TL;DR:
- Focus on using your strengths in teaching instead of dwelling on weaknesses.
- Recognize moments of flow and joy—they signal your natural strengths.
- Teachers who lean into their strengths find greater happiness and effectiveness in the classroom.
Every teacher I’ve ever met wants to be even better at what they do. And there are many ways to grow and develop professionally. Tools or technology to try out. Curriculum to learn. Mindsets to practice. Tactics or strategies to experiment with. Skills to build.
What if “getting better” at teaching was simply doing more of what you do best?!
Using your existing strengths more in the classroom can be the key to both your happiness and your students’ success.
Using your existing strengths more in the classroom can be the key to both your happiness and your students’ success. - Laura L. Click To TweetWhat is a strength?
Your strengths are what comes naturally to you. They exist innately and you don’t have to “learn” how to do them. They’re just part of who you are…your essence!
Think about how it feels in the classroom when you are doing work that aligns with your natural talents and abilities. Everything clicks. It’s easy. You’re dialed in; your students are dialed in. It might even be fun!
What are you doing in those moments of flow? Because 99% of the time, these moments of flow, joy, or ease are a sign that you’re using your strengths in some way. And it feels good, right? Like you’re doing what you were meant to do.
The Hyper-Focus on Improving Your Weaknesses
Most people (in Western culture) are so focused on improving on their weaknesses that they don’t even notice when they’re kicking butt. Or they don’t think too much about what they’re good at because they feel like they have that covered.
A typical teacher evaluation in education is a case in point. You might get a few “You’re doing great in this area, keep it up!” But the reason your supervisor or principal is there is not to congratulate you; it’s to see where you need improvement. “One growth area I see is…”
This is unfortunate because this type of evaluation focuses on your deficits and encourages you to build skills that might really drain your energy or burn you out.
I would so love it if the next round of feedback you receive was something more like, “You are crushing it in this area and you seem to come alive while you’re doing it.” And then, instead of just “Keep it up!” it’s “How could you bring these particular strengths into your work even more?” That would be a totally different conversation. And even if your supervisor isn’t going to initiate it, you can have this conversation with yourself!
Leaning Into Your Strengths in the Classroom
How could you use your strengths more in your work? What would it look like to lean into those strengths?
I want to introduce you to “Maria” as an example of how focusing on your strengths can help you “get better” as a teacher.
Maria was a student in my Teachers at a Crossroads course & community. She was focused on getting better at a part of teaching that was hard for her—organization and time management. Specifically, finding the time to grade the oodles of papers that piled up on her desk as a high school English teacher.
Every strategy or tactic that Maria tried to sort her tasks and prioritize grading those papers just made her feel like she was failing. Despite her best efforts, she still didn’t get it done. She felt guilty and ashamed. “What’s wrong with me?!”
So we shifted to highlighting and prioritizing her strengths, rather than her weaknesses.
Maria is really good at connecting with her students. Her favorite part of teaching is talking with her students about what they’re learning and about what’s going on in their lives. This is her natural way of showing up in the classroom, and it’s when she feels most alive and most accomplished as an educator. Her students love this about her.
(If you’re familiar with the CliftonStrengths, one of Maria’s top five is Woo (winning others over), which means she likes connecting with others, is comfortable with and energized by groups of people, and can find common interests with almost anyone.)
By choosing to focus more on her strength of connecting with students (and less on the struggle of getting organized), Maria permitted herself to be a whole lot more of who she was. To lean into her strengths and worry less about making herself the teacher she felt like she should be.
Did Maria still have to grade papers? Yes. But she figured out a way to do it that allowed her to connect 1:1 or in small groups with her students in real time. Face-to-face rather than alone with a stack of papers on her couch at home.
How did leaning into her strengths make Maria a better teacher?
- She moves through her day with less tension around her responsibilities.
- She’s generally happier and brings this positive energy to her classroom.
- She sees students’ strengths more clearly and can proactively invite them to use them.
- She models showing up authentically in a way that feels good to who she is.
- She actually gets grading done more quickly!
Identifying Your Strengths as a Teacher
Here are a few ways to identify your unique strengths:
- Reflect on different areas of your life (teaching, kids/pet parenting, hobbies, volunteering, etc.) and identify what comes easily to you.
- Notice when you’re “in a flow” at work.
- Consider positive feedback you’ve received from students or supervisors.
- Take the CliftonStrengths assessment by Gallup. As of writing this, it costs $24.99.
- Join my online group course, Teachers at a Crossroads or work with me 1:1. We take the CliftonStrengths as one way of identifying what you have to offer.
- Ask other people what you’re good at. It’s good to get an outside perspective and it feels amazing!
Knowing your strengths is a gift. Using them as much as possible in the classroom benefits everyone!
About Laura Litwiller
Laura is a career clarity coach for teachers feeling stuck in the classroom and lost in their career. Through 1:1 coaching and her online course and community, Teachers at a Crossroads, she helps teachers make confident choices about their career that align with their strengths, values, and what they want most for their life.
Laura has been a career coach for over 12 years and has extensive experience helping others move through the muck of career confusion and onto a clear path forward. She strongly believes that career transitions are an opportunity for discovery, personal growth, and positive change.
Laura has also been a classroom teacher, an immigration paralegal, an urban bicycling instructor, an international educator, and a higher education professional. As a result, she has an expansive view of what fulfilling work can look like and loves to help teachers think outside the box of what’s possible for them.
Take Laura’s quiz “Should I quit teaching?” and learn more about her career course and 1:1 coaching.
