October 27, 2024 • 15 mins
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
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to the Teacher's Ed Podcast, the place
where the best, brightest ineducation 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, jumpingright in.
We're diving into what I feelis one of the most important
(00:22):
building blocks of a strongschool environment, and that is
trust.
Whether you are a classroomteacher, school leader or even
someone who works in a districtor behind the scenes in
education, the relationshipsthat you build have a direct
impact not only on your success,but also the success of your
students.
So today's episode, I want youto leave with some tips that can
(00:45):
help you foster trust in yourrelationships, whether it's with
staff, students or colleagues.
And the new thing that I'madding now, at the end, there is
going to be a well-being tipthat is going to help you to
prioritize your self-care,because we know that by taking
care of yourself, it is key tobeing your best in the classroom
(01:05):
.
So let's jump right in.
Building trust starts withtransparency.
When you think about trust, oneof the key elements of trust is
honesty, but it's not justabout being honest when someone
asks you a question.
It's about being open andproactive in your communication.
When you're transparent withyour staff, your colleagues or
(01:29):
your students, you are showingthem that you respect them
enough to keep them informed onthe decisions and things that
are going on in your classroom.
And it's especially importantwhen it comes to decision making
.
Transparency can take manyforms.
It may look like explaining thereason behind a new policy,
(01:52):
sharing challenges that yourschool district, your school
community may be facing, andeven admitting when you've made
a mistake.
Perfect example suppose yourschool is implementing a new
grading policy.
Instead of just handing downthe decision, I want us to take
(02:13):
time to explain the why behindthe decision.
You could say we are adoptingthis policy because it allows us
to be more equitable in how weassess student learning.
We want to ensure that gradesreflect progress, not just
one-time performance on test.
(02:34):
Now, that's just an example,but I just think that it is so
critical that when we makedecisions I say this at our
school oftentimes, when there'sdecisions that have to be made,
when I ask staff and askteachers or ask other people on
our leadership team aboutdecisions a lot of times the
school leaders are makingdecisions that don't truly
(02:57):
directly affect them.
They oftentimes are makingdecisions that have a larger
effect on the teachers and otherpeople in the building, yet
they don't get their input,which is weird.
When you explain the reasoningbehind these decisions, people
are more likely to understand,they're more likely to get on
board, even if they don't alwaysfully agree.
They see that you are notmaking changes in a vacuum.
(03:20):
You are considering what's bestfor the entire school community
and you're being open andhonest about the process.
Transparency also meansacknowledging the tough stuff.
If your school is facing budgetcuts, share this with your team
.
It's better that they hear itfrom you than hear it in the
news or hear it at a schoolboard meeting or hear it from
(03:41):
other outside sources ratherthan the school leader.
Let them know the challengesahead and ask for the input on
how to manage those challenges.
Even though these decisions maybe difficult, they may be tough
.
Involving our team can build ashared sense of responsibility.
(04:02):
When people feel like they're apart of the process, they're
more likely to trust you andfeel invested in helping you
find solutions.
No different than I was kind ofspeaking to the school leaders,
now I'll speak to the teachers.
If you involve your students insome of the processes that you
have in your classroom.
It gives them buy-in.
The fastest way to get studentsto engage and be involved in
(04:25):
what's going on in the classroomis to allow them to feel like
it is their classroom as well.
Get them involved.
Be transparent in why there aresome procedures and
expectations in the classroom.
Allow them to help provide whatsome of these expectations may
(04:48):
be.
Give them say in what some ofthe expectations in the
classroom may be, because thenit helps them feel like they had
a say in the process, whichultimately, when things are not
going exactly as it may seem inthe classroom.
Now, when you go back to yourstudents, you can say you know
what.
You helped input or you helpedcreate these expectations.
(05:10):
You helped us come up withthese agreements.
Now I need you to hold up yourend of the bargain.
I want us to just take a secondand think about an area in your
work where you can be moretransparent.
Is there a decision that may becoming up where you can explain
this process to your studentsmore in detail?
(05:32):
Or maybe there's a challengethat you've been keeping to
yourself that your team can helpyou with?
Trust is built step-by-step, andtransparency is a huge part of
the foundation of trust.
But now, being transparent isone thing, but it's really only
(05:52):
half of the equation when itcomes to building trust.
The other half is making surethat when someone speaks to you,
they feel heard.
This is where active listeningcomes in handy.
Active listening is such apowerful tool in communication
but it's often overlookedbecause, especially, we're all
busy Teachers are busy,schoolers are busy.
(06:12):
We live in this fast ppacedworld and it's very easy to
listen with the intent torespond rather than listening
with the intent to understand.
But if you really really wantto build strong relationships in
your school, whether with yourstaff, students or parents,
practicing active listening willmake a world of difference.
(06:33):
Someone's listening.
What is active listening?
Active listening is more thanjust hearing someone's words.
Active listening is being fullypresent in that conversation.
That may mean putting yourphone down.
It may mean turning away fromyour computer and really giving
that person your full attention.
(06:53):
It's about showing, not justtelling, that other person that
what they're saying matters.
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 atthe end of the day, or a student
comes to you.
At the end of the day, they'refrustrated because they feel
(07:15):
that something in the classroomthat they're working on just is
not working.
Now your immediate reactionmight just be to offer advice,
which I am someone that hasalways been very that is a
challenge that I've had to workon.
People bring me a problem.
My immediate response is towant to help solve that problem.
That is a lot of that aseducators in general.
(07:37):
But before we do that, I want usto just pause and listen.
Let that teacher, let thatstudent get everything off of
their chest and when you're done, you can say something like I
hear that you're overwhelmed bywhatever may be going on in your
classroom, whatever's going onin our classroom, and it seems
(07:59):
like what you are trying isn'thaving the impact that you want.
Can you tell me a little bitmore about what's been happening
?
By reflecting back what thatteacher or that student is
saying, you're showing themyou're not just hearing the
words, but that you'reunderstanding their experience.
(08:19):
This continues to build trustbecause it shows that you value
their perspective.
And again, this goes the samefor students.
If a student is acting out orstruggling, instead of just
jumping to discipline or advice,which we love to do as adults.
Let's just take a step back andlisten, ask questions that will
help get to the root of theirissue.
(08:41):
Maybe there's something goingon at home, or maybe there's
something going on with theirpeers that is affecting their
behavior in the classroom.
By listening, you're showingthat you care about them as a
person, not just about theirperformance in your classroom.
So I want you to just reflectfor a second.
Take a moment to think about thelast time that someone really
(09:04):
listened to you.
How did that make you feel?
Did you feel valued?
Did you feel respected?
That's the power of activelistening.
So, as you go through this week, I challenge you every single
person that's listening topractice active listening with
(09:24):
someone, whether it's acolleague, a student or even a
parent.
You will be surprised how muchit can deepen your relationship.
So remember that act oflistening.
It's not just hearing someone'sword, it's being fully present
in that conversation.
It is not just listening withthe intent to respond, but we
are listening with the intent tounderstand.
(09:47):
Now, before we move into ourwell-being tip, I want to take a
moment to share something thatI'm super excited about the Be
Well Teacher Academy.
If you're like most educators.
You know how overwhelming thisjob can be and how important it
is to take care of yourself soyou can continue to give your
best in the classroom.
We hear it all the time Putyour oxygen mask on first.
(10:07):
Everyone always says it, but noone's giving us practical tips
on how we can do that.
That's why I'm inviting you tojoin the Be Well Teacher Academy
.
It's a community that we arebuilding specifically for
educators who want to prioritizetheir mental, emotional and
physical well-being.
Here's the best part the first250 members who join the academy
(10:28):
will have a lifetime access forfree.
That's right.
Lifetime access for free?
That's right.
Lifetime access for free.
The Academy is going to bepacked with resources like
monthly self-care workshops,guided meditations, reflection
sessions, journal prompts and,most importantly, supportive and
private online community whereyou can connect with other
(10:50):
educators and share yourexperiences.
Head over towwwbewellteachercom to be one of
the first 250 members and lockin your lifetime free access.
Prioritize your well-being soyou can continue to make an
impact in the classroom.
But now let's talk about you.
As educators, we often give somuch of ourselves that we leave
(11:14):
very little room for our ownneeds One of the best ways to
protect your mental health andmaintain your energy is to set
boundaries, and I know it'seasier said than done.
But if you don't set boundaries, you run the risk of burning
out, and when that happens, it'shard to be the best teacher,
it's hard to be the best leaderthat you want to be.
(11:34):
So what does setting boundarieslook like?
It could be as simple asturning off your work email
notifications after 6 pm ormaking a rule that on the
weekend, I'm not checking emails.
It's about creating a spacebetween your work and your
personal life so you have timeto recharge.
We have to remember thatself-care is not selfish.
(11:56):
You can't pour from an emptycup, and when you take care of
yourself, you're going to findthat you're able to show up with
more energy, more patience andmore creativity.
For your students and for yourcolleagues, boundaries are
critical.
Stop sending those late emails.
Stop responding to those textmessages at 11 o'clock at night.
(12:17):
Go to sleep Because, when it'sall said and done, being a
teacher is temporary.
Being a principal is temporary.
Being a guidance counselor istemporary.
Being a SPED teacher istemporary.
Your job is temporary.
But being a mother, being afather, being a brother brother,
being a sister, being an aunt,be an uncle.
Those titles last forever andwhat you don't want to do is
(12:40):
when teacher of the year, whenstaff of the month, while you're
going through trials andtribulations at home.
So setting these boundaries isgoing to be critical.
You deserve the best for youand I need us to remember that
on a daily basis.
You are a person before you area teacher.
So, let's, it could be astudent, it could be a family
(13:02):
you know what.
It can even be a family membernot responding, and see how that
(13:37):
changes the dynamic of thatrelationship.
But I also want us to rememberthat building these strong
relationships and building trustis not something that happens
overnight.
It is something that we have todo on a daily basis, on a
monthly basis, on a yearly basis, on an hourly basis.
But it's important that wecontinue to make baby steps to
building trust throughtransparency and through active
(13:57):
listening.
Now we can continue to be thebest teacher, to be the best
principal, to be the besteducator, whatever your title is
.
By doing this, it will get youcloser to being the best version
of whatever your title is in aschool.
That's all I look forward.
If you have not, please like,please subscribe, please share
(14:20):
this with a friend that allowsus to continue to get in front
of more viewers and morelisteners like yourself.
And again, please head over towwwbewellteachercom.
Join our free community.
It's not going to be freeforever.
The community is launchingJanuary 1st and I would love to
see you and have you be a partof it.
(14:41):
Have a good rest of the weekand we'll see you again next
week.
Bye.
Welcome back to the Teacher's Ed Podcast, the place
where the best, brightest ineducation 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, jumpingright in.
We're diving into what I feelis one of the most important
(00:22):
building blocks of a strongschool environment, and that is
trust.
Whether you are a classroomteacher, school leader or even
someone who works in a districtor behind the scenes in
education, the relationshipsthat you build have a direct
impact not only on your success,but also the success of your
students.
So today's episode, I want youto leave with some tips that can
(00:45):
help you foster trust in yourrelationships, whether it's with
staff, students or colleagues.
And the new thing that I'madding now, at the end, there is
going to be a well-being tipthat is going to help you to
prioritize your self-care,because we know that by taking
care of yourself, it is key tobeing your best in the classroom
(01:05):
.
So let's jump right in.
Building trust starts withtransparency.
When you think about trust, oneof the key elements of trust is
honesty, but it's not justabout being honest when someone
asks you a question.
It's about being open andproactive in your communication.
When you're transparent withyour staff, your colleagues or
(01:29):
your students, you are showingthem that you respect them
enough to keep them informed onthe decisions and things that
are going on in your classroom.
And it's especially importantwhen it comes to decision making
.
Transparency can take manyforms.
It may look like explaining thereason behind a new policy,
(01:52):
sharing challenges that yourschool district, your school
community may be facing, andeven admitting when you've made
a mistake.
Perfect example suppose yourschool is implementing a new
grading policy.
Instead of just handing downthe decision, I want us to take
(02:13):
time to explain the why behindthe decision.
You could say we are adoptingthis policy because it allows us
to be more equitable in how weassess student learning.
We want to ensure that gradesreflect progress, not just
one-time performance on test.
(02:34):
Now, that's just an example,but I just think that it is so
critical that when we makedecisions I say this at our
school oftentimes, when there'sdecisions that have to be made,
when I ask staff and askteachers or ask other people on
our leadership team aboutdecisions a lot of times the
school leaders are makingdecisions that don't truly
(02:57):
directly affect them.
They oftentimes are makingdecisions that have a larger
effect on the teachers and otherpeople in the building, yet
they don't get their input,which is weird.
When you explain the reasoningbehind these decisions, people
are more likely to understand,they're more likely to get on
board, even if they don't alwaysfully agree.
They see that you are notmaking changes in a vacuum.
(03:20):
You are considering what's bestfor the entire school community
and you're being open andhonest about the process.
Transparency also meansacknowledging the tough stuff.
If your school is facing budgetcuts, share this with your team
.
It's better that they hear itfrom you than hear it in the
news or hear it at a schoolboard meeting or hear it from
(03:41):
other outside sources ratherthan the school leader.
Let them know the challengesahead and ask for the input on
how to manage those challenges.
Even though these decisions maybe difficult, they may be tough
.
Involving our team can build ashared sense of responsibility.
(04:02):
When people feel like they're apart of the process, they're
more likely to trust you andfeel invested in helping you
find solutions.
No different than I was kind ofspeaking to the school leaders,
now I'll speak to the teachers.
If you involve your students insome of the processes that you
have in your classroom.
It gives them buy-in.
The fastest way to get studentsto engage and be involved in
(04:25):
what's going on in the classroomis to allow them to feel like
it is their classroom as well.
Get them involved.
Be transparent in why there aresome procedures and
expectations in the classroom.
Allow them to help provide whatsome of these expectations may
(04:48):
be.
Give them say in what some ofthe expectations in the
classroom may be, because thenit helps them feel like they had
a say in the process, whichultimately, when things are not
going exactly as it may seem inthe classroom.
Now, when you go back to yourstudents, you can say you know
what.
You helped input or you helpedcreate these expectations.
(05:10):
You helped us come up withthese agreements.
Now I need you to hold up yourend of the bargain.
I want us to just take a secondand think about an area in your
work where you can be moretransparent.
Is there a decision that may becoming up where you can explain
this process to your studentsmore in detail?
(05:32):
Or maybe there's a challengethat you've been keeping to
yourself that your team can helpyou with?
Trust is built step-by-step, andtransparency is a huge part of
the foundation of trust.
But now, being transparent isone thing, but it's really only
(05:52):
half of the equation when itcomes to building trust.
The other half is making surethat when someone speaks to you,
they feel heard.
This is where active listeningcomes in handy.
Active listening is such apowerful tool in communication
but it's often overlookedbecause, especially, we're all
busy Teachers are busy,schoolers are busy.
(06:12):
We live in this fast ppacedworld and it's very easy to
listen with the intent torespond rather than listening
with the intent to understand.
But if you really really wantto build strong relationships in
your school, whether with yourstaff, students or parents,
practicing active listening willmake a world of difference.
(06:33):
Someone's listening.
What is active listening?
Active listening is more thanjust hearing someone's words.
Active listening is being fullypresent in that conversation.
That may mean putting yourphone down.
It may mean turning away fromyour computer and really giving
that person your full attention.
(06:53):
It's about showing, not justtelling, that other person that
what they're saying matters.
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 atthe end of the day, or a student
comes to you.
At the end of the day, they'refrustrated because they feel
(07:15):
that something in the classroomthat they're working on just is
not working.
Now your immediate reactionmight just be to offer advice,
which I am someone that hasalways been very that is a
challenge that I've had to workon.
People bring me a problem.
My immediate response is towant to help solve that problem.
That is a lot of that aseducators in general.
(07:37):
But before we do that, I want usto just pause and listen.
Let that teacher, let thatstudent get everything off of
their chest and when you're done, you can say something like I
hear that you're overwhelmed bywhatever may be going on in your
classroom, whatever's going onin our classroom, and it seems
(07:59):
like what you are trying isn'thaving the impact that you want.
Can you tell me a little bitmore about what's been happening
?
By reflecting back what thatteacher or that student is
saying, you're showing themyou're not just hearing the
words, but that you'reunderstanding their experience.
(08:19):
This continues to build trustbecause it shows that you value
their perspective.
And again, this goes the samefor students.
If a student is acting out orstruggling, instead of just
jumping to discipline or advice,which we love to do as adults.
Let's just take a step back andlisten, ask questions that will
help get to the root of theirissue.
(08:41):
Maybe there's something goingon at home, or maybe there's
something going on with theirpeers that is affecting their
behavior in the classroom.
By listening, you're showingthat you care about them as a
person, not just about theirperformance in your classroom.
So I want you to just reflectfor a second.
Take a moment to think about thelast time that someone really
(09:04):
listened to you.
How did that make you feel?
Did you feel valued?
Did you feel respected?
That's the power of activelistening.
So, as you go through this week, I challenge you every single
person that's listening topractice active listening with
(09:24):
someone, whether it's acolleague, a student or even a
parent.
You will be surprised how muchit can deepen your relationship.
So remember that act oflistening.
It's not just hearing someone'sword, it's being fully present
in that conversation.
It is not just listening withthe intent to respond, but we
are listening with the intent tounderstand.
(09:47):
Now, before we move into ourwell-being tip, I want to take a
moment to share something thatI'm super excited about the Be
Well Teacher Academy.
If you're like most educators.
You know how overwhelming thisjob can be and how important it
is to take care of yourself soyou can continue to give your
best in the classroom.
We hear it all the time Putyour oxygen mask on first.
(10:07):
Everyone always says it, but noone's giving us practical tips
on how we can do that.
That's why I'm inviting you tojoin the Be Well Teacher Academy
.
It's a community that we arebuilding specifically for
educators who want to prioritizetheir mental, emotional and
physical well-being.
Here's the best part the first250 members who join the academy
(10:28):
will have a lifetime access forfree.
That's right.
Lifetime access for free?
That's right.
Lifetime access for free.
The Academy is going to bepacked with resources like
monthly self-care workshops,guided meditations, reflection
sessions, journal prompts and,most importantly, supportive and
private online community whereyou can connect with other
(10:50):
educators and share yourexperiences.
Head over towwwbewellteachercom to be one of
the first 250 members and lockin your lifetime free access.
Prioritize your well-being soyou can continue to make an
impact in the classroom.
But now let's talk about you.
As educators, we often give somuch of ourselves that we leave
(11:14):
very little room for our ownneeds One of the best ways to
protect your mental health andmaintain your energy is to set
boundaries, and I know it'seasier said than done.
But if you don't set boundaries, you run the risk of burning
out, and when that happens, it'shard to be the best teacher,
it's hard to be the best leaderthat you want to be.
(11:34):
So what does setting boundarieslook like?
It could be as simple asturning off your work email
notifications after 6 pm ormaking a rule that on the
weekend, I'm not checking emails.
It's about creating a spacebetween your work and your
personal life so you have timeto recharge.
We have to remember thatself-care is not selfish.
(11:56):
You can't pour from an emptycup, and when you take care of
yourself, you're going to findthat you're able to show up with
more energy, more patience andmore creativity.
For your students and for yourcolleagues, boundaries are
critical.
Stop sending those late emails.
Stop responding to those textmessages at 11 o'clock at night.
(12:17):
Go to sleep Because, when it'sall said and done, being a
teacher is temporary.
Being a principal is temporary.
Being a guidance counselor istemporary.
Being a SPED teacher istemporary.
Your job is temporary.
But being a mother, being afather, being a brother brother,
being a sister, being an aunt,be an uncle.
Those titles last forever andwhat you don't want to do is
(12:40):
when teacher of the year, whenstaff of the month, while you're
going through trials andtribulations at home.
So setting these boundaries isgoing to be critical.
You deserve the best for youand I need us to remember that
on a daily basis.
You are a person before you area teacher.
So, let's, it could be astudent, it could be a family
(13:02):
you know what.
It can even be a family membernot responding, and see how that
(13:37):
changes the dynamic of thatrelationship.
But I also want us to rememberthat building these strong
relationships and building trustis not something that happens
overnight.
It is something that we have todo on a daily basis, on a
monthly basis, on a yearly basis, on an hourly basis.
But it's important that wecontinue to make baby steps to
building trust throughtransparency and through active
(13:57):
listening.
Now we can continue to be thebest teacher, to be the best
principal, to be the besteducator, whatever your title is
.
By doing this, it will get youcloser to being the best version
of whatever your title is in aschool.
That's all I look forward.
If you have not, please like,please subscribe, please share
(14:20):
this with a friend that allowsus to continue to get in front
of more viewers and morelisteners like yourself.
And again, please head over towwwbewellteachercom.
Join our free community.
It's not going to be freeforever.
The community is launchingJanuary 1st and I would love to
see you and have you be a partof it.
(14:41):
Have a good rest of the weekand we'll see you again next
week.
Bye.
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