Teacher's Ed with Edward DeShazer

Empowering Educators with Trust-Based Practices

• Edward DeShazer

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Unlock the secrets of building a resilient school community by mastering the art of trust. Through our latest episode on the Teacher's Ed Podcast, we promise you'll discover how transparency and active listening can revolutionize relationships among educators, students, and school leaders. We share compelling insights on how openly communicating decisions, admitting mistakes, and involving others in problem-solving cultivates respect and a shared sense of responsibility. These practices not only strengthen bonds within the educational community but also foster an environment where everyone feels valued and heard.

We also explore how educators can achieve personal growth by embracing continuous improvement anchored in trust. Tune in for practical tips on taking small yet impactful steps to enhance transparency and involvement in your educational journey. Listen as we emphasize the importance of self-care to maintain your effectiveness and well-being in challenging roles. Whether you're a teacher, a principal, or part of the district staff, our conversation provides actionable strategies to become the best version of yourself. Don't miss out on joining our free community at www.bewellteacher.com launching January 1st, where you can connect with fellow educators and continue to grow professionally.

www.EdwardDeShazer.org

Speaker 1:

Welcome back to the Teacher's Ed Podcast, the place where the best, brightest in education come to be inspired, to learn, to connect and to grow. I'm your host, edward DeShazer, and today we are back. It is good to be back, jumping right in. We're diving into what I feel is one of the most important building blocks of a strong school environment, and that is trust. Whether you are a classroom teacher, school leader or even someone who works in a district or behind the scenes in education, the relationships that you build have a direct impact not only on your success, but also the success of your students. So today's episode, I want you to leave with some tips that can help you foster trust in your relationships, whether it's with staff, students or colleagues. And the new thing that I'm adding now, at the end, there is going to be a well-being tip that is going to help you to prioritize your self-care, because we know that by taking care of yourself, it is key to being your best in the classroom. So let's jump right in.

Speaker 1:

Building trust starts with transparency. When you think about trust, one of the key elements of trust is honesty, but it's not just about being honest when someone asks you a question. It's about being open and proactive in your communication. When you're transparent with your staff, your colleagues or your students, you are showing them that you respect them enough to keep them informed on the decisions and things that are going on in your classroom. And it's especially important when it comes to decision making. Transparency can take many forms. It may look like explaining the reason behind a new policy, sharing challenges that your school district, your school community may be facing, and even admitting when you've made a mistake. Perfect example suppose your school is implementing a new grading policy. Instead of just handing down the decision, I want us to take time to explain the why behind the decision. You could say we are adopting this policy because it allows us to be more equitable in how we assess student learning. We want to ensure that grades reflect progress, not just one-time performance on test. Now, that's just an example, but I just think that it is so critical that when we make decisions I say this at our school oftentimes, when there's decisions that have to be made, when I ask staff and ask teachers or ask other people on our leadership team about decisions a lot of times the school leaders are making decisions that don't truly directly affect them. They oftentimes are making decisions that have a larger effect on the teachers and other people in the building, yet they don't get their input, which is weird.

Speaker 1:

When you explain the reasoning behind these decisions, people are more likely to understand, they're more likely to get on board, even if they don't always fully agree. They see that you are not making changes in a vacuum. You are considering what's best for the entire school community and you're being open and honest about the process. Transparency also means acknowledging the tough stuff. If your school is facing budget cuts, share this with your team. It's better that they hear it from you than hear it in the news or hear it at a school board meeting or hear it from other outside sources rather than the school leader. Let them know the challenges ahead and ask for the input on how to manage those challenges. Even though these decisions may be difficult, they may be tough. Involving our team can build a shared sense of responsibility. When people feel like they're a part of the process, they're more likely to trust you and feel invested in helping you find solutions. No different than I was kind of speaking to the school leaders, now I'll speak to the teachers.

Speaker 1:

If you involve your students in some of the processes that you have in your classroom. It gives them buy-in. The fastest way to get students to engage and be involved in what's going on in the classroom is to allow them to feel like it is their classroom as well. Get them involved. Be transparent in why there are some procedures and expectations in the classroom. Allow them to help provide what some of these expectations may be. Give them say in what some of the expectations in the classroom may be, because then it helps them feel like they had a say in the process, which ultimately, when things are not going exactly as it may seem in the classroom. Now, when you go back to your students, you can say you know what. You helped input or you helped create these expectations. You helped us come up with these agreements. Now I need you to hold up your end of the bargain. I want us to just take a second and think about an area in your work where you can be more transparent. Is there a decision that may be coming up where you can explain this process to your students more in detail? Or maybe there's a challenge that you've been keeping to yourself that your team can help you with?

Speaker 1:

Trust is built step-by-step, and transparency is a huge part of the foundation of trust. But now, being transparent is one thing, but it's really only half of the equation when it comes to building trust. The other half is making sure that when someone speaks to you, they feel heard. This is where active listening comes in handy. Active listening is such a powerful tool in communication but it's often overlooked because, especially, we're all busy Teachers are busy, schoolers are busy. We live in this fast ppaced world and it's very easy to listen with the intent to respond rather than listening with the intent to understand. But if you really really want to build strong relationships in your school, whether with your staff, students or parents, practicing active listening will make a world of difference. Someone's listening. What is active listening? Active listening is more than just hearing someone's words. Active listening is being fully present in that conversation. That may mean putting your phone down. It may mean turning away from your computer and really giving that person your full attention. It's about showing, not just telling, that other person that what they're saying matters.

Speaker 1:

Let me paint a picture for you. Imagine you're a school leader, or let's just say, a teacher, and a teacher comes to you at the end of the day, or a student comes to you. At the end of the day, they're frustrated because they feel that something in the classroom that they're working on just is not working. Now your immediate reaction might just be to offer advice, which I am someone that has always been very that is a challenge that I've had to work on. People bring me a problem. My immediate response is to want to help solve that problem. That is a lot of that as educators in general.

Speaker 1:

But before we do that, I want us to just pause and listen. Let that teacher, let that student get everything off of their chest and when you're done, you can say something like I hear that you're overwhelmed by whatever may be going on in your classroom, whatever's going on in our classroom, and it seems like what you are trying isn't having the impact that you want. Can you tell me a little bit more about what's been happening? By reflecting back what that teacher or that student is saying, you're showing them you're not just hearing the words, but that you're understanding their experience. This continues to build trust because it shows that you value their perspective. And again, this goes the same for students. If a student is acting out or struggling, instead of just jumping to discipline or advice, which we love to do as adults. Let's just take a step back and listen, ask questions that will help get to the root of their issue. Maybe there's something going on at home, or maybe there's something going on with their peers that is affecting their behavior in the classroom. By listening, you're showing that you care about them as a person, not just about their performance in your classroom. So I want you to just reflect for a second.

Speaker 1:

Take a moment to think about the last time that someone really listened to you. How did that make you feel? Did you feel valued? Did you feel respected? That's the power of active listening. So, as you go through this week, I challenge you every single person that's listening to practice active listening with someone, whether it's a colleague, a student or even a parent. You will be surprised how much it can deepen your relationship. So remember that act of listening. It's not just hearing someone's word, it's being fully present in that conversation. It is not just listening with the intent to respond, but we are listening with the intent to understand.

Speaker 1:

Now, before we move into our well-being tip, I want to take a moment to share something that I'm super excited about the Be Well Teacher Academy. If you're like most educators. You know how overwhelming this job can be and how important it is to take care of yourself so you can continue to give your best in the classroom. We hear it all the time Put your oxygen mask on first. Everyone always says it, but no one's giving us practical tips on how we can do that. That's why I'm inviting you to join the Be Well Teacher Academy. It's a community that we are building specifically for educators who want to prioritize their mental, emotional and physical well-being. Here's the best part the first 250 members who join the academy will have a lifetime access for free. That's right. Lifetime access for free? That's right. Lifetime access for free. The Academy is going to be packed with resources like monthly self-care workshops, guided meditations, reflection sessions, journal prompts and, most importantly, supportive and private online community where you can connect with other educators and share your experiences. Head over to wwwbewellteachercom to be one of the first 250 members and lock in your lifetime free access.

Speaker 1:

Prioritize your well-being so you can continue to make an impact in the classroom. But now let's talk about you. As educators, we often give so much of ourselves that we leave very little room for our own needs One of the best ways to protect your mental health and maintain your energy is to set boundaries, and I know it's easier said than done. But if you don't set boundaries, you run the risk of burning out, and when that happens, it's hard to be the best teacher, it's hard to be the best leader that you want to be. So what does setting boundaries look like? It could be as simple as turning off your work email notifications after 6 pm or making a rule that on the weekend, I'm not checking emails. It's about creating a space between your work and your personal life so you have time to recharge. We have to remember that self-care is not selfish. You can't pour from an empty cup, and when you take care of yourself, you're going to find that you're able to show up with more energy, more patience and more creativity.

Speaker 1:

For your students and for your colleagues, boundaries are critical. Stop sending those late emails. Stop responding to those text messages at 11 o'clock at night. Go to sleep Because, when it's all said and done, being a teacher is temporary. Being a principal is temporary. Being a guidance counselor is temporary. Being a SPED teacher is temporary. Your job is temporary. But being a mother, being a father, being a brother brother, being a sister, being an aunt, be an uncle. Those titles last forever and what you don't want to do is when teacher of the year, when staff of the month, while you're going through trials and tribulations at home.

Speaker 1:

So setting these boundaries is going to be critical. You deserve the best for you and I need us to remember that on a daily basis. You are a person before you are a teacher. So, let's, it could be a student, it could be a family you know what. It can even be a family member not responding, and see how that changes the dynamic of that relationship. But I also want us to remember that building these strong relationships and building trust is not something that happens overnight. It is something that we have to do on a daily basis, on a monthly basis, on a yearly basis, on an hourly basis.

Speaker 1:

But it's important that we continue to make baby steps to building trust through transparency and through active listening. Now we can continue to be the best teacher, to be the best principal, to be the best educator, whatever your title is. By doing this, it will get you closer to being the best version of whatever your title is in a school. That's all I look forward. If you have not, please like, please subscribe, please share this with a friend that allows us to continue to get in front of more viewers and more listeners like yourself. And again, please head over to wwwbewellteachercom. Join our free community. It's not going to be free forever. The community is launching January 1st and I would love to see you and have you be a part of it. Have a good rest of the week and we'll see you again next week. Bye.