How To Program Your Subconscious For Teaching Success Smart Classroom Management
Here at SCM, we talk a lot about the importance of having a vision of your ideal class.
Of seeing your students, like a movie in your mind . . .
- focused and learning.
- interacting politely.
- following rules.
- performing routines.
- participating eagerly.
- working together.
- enjoying your class.
You must also picture yourself . . .
- calm and happy.
- teaching dynamically.
- following through with ease.
- being a trusted leader.
- observing good work.
- preparing efficiently.
Your visualization should be immersive. The clearer the sounds and images, the better. Done well, your body will respond as if you’re actually there.
The reason this is important is to nail down exactly what you want. Because, if you’re unsure, then you’ll never get there.
You can’t lead your students without a target.
Once you lock in your vision, however, it will inform everything you do. It will propel every word and action, enabling you to model and articulate for your students what success looks like and how to get there.
It will allow you to recognize when you’re off track so you can course correct rather than wander lost in the forest with most of your colleagues.
Yet, there is another reason why visualization is so important.
You see, when you have a clear, absorptive image of your goal, your subconscious devises solutions and pathways to get there all while you’re doing other things.
I first learned of this phenomenon—this ability we all have—in an old book I read in college called Psycho-Cybernetics. The author, Maxwell Maltz, called it the servo-mechanism.
You provide your mind a distinct target and how to get there comes to you naturally. Ideas bubble up from your subconscious. They pop into your head as you’re going about your work, cooking dinner, taking a shower.
In my experience, it also helps provide the confidence to reject out of hand anything less than what you want for yourself, your class, and your students.
This doesn’t mean perfection. It means fast and predictable progress. It means the kind of deep satisfaction that can only come from pursuing excellence.
It means your vision becoming reality.
PS – Please check out my new book Unstressed: How to Teach Without Worry, Fear, and Anxiety.
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