Nothing is as difficult as choosing your career, unless of course, you are one of those who have their sight on distant horizons. There are so many career options to choose from and if you are considering the military, you should know all about it before you jump to a decision. There are many counseling websites that readily answer all your queries and soothe all the concerns you may have.

Lets learn about the military and what it offers you as a career. In the U.S army there are 4,100 different officer and entitled placements for both, full-time and part-time duties. Every year the U.S army hires 365,000 people in more than 4,100 categories.

Military jobs have been divided into two broad categories, enlisted and officer and each service demands different requirements. The details are:

Enlisted:

Qualification: High school diploma or equivalent.

Job category: Office work, transportation, mechanical, human services and important combat jobs.

Share in total military service: 85% of service personnel.

Pay grade: E-1 to E-9

Officers:

Qualification: College degree or more.

Job category: Managerial, professional and technical jobs.

Share in total military service: 15% of service personnel.

Pay grade: O-1 to O-9

To find out which job category is in line with your educational qualifications, skill-set and temperament, you could take an ASVAB test. The military recognizes ASVAB scores. Students in junior high school can take the test along with the senior high school students and the postsecondary students. The test scores can be used for enlisting with the military for two years after taking the test. Students can also retake the test at any time. ASVAB tests not only map the ability of student to do a particular job, it also opens up other career vistas at the same time, by mapping their scores with other career options as well.

If you want a life of discipline, with a mission, you need to identify a career that is rewarding as well as adventurous. Even if you feel that you are best suited for the army, look before you leap and evaluate all the aspects. Enlist only after you have considered the option well. Every year thousands of individuals take on the responsibility of protecting the land, maintaining peace and providing relief to those hit by calamities. The conditions as well as the environment of work can be very challenging.

Being selected for a non-combat job does not guarantee that the work atmosphere will always be safe. Any job category within the military requires self-discipline, intense physical training and work, education and a dedication to fight and excel in any environment. The benefits of the service are many, including training, educational support, honor, travel, good pay and not to forget the adventure involved. However, a military service means time away from family and friends. Weigh all the pros and cons of the service properly and if you still think that a life of discipline, mission and adventure is what you are looking for, you need to consider the army.

Kris Koonar
http://www.articlesbase.com/careers-articles/is-the-military-for-you-86864.html

Medical transcription is a great work at home job but it has its challenges. This job requires more training than many of the other common work at home jobs. You can’t just apply and get a job.

The reason for this makes quite a bit of sense. You’re working on people’s medical records. You must know what you’re doing and you have to be exceptionally accurate.

So training is the first step, right?

Nope. The better medical transcription training programs available online won’t even look at you as a student unless you have certain skills already. You have to be able to type fast enough. 40 wpm is a good minimum, and you will want to speed up from there. You have to have an excellent vocabulary and grammar. You have to be able to pick up new terminology quickly.

Once you have those, then you can start looking at training. Depending on your needs you can consider an online program or check out your local community college for courses. You will want a high quality program as that is what helps you to land that first job. Take the wrong kind of training and no one will want to hire you until you have experience.

I personally recommend online training. For one it is the most similar to how you will be working at home. Training at a school is, well, training at a school. You aren’t learning as much about self discipline.

Online training also has the advantage that the best schools are well known to the major medical transcription companies. This improves your chances of getting a job as the companies know the quality of students these schools turn out.

Keep working on that typing speed, as many companies will want more than that basic 40 wpm that let you get into medical transcription school. Besides, the faster you work the more you can earn as most jobs are paid by the line.

If you work for a medical transcription company you may not need to buy any of your own equipment, assuming you have a computer already. Many companies will provide you with the minimum software, foot pedal and headphones you will require. If not, they will tell you what is compatible with their systems.

Before you get hired you will want to have a good place to do your work. You will want relative quiet. Maybe you want to work at home to have more time with your family, but when you are working you do need to be able to work in peace. Trust me.

The trouble can be that many doctors dictate very poorly, as though they don’t realize anyone has to understand what they say. Nurses who have gone into transcription have been known to be shocked at the difference. So don’t assume your children can play at your feet as you work. Find a quiet place in the house or work when the kids are asleep or at school.

If you are serious about a career in medical transcription your time getting prepared will not be wasted. You can earn good money as a medical transcriptionist and have highly flexible hours. But it’s not for everyone.

anonymous
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-business-articles/are-you-ready-to-be-an-at-home-medical-transcriptionist-97825.html

An old saying goes, “If you want to give God a laugh, then make plans.” Many would be college graduates have found this to be true, as life has often gotten in the way of their educational goals. From lack of financial resources to changing life responsibilities like unplanned pregnancy, fate often closes the doors on college when you least expect it.

Everybody knows that going to college is ideal. It was recently reported that those with a Bachelor degree would earn over a million dollars more in their lifetime than those without. However, if a Bachelor degree is just too unrealistic for you right now, there is always the option of an associate degree online.

Many accredited colleges and universities, from small community colleges to the biggest names in education are instilling online programs as a valid and extremely beneficial way to get promising students through to that goal of a degree. Schools often miss out on bright pupils due to the fact that they just cannot get to the classroom. Allowing the option of an associate degree online helps not only those who have been dealt a tough hand in life, but also broadens the schools’ demographics and areas of achievement.

There are things to consider when deciding if an associate degree online is the right path for you to take. First and foremost, remember that online courses can be just as challenging as traditional classroom sections, and sometimes even more so. This is because getting an associate’s degree online commands a high amount of discipline and commitment.

Another thing to consider is the mode of communication available to you. Oftentimes you can go through an entire course without ever meeting your instructor or fellow students face to face. It’s essential that you have proper email etiquette and are able to express yourself properly through words. You don’t have to be a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist to get the job done, but it does help to be well versed in online communication. Being able to say what you want to say without being able to physically speak will bring you great success in online discussion group chat sessions and with emails to your instructor and fellow classmates.

Earning an associate degree online may require tight deadlines that are non-negotiable. You must have reliable computer access and transportation to onsite tests when necessary. Again, it is important to stress the fact that online degrees are not an easy way out. They are for students just as committed as those who sit in lecture halls each and every day.

Lastly, you must know what the online associate degree will get you. Make sure your college of choice accredited. If it’s not, it is in your best interest to choose a school that is. Employers look upon accredited programs much more highly and when you enter the workforce you will want to be taken seriously. Don’t waste your time or money on a school that won’t be able to properly train you for the career in which you plan to enter.

Many people believe that an associate degree is a worthless commodity, however it has helped to raise the salaries and lifestyle of countless Americans across the nation that otherwise would be struggling along with merely a high school diploma.

Pursuing any form of higher education shows businesses that you care about your future and you are filling it with all of the knowledge that your life will afford. An online associate degree is a great way to say to potential employers, life has been tough but I did not give up. I am determined to take my education as far as it will allow, and the same ambition and hard-working mentality will be applied to the position that I’d like to have in your company.

An associate degree online program gives you the practice in devotion and discipline that you need to be successful in the real world where jobs are scarce and offices are more competitive than ever before. Get going on the right track by gaining a quality education online today.

Andy West
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/stay-on-course-with-an-associate-degree-online-120628.html

Considering the fact that students spend a great part of their life at school, one may come to conclusion that schools contribute significantly into overall ‘quality’ of students’ lives. No wonder that personality of a teacher is of crucial importance; moreover, some teachers turn into extremely important people for the whole life due to the impact they make while teaching us. It is good if this impact is positive and brings motivation for students, however, it sometimes happens that teachers manage to spoil not only mood of a student but intrude into internal world, leaving unpleasant vestige there. That is why the statement that, “What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches”, expressed by Karl Menninger is really truthful. Question of teacher’s ethics has been on the agenda since teachers appeared and it is still important to talk about that.

As long as children go to school to get knowledge and develop themselves, so long teachers are in need. And as long as teachers are working with young personalities, so long the question of their professional ethics is staying on the agenda. Ethics can be inborn but it can and should be developed. Some people are born tactful, tolerant and moral enough to become good professionals in terms of ethics. Some are taught how to behave in order to correspondent to necessary requirements of ethical conduct. What kind of a person one needs to be to be an ethical teacher? Certainly, a teacher has to be loyal meaning being patient to students and caring about them, despite individual abilities of this or that student. Teacher should not shout at students and demonstrate irritation. That doesn’t mean that teachers should allow everything or let alone allow disrespect. When conducting a class, a good teacher should cultivate mutual respect and absolute tolerance. And thus he has a right to demand the same attitude. Today students rarely hear about punishment, which was an indispensable element of education some centuries or even decades ago. Some conservative-minded people claim that punishment brought positive fruit in the form of students’ commitment to discipline and self-discipline, as a result. Anyway, today corporal punishment is believed to be an atavism and a way to humiliate students, while humiliation can hardly be a good companion in any educational process. Teachers’ ethics should not allow teachers choose “favorites” in the group and differentiate students. If one monitors Mass Media reporting or at least tracks mainstream reports one will definitely recollect some notorious cases of teachers’ sexual harassment, which shock public. Indeed such cases are not that rare nowadays. Sure, sexual harassment is probably most dishonorable examples of violating teacher’s ethics and is even a subject of criminal law. However, even minor misdemeanors may turn into breaking ethical code of conduct.

Teachers are the people, who should serve for students not only as examples of high education but of decent behavior as well. That is why each violation of teacher’s ethics may cause some really serious consequences and turn into crucial mistakes. For example, ignoring some student may lead to personal complexes because a young personality will feel depressed and underestimated. Of course, much depends on child’s family, surrounding, but as it was stated from the very beginning school is the place where children spend a great part of their time and that’s why they are growing as personalities at school. It is vital that they grew in a healthy atmosphere, surrounded by professional teachers that would be able to not only give knowledge but give lessons of ethics too.

Daniel Hunt
http://www.articlesbase.com/article-writing-articles/teachers-ethics-64131.html

Considering the fact that students spend a great part of their life at school, one may come to conclusion that schools contribute significantly into overall ‘quality’ of students’ lives. No wonder that personality of a teacher is of crucial importance; moreover, some teachers turn into extremely important people for the whole life due to the impact they make while teaching us. It is good if this impact is positive and brings motivation for students, however, it sometimes happens that teachers manage to spoil not only mood of a student but intrude into internal world, leaving unpleasant vestige there. That is why the statement that, “What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches”, expressed by Karl Menninger is really truthful. Question of teacher’s ethics has been on the agenda since teachers appeared and it is still important to talk about that.

As long as children go to school to get knowledge and develop themselves, so long teachers are in need. And as long as teachers are working with young personalities, so long the question of their professional ethics is staying on the agenda. Ethics can be inborn but it can and should be developed. Some people are born tactful, tolerant and moral enough to become good professionals in terms of ethics. Some are taught how to behave in order to correspondent to necessary requirements of ethical conduct. What kind of a person one needs to be to be an ethical teacher? Certainly, a teacher has to be loyal meaning being patient to students and caring about them, despite individual abilities of this or that student. Teacher should not shout at students and demonstrate irritation. That doesn’t mean that teachers should allow everything or let alone allow disrespect. When conducting a class, a good teacher should cultivate mutual respect and absolute tolerance. And thus he has a right to demand the same attitude. Today students rarely hear about punishment, which was an indispensable element of education some centuries or even decades ago. Some conservative-minded people claim that punishment brought positive fruit in the form of students’ commitment to discipline and self-discipline, as a result. Anyway, today corporal punishment is believed to be an atavism and a way to humiliate students, while humiliation can hardly be a good companion in any educational process. Teachers’ ethics should not allow teachers choose “favorites” in the group and differentiate students. If one monitors Mass Media reporting or at least tracks mainstream reports one will definitely recollect some notorious cases of teachers’ sexual harassment, which shock public. Indeed such cases are not that rare nowadays. Sure, sexual harassment is probably most dishonorable examples of violating teacher’s ethics and is even a subject of criminal law. However, even minor misdemeanors may turn into breaking ethical code of conduct.

Teachers are the people, who should serve for students not only as examples of high education but of decent behavior as well. That is why each violation of teacher’s ethics may cause some really serious consequences and turn into crucial mistakes. For example, ignoring some student may lead to personal complexes because a young personality will feel depressed and underestimated. Of course, much depends on child’s family, surrounding, but as it was stated from the very beginning school is the place where children spend a great part of their time and that’s why they are growing as personalities at school. It is vital that they grew in a healthy atmosphere, surrounded by professional teachers that would be able to not only give knowledge but give lessons of ethics too.

Daniel Hunt
http://www.articlesbase.com/article-writing-articles/teachers-ethics-64131.html

Your students are deathly afraid of making mistakes and looking stupid in front of their peers. Failure hurts…especially at school…especially in front of their friends. Were you ever humiliated in front of your classmates? I was. It still hurts!

To avoid the potential for making a mistake and looking stupid, students, especially failure-prone students, refuse to risk… They refuse to try… They refuse to participate. Without participation, learning is limited. “The person who does the work does the learning.”

Sounds crazy! But, in an effort to protect themselves and avoid looking stupid, students choose to appear lazy by not participating. They would much rather appear lazy than stupid. They can control lazy, but they can’t control looking stupid. It’s about control.

When students see themselves as failures… As dummies… As stupids… Discipline problems erupt. It’s only natural. Our greatest desire as human beings is to be accepted! Our greatest fear is rejection! When students fail, they feel the greatest of all pains… The pain of rejection. Then, they strike back out of frustration and pain. Eventually, discipline becomes a problem.

What’s the point? As a teacher, fighting fear by reducing the fear factor is one of your primary goals. Sound difficult? Not really.

For twenty-five years, I worked in the world’s largest failure warehouse… The Texas Department of Corrections. During my years as an educator in the prison system, one lesson became increasingly apparent. That lesson was the negative impact fear… Fear of failure… Has on students’ willingness to risk and learn.

To overcome the tendency for students to withdraw from the class both mentally and physically, I developed a simple, but highly effective way to encourage student involvement. Give your students the risk level! That’s right. Tell them the potential for failure involved in a task before asking them to volunteer… To participate.

Here’s how it works. On the first day of school, tell them you realize fear of failure and embarrassment could limit their willingness to participate and learn. Want to really, really win them over? Tell them about a time when the fear of failure affected your life. Even better, make the example about school, and you’ll be an instant hero. You’ll seem human. They’ll love you for it!

Risk level is measured on a scale of 1 to 10, with one having a prerequisite of being able to breath. Most of us can do that! Right? No way to feel the fear of failure when an activity is a risk level of one. Your students will rush to tackle any task with a risk level of one.

You’ll see hands start to go up in midair with blinding speed. You’ll see students volunteer who had never ever considered volunteering before. Feeling in control and succeeding, even in a minor way, has positive effects.

What’s the point? Before you have your students participate in an activity, always give them the risk level. Tell them up front about the potential for failure! The more difficult the task… The higher the risk level. It’s simple. It’s powerful. It’s doable. Let’s do it!

Start with risk levels where everyone… Yes, everyone feels confident enough to risk. Then, work up the scale.

Admittedly, a risk level of 10 is a little on the scary side. But after a few weeks of applying this simple failure and fear reducing process, your students learn to trust you. When they learn, actually learn… You aren’t out to get them or embarrass them, even your failure-prone students will start to risk. That’s exciting!

Please remember this is a gradual process. It takes time to build the trust necessary to risk failure. Give the process time.

One thing to remember… Intermingle risk levels up and down the scale. Start with ones. Then, graduate to twos and threes. This gives the failure-prone students the opportunity to risk and win. Once the students have a few successes under their belts… The sky is the limit!

As a teaching tool, this is an awesome one. Like any other tool, it is only useful when you use it. Make it a habit. Give your students the opportunity to control their own destiny by giving them the risk level.

It’s simple. It’s powerful. It works!

Ready to risk? Try it! It’s a risk level 5…

10 ways to reduce fear in the classroom…

1. Fear-less… Make your classroom a fear-less place by developing a simple fear strategy. This strategy minimizes the fear of making mistakes. It’s simple. Discuss fear and how it affects behaviors in the classroom. Start with a simple question. How many of you feel you will make a mistake or miss a question on a test this year? The key is openness. When students see that learning involves making a few mistakes, they will risk. As the teacher, your hand should go up first to say you’ll make mistakes this year, too!

2. Share… Tell’em about your own experiences when you suffered feelings of failure. Tell them how it felt when you made mistakes in school. Be specific! Tell a story about you! This one exercise in bravery will reap tons of good will. Hey, you’ll actually seem human.

3. Tell them… Tell them about the risk level… You know, the article above. Remember 1 to 10…

4. Bad day… Tell them it’s okay to tell you when they are having a bummer day. You’ll avoid calling on them. Watch for abuse of this one! The abuser may need a double-dose of insight about risking and failing. Again, personal stories work wonders here.

5. Ask the question… What can I do to help reduce your fear of making a mistake and being embarrassed? This one takes patience. Give them time…Tons of time. Let them open up. Students know their fears. Let them have the opportunity, in a safe and non-judgmental atmosphere, to discuss them. This one activity can set the stage for a dizzying school year of success for you and your students. But, you’ve gotta do it!!! It won’t happen unless you make it happen.

6. Change their perception… Instill in each student it takes courage to risk making mistakes and failing. The student who risks is a hero. Teach the class to celebrate mistakes. Yes, you can! You can change how students feel about making mistakes by having them see those who risk as heroes. If it worked in prison, it can work for you. Work it! Change their perception!

7. What to do? Discuss with your class the options they have to respond to mistakes. Have the class make a list of possible responses they might employ after making a mistake. For example: when students feel the pain of failure because they answered a question incorrectly, what do they do? Here’s an option… Have them say, wow, that took courage! I’m glad I tried. This is good! Why? Because everyone will have access to these options to counteract their negative failure feelings.

No, they aren’t… These options are not excuses. They are rewards… Verbal rewards for having the courage to risk failure even when the risk results in a mistake. The class needs a minimum of 20 mistake rebuttal options.

8. Might fail? Worried? When students anticipate a situation where failure is a possible outcome, what can they do? Not all teachers embrace a fear strategy… Because keeping students off balance and fearful is their goal. You know it’s true! Then, what is a student to do? Here’s where you come in again. Discuss it! That’s right, have the class discuss situations where they might feel out of control because of the potential for failure. For example: test anxiety is a major concern of students. What can be done to deal with stress? Deep breathing? Dropping the jaw and shoulders?

What’s the point? Look for situations and provide students tools to deal with these situations. Make a list of what to do’s! The list should include other areas of the students’ life. Work… Home… Dating…

9. They can handle it! Several years ago, I read a super-fantastic book… Feel the fear and do it anyway by susan jeffers. The book was based on one overriding principle. No matter what… You can handle it! Twenty years ago my father came for a short visit.

He was healthy. His color was good. He had never been in a hospital. Just before returning home, he had a heart attack and died in my arms. It was devastating!

What’s the point? You have suffered many failures, heartaches and setbacks in your life. Guess what? You’ve handled all of them. You are still here! Your students need to learn this lesson of life as early as possible. They can handle mistakes, failure and embarrassment. Show them by teaching them this one powerful statement: no matter what… I can handle it! Have them say it over and over with tons of emotion. I can handle it! I can handle it! I can handle it!

10. Instill in each student the joy of learning and growing. How? By being an example of a lifelong learner. By demonstrating your love and enthusiasm for your subject area. By making what you teach meet the needs and wants of your students. It can be done. To this day, my oldest son loves history because of one wonderful teacher. That’s right, just one teacher who loved his subject so much he became contagious. This contagious enthusiasm for history touched each student’s life in a special way.

What’s the point? When your students develop the love of learning, risking is worth the risk.

Think about this statement, in fact, read it several times… Knowledge without action is as worthless as a parachute after the first bounce.

What’s the point? You now have some awesome tools to fight fear in your classroom. These tools are absolutely worthless unless you use them. Use them daily… Until they become a habit. Force yourself to act differently than you feel. Why? Implementing this fear fighting process will feel uncomfortable at first! Why? Because it’s new, unfamiliar and you could fail. You could make a mistake. You might even feel a tinge of fear. But, go ahead… Do it! You can handle it!

The best to you, Karl.

Karl Davidson Training and Consulting Company specializes in making school a place where teachers and students want to be.

http://www.workshopsthatwork.com
http://lovethatlesson.com

Karl Davidson
http://www.articlesbase.com/education-articles/the-two-minute-teaching-tip-fighting-fear-751761.html

Your students are deathly afraid of making mistakes and looking stupid in front of their peers. Failure hurts…especially at school…especially in front of their friends. Were you ever humiliated in front of your classmates? I was. It still hurts!

To avoid the potential for making a mistake and looking stupid, students, especially failure-prone students, refuse to risk… They refuse to try… They refuse to participate. Without participation, learning is limited. “The person who does the work does the learning.”

Sounds crazy! But, in an effort to protect themselves and avoid looking stupid, students choose to appear lazy by not participating. They would much rather appear lazy than stupid. They can control lazy, but they can’t control looking stupid. It’s about control.

When students see themselves as failures… As dummies… As stupids… Discipline problems erupt. It’s only natural. Our greatest desire as human beings is to be accepted! Our greatest fear is rejection! When students fail, they feel the greatest of all pains… The pain of rejection. Then, they strike back out of frustration and pain. Eventually, discipline becomes a problem.

What’s the point? As a teacher, fighting fear by reducing the fear factor is one of your primary goals. Sound difficult? Not really.

For twenty-five years, I worked in the world’s largest failure warehouse… The Texas Department of Corrections. During my years as an educator in the prison system, one lesson became increasingly apparent. That lesson was the negative impact fear… Fear of failure… Has on students’ willingness to risk and learn.

To overcome the tendency for students to withdraw from the class both mentally and physically, I developed a simple, but highly effective way to encourage student involvement. Give your students the risk level! That’s right. Tell them the potential for failure involved in a task before asking them to volunteer… To participate.

Here’s how it works. On the first day of school, tell them you realize fear of failure and embarrassment could limit their willingness to participate and learn. Want to really, really win them over? Tell them about a time when the fear of failure affected your life. Even better, make the example about school, and you’ll be an instant hero. You’ll seem human. They’ll love you for it!

Risk level is measured on a scale of 1 to 10, with one having a prerequisite of being able to breath. Most of us can do that! Right? No way to feel the fear of failure when an activity is a risk level of one. Your students will rush to tackle any task with a risk level of one.

You’ll see hands start to go up in midair with blinding speed. You’ll see students volunteer who had never ever considered volunteering before. Feeling in control and succeeding, even in a minor way, has positive effects.

What’s the point? Before you have your students participate in an activity, always give them the risk level. Tell them up front about the potential for failure! The more difficult the task… The higher the risk level. It’s simple. It’s powerful. It’s doable. Let’s do it!

Start with risk levels where everyone… Yes, everyone feels confident enough to risk. Then, work up the scale.

Admittedly, a risk level of 10 is a little on the scary side. But after a few weeks of applying this simple failure and fear reducing process, your students learn to trust you. When they learn, actually learn… You aren’t out to get them or embarrass them, even your failure-prone students will start to risk. That’s exciting!

Please remember this is a gradual process. It takes time to build the trust necessary to risk failure. Give the process time.

One thing to remember… Intermingle risk levels up and down the scale. Start with ones. Then, graduate to twos and threes. This gives the failure-prone students the opportunity to risk and win. Once the students have a few successes under their belts… The sky is the limit!

As a teaching tool, this is an awesome one. Like any other tool, it is only useful when you use it. Make it a habit. Give your students the opportunity to control their own destiny by giving them the risk level.

It’s simple. It’s powerful. It works!

Ready to risk? Try it! It’s a risk level 5…

10 ways to reduce fear in the classroom…

1. Fear-less… Make your classroom a fear-less place by developing a simple fear strategy. This strategy minimizes the fear of making mistakes. It’s simple. Discuss fear and how it affects behaviors in the classroom. Start with a simple question. How many of you feel you will make a mistake or miss a question on a test this year? The key is openness. When students see that learning involves making a few mistakes, they will risk. As the teacher, your hand should go up first to say you’ll make mistakes this year, too!

2. Share… Tell’em about your own experiences when you suffered feelings of failure. Tell them how it felt when you made mistakes in school. Be specific! Tell a story about you! This one exercise in bravery will reap tons of good will. Hey, you’ll actually seem human.

3. Tell them… Tell them about the risk level… You know, the article above. Remember 1 to 10…

4. Bad day… Tell them it’s okay to tell you when they are having a bummer day. You’ll avoid calling on them. Watch for abuse of this one! The abuser may need a double-dose of insight about risking and failing. Again, personal stories work wonders here.

5. Ask the question… What can I do to help reduce your fear of making a mistake and being embarrassed? This one takes patience. Give them time…Tons of time. Let them open up. Students know their fears. Let them have the opportunity, in a safe and non-judgmental atmosphere, to discuss them. This one activity can set the stage for a dizzying school year of success for you and your students. But, you’ve gotta do it!!! It won’t happen unless you make it happen.

6. Change their perception… Instill in each student it takes courage to risk making mistakes and failing. The student who risks is a hero. Teach the class to celebrate mistakes. Yes, you can! You can change how students feel about making mistakes by having them see those who risk as heroes. If it worked in prison, it can work for you. Work it! Change their perception!

7. What to do? Discuss with your class the options they have to respond to mistakes. Have the class make a list of possible responses they might employ after making a mistake. For example: when students feel the pain of failure because they answered a question incorrectly, what do they do? Here’s an option… Have them say, wow, that took courage! I’m glad I tried. This is good! Why? Because everyone will have access to these options to counteract their negative failure feelings.

No, they aren’t… These options are not excuses. They are rewards… Verbal rewards for having the courage to risk failure even when the risk results in a mistake. The class needs a minimum of 20 mistake rebuttal options.

8. Might fail? Worried? When students anticipate a situation where failure is a possible outcome, what can they do? Not all teachers embrace a fear strategy… Because keeping students off balance and fearful is their goal. You know it’s true! Then, what is a student to do? Here’s where you come in again. Discuss it! That’s right, have the class discuss situations where they might feel out of control because of the potential for failure. For example: test anxiety is a major concern of students. What can be done to deal with stress? Deep breathing? Dropping the jaw and shoulders?

What’s the point? Look for situations and provide students tools to deal with these situations. Make a list of what to do’s! The list should include other areas of the students’ life. Work… Home… Dating…

9. They can handle it! Several years ago, I read a super-fantastic book… Feel the fear and do it anyway by susan jeffers. The book was based on one overriding principle. No matter what… You can handle it! Twenty years ago my father came for a short visit.

He was healthy. His color was good. He had never been in a hospital. Just before returning home, he had a heart attack and died in my arms. It was devastating!

What’s the point? You have suffered many failures, heartaches and setbacks in your life. Guess what? You’ve handled all of them. You are still here! Your students need to learn this lesson of life as early as possible. They can handle mistakes, failure and embarrassment. Show them by teaching them this one powerful statement: no matter what… I can handle it! Have them say it over and over with tons of emotion. I can handle it! I can handle it! I can handle it!

10. Instill in each student the joy of learning and growing. How? By being an example of a lifelong learner. By demonstrating your love and enthusiasm for your subject area. By making what you teach meet the needs and wants of your students. It can be done. To this day, my oldest son loves history because of one wonderful teacher. That’s right, just one teacher who loved his subject so much he became contagious. This contagious enthusiasm for history touched each student’s life in a special way.

What’s the point? When your students develop the love of learning, risking is worth the risk.

Think about this statement, in fact, read it several times… Knowledge without action is as worthless as a parachute after the first bounce.

What’s the point? You now have some awesome tools to fight fear in your classroom. These tools are absolutely worthless unless you use them. Use them daily… Until they become a habit. Force yourself to act differently than you feel. Why? Implementing this fear fighting process will feel uncomfortable at first! Why? Because it’s new, unfamiliar and you could fail. You could make a mistake. You might even feel a tinge of fear. But, go ahead… Do it! You can handle it!

The best to you, Karl.

Karl Davidson Training and Consulting Company specializes in making school a place where teachers and students want to be.

http://www.workshopsthatwork.com
http://lovethatlesson.com

Karl Davidson
http://www.articlesbase.com/education-articles/the-two-minute-teaching-tip-fighting-fear-751761.html