Identifying your classroom teaching skills
Teachers' skills & abilities
First, let me say that you are WICKED skilled.
(I’ve lived in Massachusetts for 14 years now, and I’m just starting to feel comfortable using this regionally unique adverb "wicked." Does it sound natural?! 😆)
As a teacher, the scope of your work is enormous, the nature of what you do is super sophisticated, and the list of what you can do is long.
You’re a presenter + social worker + project manager + content creator + public speaker + crowd controller + improviser + politician + advocate, etc...
Each of these roles ⬆️ has its own list of necessary skills. So think of the power and range it gives you when you combine all of them together!
So yeah, you’ve got skills alright. LOTS of ‘em.
As a teacher, you’re a presenter + social worker + project manager + content creator + public speaker + crowd controller + improviser + politician + advocate, etc...
Considering your teaching skills for a career change
If you're thinking about making a career change away from the classroom, it's important to know what your skills are.
And to be aware of which ones you enjoy using (or not).
Knowing and understanding your skills will help you:
Describe what you have to offer to others, in or outside the classroom.
Pinpoint skills that are transferable to other careers.
Avoid careers that tap heavily into your burnout skills. Just because you have a certain skill, doesn’t mean you have to use it in the next phase of your career.
Focus on career possibilities that will allow you to use your "motivated skills" so you can find work that makes you happy, not just work you're qualified to do.
A skill is something you can do, and a strength is something that you’re really good at doing.
A "skill" vs a "strength"
Before we go any further, let’s define what we’re talking about when we say “skills.”
According to Gallup CliftonStrengths (an online assessment), “Skills are the ability to move through the fundamental steps of a task or activity.”
In other words, your skills are things you know how to do.
You develop skills as needed to meet a requirement or develop an interest in your life, either personally or professionally.
Skills can be gained by experience, trainings, courses, reading, etc...
Skills can be easy or hard to learn. You might be good at them...or not.
Skills are different from strengths. A skill is something you can do, and a strength is something that you’re really good at doing. Your strengths comes naturally to you, and you rock them with very little effort.
For more about strengths, read my blog post What are my strengths as a teacher: Discovering what makes you unique.
Just because you have a certain skill, doesn't mean you'll want to use it in the next phase of your career.
Examples of teachers' skills
Here are just a few examples of common teachers' skills to get your wheels turning:
Staying calm when talking to a caregiver who's worried about their kid.
Entering, tracking, and interpreting data.
Keeping your students on task when they’re easily distracted.
Planning out a day, week, or entire year of lessons down to the smallest details.
Connecting genuinely with a student who feels misunderstood.
Working with endless, tight deadlines.
I could keep going y’all. On and on and on and....
Here's a more comprehensive list of skills that I compiled with help of current teachers and online resources.
Although you have significant skillset overlap with other teachers, you have your own unique skills that you've developed through your work and life experiences.
What are your skills?
Although, you probably have significant skillset overlap with other teachers, you also have skills that you've learned through your own unique roles, responsibilities, specializations, and classroom/school settings.
Plus, think of all the uniquely you skills you’ve developed as a human being just livin' your life!
Every teacher has a life outside of teaching (I know it doesn't always feel like that). Which means that you have your own personal experiences, interests, hobbies, and day-to-day tasks that require you to gain new skills (OMG, I've learned so many skills through parenting.)
Because you're not like every other teacher, you really gotta make your own list of skills.
As you start reflecting on your own skills, keep in mind that you probably take many of your skills for granted.
If you find yourself saying something like,"Can't everyone do that?" try to remember that, in fact, "No, they can't."
Here are a few ways to identify your skills:
Read this blog post Common Teachers' Skills and identify which ones are particularly relevant to your teaching experience.
Think through a whole day at work and home and write down what you do.
Divide your work up into categories or roles (like I did at the beginning of this blog) and then make a list of your skills based on each one.
Take an online skills assessment. In my online group course Teachers at a Crossroads, we take the Knowdell Skills assessment.
Just because you have a skill doesn't always mean you must use it.
Burnout & Motivated skills
Keep in mind that just because you have a skill doesn't mean you enjoy using it. You will enjoy using certain skills and not others.
The concept of "burnout skills" and "motivated skills" comes from the Knowdell Skills assessment.
Teachers have lots of burnout skills and using them too much typically leaves you feeling exhausted, unhappy, or mis-utilized.
Burnout Skills
You might be really good at something, and just not enjoy doing it. These skills are called "Burnout Skills."
Burnout skills are the tasks that you are highly competent at but that you do not not derive any or much pleasure from using.
One of my burnout skills is planning events, trips, or schedules in great detail. I'm really good at all the minutiae and figuring out how things work together, but wow does it drain my energy having to pay so much attention to each and every little thing.
Teachers have lots of burnout skills and using them too much typically leaves you feeling exhausted, unhappy, or mis-utilized.
Motivated Skills
You might be really good at something, and love doing it! These skills are called "Motivated Skills."
Motivated skills are the tasks that you are highly competent at and that you derive a lot of pleasure from using.
One of my motivated skills is writing. I'm good at it, and I'm very motivated by expressing myself in casual writing, like in my blog posts! (I don't like formal or analytical writing.)
Using your motivated skills in the classroom usually makes you feel happy, energized, and like you're doing what you're meant to do.
Share your burnout & motivated skills with me!
I'd love to know what you're learning about your skills. Email me at coach@lauralitwiller.com or share them in the comments below.
I can help you identify your skills
Have a nice long list of your skills already? Share them with me! Email me at coach@lauralitwiller.com or share them in the comments below.
If you're feeling stuck pinpointing your skills or don't feel confident that they're worth much beyond the classroom, I can help.
Through 1:1 coaching or my online group course Teachers at a Crossroads: Exploring Career Change & Discovering the Path That's Right for You, we'll dive deep into your skills & strengths to uncover your superpowers!
I'm Laura, a career transformation coach for teachers feeling stuck.
I help you explore career possibilities beyond the classroom so that you can make a confident choice about what's next, based on your strengths, values, and what you want most for your life.
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