The Onward Workbook

Daily Activities to Cultivate Your Emotional Resilience and Thrive

Elena Aguilar

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781119366973
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Pedagogía
• Subtopic: Desarrollo profesional

An empowering journey that keeps great teachers in the classroom

The Onward Workbook is a collection of tools and strategies that help teachers banish the burnout and cultivate true resilience. Keyed to the framework presented in Onward, this companion piece augments the text with practical exercises, coaching, and step-by-step walkthroughs of beneficial practices. Deep introspection allows you to verbalize your feelings, name your challenges, and identify the tools you have and the tools you need—from there, you'll explore each of the 12 Key Habits and learn how to put them into practice every day.

In cultivating resilience within yourself and your teaching practice, you improve your health, your outlook, and your relationships while building an environment in which every child succeeds. This workbook takes you on a journey of specific self-discovery that changes your perspective, renews your confidence, and empowers you to make the much-needed changes that allow you to continue inspiring young minds.

• Dig deeper within to discover what you're truly made of
• Decode complex emotions, body language, and nonverbal communications
• Challenge your beliefs, build community, and navigate difficult interactions
• Learn more, feel more, play more, and practice effective self-care

Resiliency is an underrated skill—one that can make all the difference in our schools. Challenges will always arise, but it is your response that dictates the outcome. Can you think of a more important lesson for your students? When some 70 percent of teachers quit within their first five years, it is clear that changes must be made. The Onward Workbook equips you to make the changes that you can, and flourish into the future.

While this book can be used by individuals, it is also designed so that groups, teams, departments, or an entire staff can take up the learning together. There are specific suggestions in the workbook for using this with a group, and educators will reap even more reward from discussing the practices and experiences with colleagues.

Chapter 1
Know Yourself

When you know yourself well—when you understand your emotions, social identities, core values, and personality—you gain clarity on your purpose in life and in work. Being anchored in purpose makes you able to deal with setbacks and challenges.

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June: This habit is foundational for all the others. In June you can reflect on last year, transition into summer, and contemplate next year while gaining deeper self-understanding.

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Know Yourself: Resilience Self-Assessment

The purpose of this self-assessment is to help you gauge the level of your resilience reservoir and to explore what might be draining or what could replenish it. The exercises that follow and the information in the corresponding chapter of Onward can boost your resilience by helping you better understand yourself and by connecting with a deeper sense of purpose.

Imagine each circle here as a little cenote or reservoir within you, and fill it up according to how much each statement reflects a source of resilience. If you need something more concrete, imagine marks at ¼, ½, and ¾ full.

Before you start the exercises in this chapter, take this self-assessment and fill in the date. At the end of the month, take the assessment again. (You might even cover up your original markings with a strip of paper.) Is your resilience reservoir a little more full? If so, which practices do you want to keep up? If not, what else do you want to try?

Statement	Date:	Date:
I am clear on my core values and how they guide my behaviors.
I know how my personality affects me at work.
I know what I'm good at; I'm clear about my strengths.
At least for some part of my day, I do what I'm good at.
I'm aware of the connections between my sociopolitical identity and how I experience my work.
I recognize how messages from dominant culture affect how I think and feel about myself.
I have strategies to mitigate how dominant culture makes me feel about myself.
I know what makes me feel vulnerable, and I'm aware of when I feel vulnerable.
I feel very clear about my purpose in life. I know what I'm here on earth to do.
The knowledge I have of myself helps me manage challenges at work; it serves as a guidepost when I have to make decisions.

How Well Do I Know Myself?

Our “self” comprises the five elements here.

You're the judge of how well you know yourself. On a 1–10 scale, how well do you feel you understand these elements of who you are?

Element of Self	Description	Rating (1–10)	Thoughts, Reflections, Evidence
Beliefs	I know my core values and see how they guide my behavior. I am aware of when I'm operating from my values, and I make decisions that align with them.
Personality	I am aware of my personality tendencies and the impact they have on my life and ...