3 Tips on Making the Most of Disappointing / Frustrating Teaching Situations

Last Tuesday, I had everything prepared for my monthly night writing group - 2 printed versions of my story, a babysitter, and informed the writing facilitator when I would be arriving. I arrived as anticipated, but unfortunately, there was not enough time left for me to read my story. I went home deeply disappointed. I had spent much time and effort revising and writing.

During the meeting, I listened to the feedback given to other writers and found a few areas that might be applicable to my own revision. So I went home, revised my story and emailed it back to he group.
So what does this exactly mean for teachers?

As you have probably been told, there will be many teaching situations and moments when you will need to exercise flexibility. Sometimes we want the perfect lesson only to find that it fell to pieces in front of an inspector or students.We work so hard at planning each part or sections.

There are several ways teachers can do learn from these experiences.
For once, my disappointment was in fact, a learning experience. It made me realize that we need to be prepared for anything that may happen even if we are well-prepared. For one, these learning experiences teach us how to manage our time and emotions more efficiently.

1. Don't fight or question what happened. Just accept it for what it was and move on.

2. Don't let these happening interfere with your self-beliefs or better yet, make you feel you didn't do enough. Even the most prepared teacher or writer will experience certain set-backs. Accept it as part of the job.

3. Learn from these setbacks. What was something you could have done more efficiently or was this setback inevitable? Many times we need to adapt ourselves to work with different situations as they come up. Some factors we can't control; others we can minimize. In many cases, learning about our students and building a relationship of trust and respect is key for overcoming unpredictable and unwanted scenarios.
Most importantly, make sure you spend enough time getting to know your students. Building a trusting and supportive relationship is key for succeeding with any new class.