy because the students were leaving, aaaannnd maybe for the few that touched your heart. If you were in this situation this year, I get it. All you may want to so is sit back, relax, and forget all about the previous school year. These years are the years that make some teachers leave the profession. If you are reading this, and considering leaving the field, I urge you to think hard about that decision and refocus by remembering your why. This profession needs good, dedicated teachers like you.

On the other hand, maybe you had the most uplifting school year ever! Maybe your administrators, colleagues, and families were a gift sent from heaven!  Whatever you needed, you received it. If this is your experience, you may not want to see your former students go out of a fear that next year may not be the same. (Unless you teach in a school where students loop). Your students may have caused you some grief and had a few rough days here and there (especially at the end of the year), but overall, they respected you as the teacher, families were available, behaviors were not too out of control, and if they were, they were dealt with effectively and fairly. You may have even succumbed to tears before the students exited the building too, but only because you will truly miss them.  Although it seems you may have had a rather easy school year (I know that is never true), you deserve the much needed R&R the summer offers as well. This may be a year, where you may also consider leaving the classroom, because you want to impact children, teachers, and the field of education on a broader scale. In a sense, you may also be looking for a fresh start.

Most of us probably fall somewhere in between these two extremes. You may have had extreme life changing events happen this year.  Maybe you married the love of your life; had your first, second, or third child; adopted; became a caretaker for a parent. Maybe you had a rather difficult personal and/or family situation to withstand this year. Maybe you lost a parent or another close relative; someone near and dear to you was diagnosed with a terminal illness; a significant other lost their job; a near fatal accident; miscarriages and/or infertility. In case you’re wondering, yes, I do know teachers who have experienced one or more of these expected and unexpected events within this past school year. I’m sure you can name one in your circle of teachers as well. I personally had to deal with losing my grandmother back in March. She was the glue that held my family together. I love you, Ganny!

Regardless of how your school year may have fared, leaving the school year behind is almost often tinged with sadness with some gladness.

I will truly miss all of my lovelies. There were days when they annoyed me to no end, but then there were times when they made me truly love coming to work. I personally did not cry the last day of school, but the day before, I was a water head, as my dad used to say.

As we continue to grow and renew our passion for teaching, remember that self-care is an important part of summer vacation, which makes this time of year so important and necessary for us. However, let’s make it a goal to take it a step further next year, and practice self-care throughout the year as best as we can. You can read my post on how to prevent and reduce back to school stress here. This will make us less likely to get burnt out, and less likely to count down the days until summer vacation next year.

But right now, I want each of you to enjoy your summer to the max! Go to the beach, workout, sleep in (or not), go on a road trip, have a day in and binge on Netflix or Amazon Prime, spend unlimited amounts of time with your significant other, children, parents, and/or friends and other family members. Do whatever it is your heart desires to take care of yourself!

I also challenge you to reflect on what parts of the year were good and not so good based on what you had control over in your own classroom.  Take time to learn new things, read old and new books, attend conferences, take summer courses, watch podcasts, follow this blog or any blog that is there to motivate, encourage, and inspire teachers, and do whatever it takes to further develop and enhance your teaching craft.

Remember, it’ll only be about 6-8 weeks before it’s so hard to say goodbye to summer! Oooooooooooooo!!!

Image courtesy of Pixabay.

If you like, love, or enjoyed what you have read follow the blog and follow me on Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Facebook. 

Until then, Happy Teaching! and Deuces!

Krystal L. Smith, The RenewED Teacher

P.S. Here is an amazing interview on teacher self care, with two teachers I follow and admire, Jennifer Gonzalez and Angela Watson. Both are educators, bloggers, and Nationally Board Certified Teachers. Check it out by clicking here here.

 

 

The Tightrope of Life

My Day

Image courtesy of Creative Commons-Google Images and Pic Collage. 

At the beginning of this school year, I woke up at least two to three days a week at 4:30 am to get to the gym by 5 am, to work out until 6-6:15 am, to get back home by 7 am to get my son ready for daycare (Mr. Smith takes him to daycare), and leave the house by 7:30-7:45am, to be at work by 8:30am.

 

Once at work, I completed all of my teaching duties including: attending morning meetings, making copies, communicating with families and colleagues, having my students’ assignments and activities ready for the day, handling any attendance, bus, or personal issues students were having, getting prepared for the next day, organizing my classroom, and a laundry load of others things teachers are responsible for doing. By the time I usually left, it was about 5pm on an early day. Some days I forced myself to leave at 4pm which is my school’s ending time. Other days I had to leave at 4:45pm to ensure I picked my son up from daycare on time. Once or twice a week, I stayed in my school building until 6pm-7pm.

It takes me roughly 30-40 minutes to get to and from work. I made it home between 5:30-7:30 pm on any given day depending errands I may have needed to run. Upon getting home, I was able to enjoy some quality time with my son and husband. We’d eat dinner, play, listen to music, watch some television, read a story, or go for an evening walk, and then bathe, and get the baby ready for bed. After putting the baby down for a good night’s rest, my husband and I clean house and prepare for the next day (that’s if he was not working the evening or night shift at his part time job) by getting our meals prepared and clothes laid out. By the time we’re finished, it is 9:00pm or later. We usually watch a little TV from 9-10pm. At this time I may or may not have graded some papers, written some ideas for the blog, or worked on Component 4 for National Board. By the time I was finished with this, it was about 11-11:30pm. It’s time for bed. I usually read for about 15-30 minutes before I turned off my lamp and lay down for some beauty rest.

My Life

I followed this schedule for about two months. When my husband started working his part time job over night and coming home at 6:30am, I was no longer able to get up and get out to the gym in the morning. I have about 10 extra lbs. on my invisible 6-pack to prove it! Some of you may say this is an excuse, and I can workout at home, and you know what, you’re right, it is an excuse. However, what’s not an excuse is the fact that I was tired. Yep, Tired with a capital T. Each morning I attempted to wake up to work out at home, my body said no, and my head said h*ll-to-the no. I was starting to wake up with headaches. You know that feeling you get when you drink a little bit too much of fermented grapes? I felt like that, and I was only drinking water and coffee! I knew I needed more rest, and that’s what I did.

I knew that if I continued on this path, my mental and physical health would suffer. I must confess that I was, and I still am walking the tightrope of life.

Image courtesy of Creative Commons-Google Search and Pic Collage.

An Attempt to Balance Work-Life Demands

“Walking the Tightrope of Life: Refuel, Renew and Re-center Your Work-Life Demands,” is Sharise Nance’s second book due to be released on April 1, 2017. I am happy to be the first to say that I cannot wait to read this book! I personally know Mrs. Nance to be honest, direct, and passionate about making a positive difference in the lives of everyone she encounters, and it seems that this book will back up how highly I think of her and how much I respect her as well as her work.

Sharise Nance, MSW, is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and co-founded of Hand-in-Hand Counseling Services located in Penn Hills, PA. A Pittsburgh native hailing from the Homewood/East Liberty neighborhoods, Mrs. Nance has over 17 years of experience in the helping profession. Since I have known her, she has always been interested in the human mind and has always wanted to understand and help others understand how relationships and the environment affect our lives and vice versa. This book is a prime example of that.

“Walking the Tightrope of Life…” is written for us, dear readers! We are working day-in and day-out attempting to make positive change in the lives of others. We are teachers, nurses, counselors, mentors, tutors, custodians, politicians, police officers, etc. We work for others! We experience times when we are unable to disconnect from the work day and furthermore struggle with emotional, mental, and physical burnout because of all that we do for others. We sometimes forget about our needs because we are so focused on the needs of our students, clients, patients, colleagues, employees, and employers while at work. Then we continue to neglect our needs when we get home because we are now focused on our spouses, children, elderly parents, siblings, and extended family, or even close friends. While you should be gracious because you are able to help others, it’s time to refocus and renew you!

You Are and Can Be a RenewED Teacher Too!

As a RenewED Teacher, I do not proclaim to know it all. As I reflect, since I have begun writing this blog, I really thought being renewed was the end point. I am learning it is a process, a cycle of continually working to become a better teacher and person. The RenewED Teacher doesn’t become complacent and plateau when they reach a goal. The RenewED Teacher realizes that when one goal has been accomplished, it is time to set a new one. The RenewED teacher has an attitude of gratitude and is thankful for even the smallest opportunity to help others. The RenewED Teacher is always willing to learn something new, take risks, and share with others. This book is a chance for me and you to do exactly that!

The RenewED Teacher also understands that balancing work-life demands is not a one-time occasion in a person’s life. Rather it’s the ability to adapt and be flexible when work adjustments and life altering events take place.

The Challenge

I want to challenge you! I want you to go on a journey with me. I want you to Refuel, Renew and Re-center your work-life demands. You deserve it! You work hard for others 5 or more days/week! Take some time to find some balance. Take some time to “practice good self-care as well as find renewal in [your] work in order to experience more balance and satisfaction in [your] professional and personal lives.”

Your challenge is to read the book, share your comments here, and tell us how this book has helped or can help you balance your work-life demands! I cannot wait to hear from you!

You can order a copy of “Walking the Tightrope of Life: Refuel, Renew and Re-center Your Work-Life Demands,” by Sharise Nance by clicking here.

WOULD YOU LIKE A FREE COPY? 

I am raffling a free autographed copy of the book to the first person to like this post, leave a comment, follow and subscribe to my blog. Please e-mail your first and last name along with your mailing address to renewedteacher@gmail.com. 

Once you receive the copy of your book, feel free to visit Sharise on April 1, 2017 from 12pm-3pm for The Book Release Signing of her 2^nd Publication! I will be there. Will you?

Click this link to see Sharise on the Lynne Hayes-Freeland Show.

Air date: Saturday, March 17, 2017.

If you really want to work on yourself, Mrs. Nance will be hosting a workshop on April 22, 2017 called, “Refuel, Renew, & Re-Center Your Work-Life Demands. See the flyer below. And I hope to see you soon!

As we continue to grow and renew our passion for teaching, let’s make it a top priority to take care of ourselves first. Remember, as the old cliché goes: “Take care of yourself first or you will have nothing left to give others.” Click here for more self-care and inspirational quotes!

Also, remember to follow the blog or follow me on Pinterest. 

Until then, Happy Teaching!

Krystal L. Smith, The RenewED Teacher