I really enjoy motivational quotes/events from history. They can remind us of concepts, ideas, beliefs and values that we know to be true but don’t always live by. On Friday’s pupil free day I was reminded of one of those when looking at Element 2.4 of TfEL, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the same results” Albert Einstein. Often quotes like these can be timely reminders of what we need to do as opposed to what we actually do.
As teachers and SSO’s part of our role is to motivate and inspire our students (there are few occupations that get to do this on a daily basis). If we want our students to be passionate life long learners then we must be passionate life long learners. Unfortunately it works both ways, we can inspire but also uninspire. If we can’t exhibit the qualities we want our students to have how can we inspire our students to exhibit them?
As a teacher I have to believe that we motivate and inspire our students, it is just that most of the time we never know when this occurs. How do you motivate and inspire the students you work with?
Everyone needs inspiration and motivation at different times. Below are some of my favourite motivational videos that have inspired me. I can credit Ed with introducing me to the Nick Vujicic video and Dave for reminding me about a clip from The Office (US version) that gives some great advice.
Randy Pausch – The Last lecture Reprised (Click here to see the original lecture which goes for around 1 hour and 16 minutes – it is worth watching if you can spare the time)
Ric Elias had a front-row seat on Flight 1549, the plane that crash-landed in the Hudson River in New York in January 2009.
Volunteer firefighter Mark Bezos tells a story of an act of heroism that didn’t go quite as expected — but that taught him a big lesson.
Nick Vujicic and his attitude serve as a great examples of the celebration of life over limitations.
When you don’t give up..You cannot fail.
Here’s the thing that makes life so interesting. The theory of evolution claims that “only the strong shall survive”. Maybe so, maybe so. But the theory of competition says, “just because they’re the strong doesn’t mean they can’t get their asses kicked”.
The Office (US version) – great advice
Life should be fun.
“A life is not important except in the impact it has on other peoples lives”
Jackie Robinson
The first black American baseball player to pave the way for the intergration of black and white professional baseball.