Well, Teachers... teach well

Well Teachers
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Well teachers: we are international educators who recognise that teacher wellbeing & professional development are both connected & vital. In other words: well Teachers... teach well! Join us as we explore topics relating to keeping well as a teacher (not as straightforward as it seems), mastering your teaching skills, and navigating your career in international education. We are facilitators, teachers, education professionals and lifelong learners who understand that learning and teaching well necessitates that you feel well too. #international #education #wellbeing #teachertraining #pd

Episodes

  1. 06/20/2025

    #11 | Shaking the apricot tree: 3 quotes to help get back after a hiatus, (or when you've just been in the thick of it)

    Today the Well Teachers Teach Well podcast returns — complete with a brand-new jingle and some music to set the tone. This reboot provides a moment of reflection, reconnection, and renewal. In this episode, @Sumbella shares three quotes that have carried her through uncertainty, loss, and reinvention. They are: ✨ “Have the courage of your talent” — which is a call to trust in the value you offer ✨ “Speak what you seek until you see what you saw” — a reminder to keep naming our hopes ✨ “The moral arc is long but bends toward justice” — grounding us in long-term purpose and hope 🌱 At the end, don’t miss updates from The Well, our summer Mandarin Hobby Course for teachers, and how a goat, a Springer Spaniel, and grief have all reshaped the pace and purpose of our work at Well Teachers. 🔗 Listen in and reconnect at 💬 And let us know: what words have helped you hold steady lately? #WellTeachers #TeacherWellbeing #PodcastReboot #EducationalLeadership #GriefAndGrowth #TheWell #Teachwell

    13 min

  2. 01/10/2025

    #10 | 'Well, Teachers' | 3 areas I'm investing into this year, and they all begin with 'P': People, Places, and Property

    In this episode I share 3 areas I'm investing into this year: Property, People, And Places. This is a 3x3 episode, in which I share 3 things about each of the 3 things :) (Facilitation hack: I also find this 3x3 a great way to structure presentations when there is just too much to cover). Heh. And there's a bonus P that I'm investing to that's obvious, but I only realised now: Pakistan! Lol. I hope you enjoy. Any questions just reach out to me, whether on LinkedIn, Insta, or at sumbella@wellteachers.org, or over in our platform at wellteachers.mn.co.

    37 min

  3. 10/22/2024

    #9 [Interview] Securing international work independently from Pakistan, upskilling, career pivots & the CELTA - with teacher Sabahat Farooq

    1️⃣Developing skills and profitable qualifications for international work 💡-how she pivoted into teaching from law to pursue a career that felt more meaningful and fulfilling for her 💡-the qualifications she pursued in order to become a tutor for international students (of course, it's the CELTA!) 💡-how she overcomes any challenges with teaching English when it is not her first language 2️⃣Securing and retaining remote, paid international work 💡-the challenges and details of how she secures payments internationally from Pakistan 💡-how she got her first paying student and secures new ones (without using social media at all) 3️⃣Wellbeing and taking care as a teacher 💡-her philosophy on wellbeing and what she does to keep well amidst her workload (both life and tutoring) 💡-how bearing witness to and resisting the atrocities taking place in occupied Palestine, Lebanon and across the Middle East and Africa has had a bearing on her work and lifestyle choices this year. Sabahat is someone who is very much walking the talk - quietly building a budding teaching career on her own terms. And I specially wanted to talk to her about these topics because they are so pertinent for teachers who wish to pivot out of full time school teaching and build a career with more flexibility over time, earnings, and energy.

    54 min

  4. 08/17/2024

    #8 [#wellbeing] 4 things that kept me up at night working in education, and 4 things that would have helped

    In this episode we explore four things that kept me up at night as a teacher, namely: safeguarding issues, burnout, politics, and the 'unreachables'. What would have helped? Nudges, systems, containers & tools - in this episode I explain each of these. At the start of the new academic year for many of us, this episode contains questions with each one to prompt you to consider how these four things can be put in place for your own wellbeing too - whether you're a teacher or you are helping to manage wellbeing in a school setting.

    25 min

  5. 06/21/2024

    #7 [#training] My 5-point filter for sussing out a quality professional development experience

    Well, teachers: the next episode of the podcast is up - and in it, you will hear aaaaaall about 5 filters I use to suss out whether a workshop is worth investing my time and energy. The 5-point filter I use to suss a good PD out is as follows: Attendees? Facilitator? Goals? Flow? Sales? In the podcast I go into each of these.

    15 min

  6. 06/21/2024

    #6 [#Facilitation] 3 things to consider before a workshop (even if you're an experienced trainer)

    Well, teachers: in this episode, I share 3 things the best manager I ever had shared with me after seeing the worst workshop I'd ever delivered. They are audience, authority, and authenticity, and I find them to be a great lens with which to review all workshops and lesson plans.

    19 min

  7. 06/21/2024

    #5 [#facilitation] 7 mistakes from a bad workshop (&why it was important for my facilitation career)

    Well, teachers: in this episode, we'll explore these 7 mistakes, all of which come with good lessons. If you just want to know what the lessons are (keeping in mind that you can only really glean wisdom from the mistakes by knowing the full context leading up to them), here they are: 💡 1- Keep 'reward' objects away from view or access 💡 2- Check with and meet any presenters and presentations due before and after yours 💡 3- Remember that the more people you involve, the more potential for chaos you invite in 💡 4- Factor in transition / margin / 'space' for organising equipment and setup 💡 5- Just because an activity works for one audience, doesn't mean it'll work for another 💡 6- Don't 'death by powerpoint' stop you from using slides - they have their purpose 💡 7- You may beat yourself up if it goes badly... try not to. But it's a sign that you are conscientious and eager to stop it happening again. Remember that people are forgiving and what's bad in your view may have been insightful for someone else. If you'd like to hear the stories of the mistakes behind these 7 lessons, do tune in. 😬

    19 min

  8. 06/21/2024

    #4 [#teaching] 3 ways to maximise lessons you can learn from teaching (without asking anyone else).

    Well, teachers - here are 3 ways to maximise lessons you can learn from teaching (without asking anyone else). The three ways are: 1) Documenting (taking stock of what went well - or not, after your lessons) 2) Sharing (communicating what you've learned to others on a similar journey) 3) Noticing nudges (learning from mentors - even ones you don't know) Listen in to the episode I explore these ideas more. Let me know if you give it a listen, and stay tuned for the next one! Join the private email list for first updates: https://sumbella.com/keepintouch References Retrieval practice blog: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/... Well Teachers Community Membership: https://www.sumbella.com/wellteachers

    13 min

  9. 06/21/2024

    #3 [Wellbeing]: Navigating wellbeing in the face of oppression, genocide & conflict (+how to thrive)

    Well, teachers - it seems strange to bundle things like oppression and genocide and wellbeing into one space. But it's all connected: facing - not avoiding - atrocities, taking action, while showing up strong for your learners and communities. It's why I often say teacher wellbeing is complex, hard and even gritty. We recorded this several weeks prior, wishing that the atrocities would have stopped. Yet they became horrifically worse. Upon re-listening, we hesitated to share this. The ideas we talk about here can seem so futile. But then we were reminded that every effort helps. And that part of how we keep well as a collective is giving each other gentle nudges, and showing up for each other. So, in the third part of this chat I had with Margi, we share ways to channel moral outrage about the genocide(s) taking place currently. To accompany the watch, here’s a summary of the ideas: 1: Children can see hypocrisy We must recognise that children are far more sensitive and open to what is happening around them than we may believe and be responsive to this. Avoidance will not do. 2: Celebration of culture = outlet for sadness Holding cultural community events can help involve children and adults in preserving the culture of people being oppressed but also in recognising the sadness of what is happening. 3: Prayer for spiritual communities Many teachers in the region we are based in - Middle East & North Africa - have family and friends affected or killed in Gaza, the West Bank and across the Global South. Margi has found that daily nudges to pray has been important for community and solidarity. It is also something that joins people in coping and responding to collective sadness, grief and horror. 4: The power in preservation Taking care over protecting heritage & traditions can be one of the mechanisms an oppressed community in diaspora uses to survive, and sometimes thrive, like I’ve seen in Uyghur communities. 5. Re-channelling money helps We can play a part in activating change by recognising the connection between intention, energy and money. In the video I share a bit about the efforts we went to buy the dress I am wearing and what happened when me, my colleague Ahmed Shalabi Abdelghaffar and his wife and family made the effort to go and pick it up. Skip to 5:23 for the story. 6. Document, document, document Companies like Meta are censoring entire accounts, removing & deleting fact based posts without notice. Backing up the work, particularly the evidence of war crimes and malpractice is vital. If I recorded this now, I would add that we need to make efforts to proactively address what is happening through education. This could be through collating ways to teach and deconstruct the root of the problem - settler-colonialism - and weaving in strategies to teach this right now, and in the longer term. Is there anything you would add or include? #teacherwellbeing #copingstrategies #endoccupation

    11 min

  10. 06/21/2024

    #2 [#Wellbeing]: Why knowing your values matters so much (and how it actually helps you feel well)

    Well, teachers - who are you!? That is the question. And when it comes to wellbeing, I began to understand that being able to clearly define your unique self is a foundational piece to the wellbeing puzzle. It may even be the base itself. It gives you your ‘why’. And to paraphrase Nietzsche, when someone has a strong ‘why', they can overcome almost any ‘how’. This type of introspective work and the workshop I refer to in the video is one that I adapted some years back, drawing from Dr Demartini’s book called ’The Values Factor’. It's a good read for anyone interested in this topic too. I hope you enjoy this piece, and now: 💭#overtoyou: If you have a listen/read, let me know: Which point resonates most? Have you done values work before? What are one or two of your own? #elements #valueswork #corevalues #personaldevelopment #knowingyourself #whoami #whoareyou? P.S. Bonus reading - I often find that many organisations take the time to define a set of values too. I remember resonating strongly with those of The Citizens Foundation (Sincerity, Service, Beauty, Positive conduct), which I wrote about here: 🔗https://lnkd.in/d6xy6vWn

    7 min

  11. 06/21/2024

    #1 [#Wellbeing] What’s a wellbeing award (and why should a school pursue getting one?)

    Well, teachers - how can a school get an accreditation for wellbeing (and why would they!?). This is one of the first discussions of this kind I’m doing around teacher wellbeing! Margi Kulsoom Orchard is a Governor for Inclusion at Al Salam Private School & Nursery & Al Salam Community School in the UAE, Dubai. She is also a Speech and Language Therapist, and works with schools, children and their families to help them overcome learning impediments and difficulties together. In this video, she shares some of her experiences of pursuing an award for wellbeing - and winning it. In this case, the award she and the team pursued was with Optimus Education: https://lnkd.in/dU_9YQAX I had never heard of an award for wellbeing before, so I really wanted to understand what this was about. 💭 For now, let’s #thinkcritically together: After you listen to the segment, maybe you will also be a little curious about this award. This is why we spent the first segment of this conversation covering it. P.S. Another soundbite I love from this segment of a conversation with Margi is this: “(Wellbeing) is a dynamic living thing, it’s made up of people who are caring for each other.” Care. 💭💛

    9 min

  12. SEASON 1, EPISODE 1 TRAILER

    #0 Intro: What does wellbeing mean to you (from the eyes of a child)?

    Well, teachers - I said I’d wanted to do something about teacher well-being, right? So I’m starting with what I have, where I am right now. And I’m extraordinarily privileged to be around Al Salam Private School’s Governor for Inclusion, Margi Kulsoom Orchard quite a lot of the time (hi mum!). So we got started with a talk about well-being. In this snippet, she shares an example of asking a child: 'What do you think wellbeing is?'. Their response is darling, and said: "It's caring for each other." And... "Having lots of friends and toys to play with." 🥺💛 Even though they were talking about their world as children, I felt their answer also captures a part of teacher wellbeing so well. But care, friendship and toys for learners is one thing. Yet for adults... It gets tricky. However, this child still 'gets it'. These are integral pieces of the well-being puzzle. I hope we can talk about this more soon. For now, I just wanted to share this first, tiny snippet with the legend that is Margi Kulsoom Orchard. 🤩 In the next two videos, Margi will be sharing her experiences of pursuing (and winning) a Wellbeing Award for her school, Al Salam Private School & Nursery - and how they did it. #teacherwellbeing #wellness #friendship #life

    1 min

Trailer

About

Well teachers: we are international educators who recognise that teacher wellbeing & professional development are both connected & vital. In other words: well Teachers... teach well! Join us as we explore topics relating to keeping well as a teacher (not as straightforward as it seems), mastering your teaching skills, and navigating your career in international education. We are facilitators, teachers, education professionals and lifelong learners who understand that learning and teaching well necessitates that you feel well too. #international #education #wellbeing #teachertraining #pd

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