What characteristics of the imposter syndrome can you relate to most? How can you stop measuring yourself against someone else’s idea of success? How can we stop measuring our students against someone else’s idea of success? Why is it important for us as educators to “listen for brilliance” as Lou Solomon describes in her talk, The Surprising Solution to the Imposter Syndrome?
I have definitely struggled with anxiety over the years due to that overwhelming feeling of doing it all. Self doubt tends to sneak in when we realize we maybe haven't done as well as we hoped. It also sneaks in when we are around negative people. We have to come to the understanding that we will never be perfect and there will always be someone displeased with us. We have to be okay with that.
ReplyDeleteBuilding a good rapport with students can be a big help in forgetting what other people think your students should do/be. You know them best and all of their small successes throughout the year. It is important for us to call out the lies that people tell us or we tell ourselves. We are all brilliant in our own ways and we need to pay attention to other people's brilliance as well and how that can be positive for us too.
Denise Allen
ReplyDeleteI would probably relate to perfectionism when it comes to imposter syndrome. This tends to appear more at home than at school. However, I recently did not get the best feed back from a walk through and it bothered me more than usual. I do not compare myself to others anymore. As I have gotten older, it doesn't matter to me if someone is doing something better or different than me.
ReplyDeleteI would say that the part I connect to the most is anxiety. Over the last few years this has became an unwelcomed area in my life that I have not been enjoying. Covid shutdown era REALLY pulled it out of me and I have been put on meds due to the panic attacks and the heart palpitations. Comparing myself to others and worrying about what others are thinking worries me more now that EVER before. And yet, compliments from others also come hard as I do not ever see what they are seeing- straight from the hearts of Angela's characteristics as well.
ReplyDeleteI think the best way I can break through this is counteract every negative comparison with some positive affirmations of "they did great at that just like you did great at...." Believing and being proud of myself has to start!
As educators we need to listen and see our own brilliance and share out the brilliance we hear about our students. Many of our students are always going to hear about their failures which will become their inner voices, and then the system continues and they will not believe in themselves either.
Fear of failure is absolutely a characteristic of imposter syndrome I relate to most, even though I feel like I had a pretty happy childhood and am not sure where I picked it up. I would say that as far back as the 4th grade, I have been terrified I would fail at something: fail a test, fail a class, forget everything at a concert, and so on. "I have failed at life" seems to resound in my head all the time. I think I mainly need to stop measuring myself against my own measures of success. My parents basically just said to me growing up to try my best; I'm not sure where I developed the major perfectionism. I do probably project some of this onto my students because I'm always shocked when students don't care that they didn't get a 100%, and I always want them to finish the book and then some of the next year's first chapters, and I probably bring up state testing too much. I could definitely dial back my own talking and let them go off on their own math "tangents" during class time at the "risk" of covering fewer standards that day. Sometimes I feel concerned about their lack of "work ethic," and other times I am jealous that they are capable of being more laid back when I can't remember the last time I was.
ReplyDeleteComparison is one of the characteristics that I relate to most. I see teachers that have good relationships with students or moms who seem to accomplish everything fantastically, and it gives me self-doubt. Over the years, I have gotten better at ignoring these triggers and focusing on the things that I am doing well, but it still sneaks up on me sometimes. Often my students will doubt their abilities because another student can speak better Spanish than they do, or because they couldn’t understand someone that spoke to them. I make a point to remind them of what they can do, and that everyone has different skills that they pick up first/more quickly. It is important to encourage my students and look for brilliance in each one of them because sometimes what we need is just a little confidence in ourselves.
ReplyDeleteI am 100% afraid of failure. I have a lot riding on everything I do. My dad was a teacher and my grandpa was a teacher at the school I currently teach at. I always want to do a good job because they did. On top of that I want to do a good job for my family. My idea of success and others may look different. I need to stop trying to please everyone and go about my day that I can't control what others think. When measuring student success we need to understand that their best may look different than others. We need to be open with our students about that and also encourage them to find the best in each other as well.
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ReplyDeleteOut of these four characteristics: anxiety, perfectionism, self doubt, fear of failure, perfectionism is the characteristic I can relate to the most. But self doubt can creep up if I’m not careful. A good way to stop measuring yourself against someone else is to reflect on how each one of us is special and has something unique to offer that no one else has. We need to embrace our uniqueness and not be afraid to share our special gifts with the world. It’s the same with our students, each student has something inside them that no one else has that makes them special. It's important as educators to encourage our students to share their ideas and perspectives and to provide a comfortable, safe environment where they feel like they can share everything they have to offer.
ReplyDeleteI think it is important for us as educators to “listen for brilliance” because our students may have strengths that we do not know about, especially if they are quiet and do not talk much. By listening for brilliance and approaching our students with this perspective, we can provide a positive, supportive learning environment and help them to develop their full potential. We can empower our students by providing different kinds of learning opportunities for them to build their self-confidence.
I can relate most to the perfectionism element of the Imposter Syndrome. I know I am my own worst enemy because my standards for myself and my performance are set higher than I expect anyone else to achieve. Anything less than what I expect from myself feels like settling.
ReplyDeleteIt is important to listen for brilliance so we can be our students' greatest cheerleaders. From our perspective as their teachers, we can spot talents and strengths that they may be unaware of. When we highlight those elements for them, who knows what will be unleashed and inspired!
Callie Dutenhoffer
ReplyDeleteThe characteristic of the imposter syndrome that I can relate to the most is being a perfectionist not only in the classroom, but at home and in my personal life as well. I don't believe that it's me comparing myself to someone else's success, but there are definitely times where that's what the voice in my head is telling me. I sometimes feel like I could be more successful if I followed through with more things on my plate.
There is always going to be different views of what success means, but I think that it is especially important to not compare our students' successes to each other, but the growth of each individual success.
When it comes to "listening for brilliance" from others, it is important that we can listen to our own as an individual. Once we can overcome the voice in our minds that we can do something about it, I believe that we'll be able to see that in others as well, especially our students.
What characteristics of the imposter syndrome can you relate to most? How can you stop measuring yourself against someone else’s idea of success? How can we stop measuring our students against someone else’s idea of success? Why is it important for us as educators to “listen for brilliance” as Lou Solomon describes in her talk, The Surprising Solution to the Imposter Syndrome?
ReplyDeleteI would relate to the perfectionist part and the anxiety part of the imposter syndrome. I believe I compare myself to others quite often in which causes large emotions, worry, and stress. I have a great support system that compliments my successes, but I always have a reason as to why I shouldn't receive that compliment.
When it comes to students, I like to measure them individually. I like to celebrate the little successes. Successes that may not be for someone else, but they have worked hard for themselves. Each student has going to have a different path of success whether it be big or small.
"Listening for brilliance" is important when gaining relationships with each student. This also allows us to provide a positive learning environment and allow them to be the best version of themselves. This will not only help their self-confidence, but mine as a teacher as well.
I think what I relate to most is thinking I didn't do anything worth noticing/awarding. I just do what I signed up to do each day, teach students and help them succeed and be successful. I have a hard time giving myself credit that I deserve sometimes, and often don't take compliments well. I also struggle with comparing myself to others at time, but I try my best to remind myself that I will do what works best for me and that may be different from other people. I think in teaching it is so important to remember that one thing can work so well for some people, but not at all for others and that is okay! I think all of these things can help me to stop comparing my success to others and their ideas of success.
ReplyDeleteAs educators it is important to "listen for brilliance" because we know our students best and we know what they need. If we do what we think is best for them instead of trying to fit in with what others are doing or think is good for us, we probably are not putting our students first.
What characteristics of the imposter syndrome can you relate to most? I think anxiety is the characteristic I can relate to the best.
ReplyDeleteHow can you stop measuring yourself against someone else’s idea of success? It isn't easy, but being positive about myself is a good first step.
How can we stop measuring our students against someone else’s idea of success? As we watch our students progress, we can measure their success this way instead of comparing them to other students.
Why is it important for us as educators to “listen for brilliance” as Lou Solomon describes in her talk, The Surprising Solution to the Imposter Syndrome? It is false to think that the students who talk the most are the most brilliant. It is important to listen for ideas from all of the students, not just the loud talkers.
Perfectionism is probably the characteristic I relate most to. As a math teacher, I make sure I do examples first to make sure I get the right answer before teaching my students. I may have to make some problems up on the fly, so anxiety also comes into play to make sure I do it correctly...I know kind of odd considering I've taught for over 20 years.
ReplyDeleteState testing - and evil way to pit us against ourselves as teachers. Immediately we know how our students compare with others across the state and within the classroom. This leads to self doubt - Ex. Did I prepare them well enough? As a teacher, we must not place this "ONE test" as the only measure of success. Focus on - have they grown as a student and a person?
"Listen for brilliance" - brilliance comes in all forms; verbal and non-verbal. Every student learns different, but also shares differently. Growing individual relationships with your students can help me as a teacher to be the best version of myself in order to give them the best opportunities to learn and be successful.
What characteristics of the imposter syndrome can you relate to most? How can you stop measuring yourself against someone else’s idea of success? How can we stop measuring our students against someone else’s idea of success? Why is it important for us as educators to “listen for brilliance” as Lou Solomon describes in her talk, The Surprising Solution to the Imposter Syndrome?
ReplyDeleteThe characteristic I relate to the most is self-doubt. I compare what I am doing with what I see others doing and then the self-doubt about my abilities begins.
I think it is hard to not compare ourselves to someone else's idea of success, especially as teachers. We get compared by the public all the time, which I think makes it harder for us to be able to step away from that.
I made a conscious effort to not compare my students to other people's idea of success. I looked at the individual student's progress and would use that as the measure, not what other's say should show success.
It is important to listen for brilliance because students show it in all sorts of ways, and it may not be what is shouted out during class. It is listening for the spoken and unspoken, the written, or even the drawn.
The characteristics I relate to most of the imposter syndrome would be anxiety and perfectionism. I REALLY struggle with the second part of this question, how do we stop measuring against someone else's ideas of success? I find I do this more for myself than for my students always wanting to be the "best". I tell my own children all the time (as well as my students) how our differences make us special/unique. I think it's one thing to say it and another to MEAN it. I think the sooner I start actually embodying and accepting this is actually true and being an example of not worrying about others, the more accepting the people looking up to me will start to genuinely believe it also. I think its important for us to "listen for brilliance" because everyone DOES have unique strengths and abilities. We could take opportunities to allow strengths of some to help build up and teach others!
ReplyDeleteWhat characteristics of the imposter syndrome can you relate to most?
ReplyDeleteProbaly the ones that I can relate the most is to not believe or take the credit and fear of failure.
Not taking credit, I stuggle because I do not like the limelight. I like to behind the scenes. I can see at times I get jeolous with those getting the praise, but now I see people thank and praise me, but then I say I don't need it. The other is fear of failure. When we have a home basketball or I run an event, a lot of the times I am thinking what is going to go wrong, when in the end everything works out. I need to remind myself that God is in control, and whatever happens happens.
How can you stop measuring yourself against someone else’s idea of success?
I think the first is to be my self. I can only control myself. My go to Bible passage is: Psalm 139:14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. This tells me God made all of us wonderful and unique.
How can we stop measuring our students against someone else’s idea of success?
We need to treat each student as an individual and remember that no two students are a like. We need to listen to them and encourage them.
Why is it important for us as educators to “listen for brilliance” as Lou Solomon describes in her talk, The Surprising Solution to the Imposter Syndrome?
If we don't listen for brilliance, we may miss out on a great idea or even squash someone's dreams. We need to encourage and build people up so they believe in themselves and succeed. If we don't listen, self-esteem can go down, instead of up, and it takes time for low self-esteem to grow back up to normal or high self-esteem.
I can relate to perfectionism and fear of failure the most. These characteristics cause me to place too much emphasis on my own performance and not enough focus on doing my best and letting God do the rest.
ReplyDeleteI think success has come to be defined in narrow, superficial ways by our culture. These are not the orders I march to as a rule, but society does place an unspoken pressure to conform to one ideal.
We can begin to see our students as uniquely made people, rather than robots in need of programming. As no two fingerprints are alike, no two people have the same gifts or abilities. Begin to celebrate who students are & bring out their best.
Some students will be brilliant in ways that a classroom does not easily showcase. Look for opportunities to highlight a child's ambition, love for hard work, passion for a hobby or interest, love for family....things that are not necessarily academic. Then they may begin to thrive in scholastic efforts too.
Self doubt is what I relate to most. I wonder if I am doing enough, am I passionate enough, am I using enough strategies to hit all my students. Should I list success criteria for every lesson? What happens when I don't? Am I really giving it my all? Why aren't my kids learning more?
ReplyDeleteI try to remind myself that everyday I show up to be my best self and I give my best effort with what I know, the energy I have, and the love I would show my own child. If it is what I would do for my own child, than I know I am doing my best. I always try to assume that everyone shows up with positive intentions. No one comes to school and says, "I am going to do just ok today." We all come to do what is best for kids and I need to assume that about myself as well.
Listening for Brillance is the ability to speak confidence into someone, maybe even yourself. It the exact enemy of the imposter synrdome. If we want people to do big things, we must speak it into them they they can do it.
The characteristic of the imposter syndrome that I can relate to most would be perfectionism. I've always set a very high standard for myself, and any big mistakes I've made over the years seem to stick with me for a long time.
ReplyDeleteI have to be intentional with my thinking in order to stop measuring myself against other people's ideas of success. I have to remind myself of my own values and priorities, and stop any comparison I'm making with those around me. I do think becoming a mom and just getting older in general has helped me let go of caring so much about other's opinions.
I think we can stop measuring our students against someone else's idea of success BY "listening for brilliance" and working to get to know each of our students. Every student has their strengths, and that is something I wish I would've taken more time to consider/explore when I was teaching. As an educator and just as a human being, I think it's important to take advantage of any opportunity to compliment, encourage, and lift up others. So often, we don't realize what a few kind words can mean to a person.
I think I can most relate to self doubt and anxiety. I feel these things creep into my thoughts both with my profession as well as being a mother. That constant thought of am I doing enough in all areas of life and am I passionate enough each day in my classroom.
ReplyDeleteI think it is really challenging to stop comparing or measuring yourself to someone elses ideas. Especially in this world of social media and feeling the need to compare yourself. Putting my family and children first in all situations really helps me not care about others opinions.
I truly believe that all children learn-- not in the same way or the same day. That helps remind me to stop listening to others ideas of success. Especially those that don't work or directly involved in education. I think finding strength areas in each of our children and highlighting those is so important. Individualized learning vs comparison.
Listening for brilliance as an educator means to get to know each student. Creating a positive relationship and finding strengths in all of our kiddos and coworkers. Going the extra mile to be kind.
I can relate a lot to the self doubt and comparing my self to what some of the amazing teachers in my building are doing. I think I can help stop this by acknowledging those great things that are happening around and taking them into my classroom, but also by knowing that I too care about my students and am doing great things. Knowing that all teachers are trying their best, just like me is helpful. I think we can also be looking at the students individually, not as a group, and celebrate their accomplishments. Everyone's learning and goals are different and should be celebrated. I think it's important to "listen for brilliance" so that we can celebrate all of the victories from our students, small or large. We need to get to know them and pay attention so we see those things.
ReplyDeleteFor me, imposter syndrome shows up in feeling that I “haven’t earned” my seat at the teacher’s table. Why do I feel this? I have no idea. I think some of it stems from being an introvert and some from not having had any interest in teaching until college (I was so against teaching that it was one of two careers that I was NEVER going to consider….obviously things changed). I also think some of my feelings come from looking up to some very well-versed writers, professors, and speakers, and wondering how on earth I could ever teach to that level of wonderful. In reflection, I think that looking at myself as a constant work in progress, and focusing on a question like, “What can I do better today or right now?” might be a better way to fight imposter syndrome.
ReplyDeleteFor my students, seeing them as individuals with different strengths and weaknesses is imperative. The “brilliance” that Solomon describes may not be the same brilliance that I see in those professionals that I look up to, but rather, it’s brilliance on a level that is attainable for my students. Recognizing (and verbalizing) moments of valuable insight by my students is something that I could always improve upon. Everyone appreciates and gets a boost from recognition and I could certainly pepper my teaching with more of it!
"Listen for Brilliance" Wow. I am thankful that over the years I have felt that my career is my calling. Because of this, I just do the best I can each and every moment. Do I fail - yes! Do I compare myself to others - continually. My weakness is that I wonder why I'm not noticed more or sought out more for advice but truly, is that why I teach? The best way I can help to stop listening to the Imposter in my head is to trust the fact that I am doing what I am called to do. If my career path needs to be one other than teaching, I hope I am open enough to see it and more on. "Listen for Brilliance" is going on my whiteboard in my classroom. A constant reminder that most of what we hear are the thoughts in our head...the choice to listen is ours.
ReplyDeleteThe characteristic of the imposter syndrome that I can relate to the most is constantly focusing on what I do wrong rather than finding something I did right. I can definitely relate to this as I had a coach that would say I was falling for the ‘self-fulfilling prophecy.’ If I was always telling myself that I couldn’t do something, then that would be how I would do it. You can stop measuring yourself against someone else’s idea of success by taking a moment, taking a breath, and stop living in ultimatums. Perfection will never be attainable. Giving yourself grace and stop holding yourself to an unattainable standard can free you from having to reach someone else’s idea of “success.” You can stop measuring students against someone else’s idea of success by focusing on what they are good at. Just like you, they are not going to be good at everything, it’s impossible. But by focusing on what they are good at will help them to realize it too and make leaps and bounds on progress, rather than trying to fit them into some bubble that you or someone else has created. It is important as educators to “listen for brilliance” because lies and limiting beliefs can isolate you. And that is not how life is meant to be lived.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad the author went so in depth with imposter syndrome. In a subject area (band) that is often filled with contests and auditions and competitions, it can be very easy to compare my students' accomplishments to those of their peers in other schools. When other schools have several students attending an All-State event, where as I struggle to even have students audition, it can quickly become disheartening. I have to constantly remind myself of the quote, "comparison is the thief of joy." I know that my students work hard, and they overcome unbelievable obstacles in order to be successful in music and sports. A win for us and our program looks very different compared to a school that does not face the same challenges. So instead of comparing and being better than anyone else, I like to take the approach of being better than WE were yesterday. As long as we can confidently say that we are moving forward and accomplishing our goals, nothing else matters, and it takes the focus of of me and puts it back where it needs to be, which is on the success of the students. For my own personal teaching needs, I've also started to look a little more critically at what my colleagues do, not from the standpoint of is it right or wrong, but from the standpoint of, how can I take what they are doing and make it work for me, or what ideas can I take from this teacher and apply to my room. It takes the comparison part out of it and leaves me with good ideas to use in my own teaching.
ReplyDeleteWhat characteristics of the imposter syndrome can you relate to most? The feeling of not being good enough, especially when the expert come in and tell us how to do things. How can you stop measuring yourself against someone else’s idea of success? I am getting better at this. It is easy for others who don't deal with kids to tell those of us who do, how we should do it. I do my best every day and that is all I can do. How can we stop measuring our students against someone else’s idea of success? When I see their success, I take time to celebrate it, even though it might not be what others expect.
ReplyDeleteWhy is it important for us as educators to “listen for brilliance” as Lou Solomon describes in her talk, The Surprising Solution to the Imposter Syndrome? Seeing brilliance in our students and ourselves is a positive step in recognizing everyone's worth.
I can really relate to those moments of self-doubt and anxiety. They usually come to mind both at work and home, especially at home with my child. I often find myself wondering if I'm truly excelling in all areas of my life and if I'm bringing enough compassion to my classroom every single day. It's a constant battle not to compare myself to others, especially with social media showcasing everyone's highlight reels. on things like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook. However, I'm learning to prioritize my family and child first, which helps me stay grounded in what truly matters. It is in my teaching philosophy that every child learns uniquely and at their own pace, reminding me to steer clear of society's narrow view of success, especially from those who aren't in the education field. As an educator, listening for brilliance means creating genuine connections with every student, celebrating their individual strengths, and fostering positive relationships with both students and colleagues.
ReplyDeleteI wrote this blog post.
DeleteI relate the most to the comparison aspect of Imposter Syndrome. I work with a lot of great educators and I have definitely had moments where I wished I could make my classroom look like that of another teacher. However, this isn't helpful as I can't just mimic someone else and expect the same results. By reading this book, and others, I have learned that I need to stop trying to be like other teachers in my building and find things that work for me specifically and use them. We all offer our own unique things to our classroom that can make an impact on students, so we need to focus on those instead of comparing ourselves to other teachers.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to the self doubt and comparison aspect of Imposter Syndrome. I am constantly doubting my decisions as a teacher and mom and also comparing myself to other teachers and moms. I can stop measuring my success by comparing it to others success by remembering that everyone's definition of success is different and the only on that should matter is mine. Measuring student's success needs to be measuring not solely on test scores, but that each child is feeling successful and cared for when they leave the classroom at the end of the day. It's important for educators to "listen for brilliance" because brilliance is something that can be shown in many different ways. Each child needs to be taught to be proud of their own unique brilliance and use it to better themselves and help others.
ReplyDeleteWhat characteristics of the imposter syndrome can you relate to most? How can you stop measuring yourself against someone else’s idea of success? How can we stop measuring our students against someone else’s idea of success? Why is it important for us as educators to “listen for brilliance” as Lou Solomon describes in her talk, The Surprising Solution to the Imposter Syndrome?
ReplyDeleteThe characteristics of imposter syndrome that I relate the most to are anxiety and self doubt. I struggle with my anxiety generally speaking from time to time regarding all kinds of things. My self doubt creeps in a lot at work. I am the only health care provider in my school, and this is only my second year doing this kind of work. I find myself constantly wondering if I am making the right choices, doing what another nurse who has been doing this longer would do, do the parents and staff like me and trust me? The speaker stated in her TED talk that once you understand the imposter syndrome, you can do something about it - rather than listening to that voice in your head, try to weed out the lies and limited beliefs and listen to your own "valiant hero".
Instead of measuring students against others, we can recognize what makes them special and unique all on their own. By focusing on how far they have come can really build them up, instead of comparing where they are at to those around them. I think it is so important to "listen for brilliance" for this exact reason. Everyone has something to offer and something that makes them great, as educators we can help students recognize this and know that we see them shining can help build that self-confidence and self-esteem and hopefully negate feelings of imposter syndrome.
Comparing ourselves is human nature. However, we can train ourselves to look for actions, mindsets, wording, behaviors, etc. in others that we want to add to our repertoire, not replace. What we are doing is wrong. We are just looking for new stuff to enhance what we already do. And sometimes what other people do doesn't work for us and that is okay! It doesn't mean they are better or right. It just means it works for them. Our students are no different. I worked for several years with middle school EL students. If you looked at their state test scores, I was a horrible teacher and they were not successful students. However, that test score didn't tell the story. Most of my students came to me grade levels behind in skills and not just missing language. When given a growth model type of assessment, my students gained multiple years of skills in one year, they just had not caught up to their peers, yet. By the time they reached their first year of high school, the majority of my students were taking grade level, non-EL courses and passing with flying colors. But no one would have predicted that based on their state test scores in middle school. Our students are more than just test scores and should never be compared to each other. I'm all for assessments - they can tell me what my students understood and where they still need more support and practice. The scores can show me general trends. They just can't tell me the end all about my students.
ReplyDeleteOf the four characteristics of imposter syndrome mentioned in the video, I struggle most with perfectionism and self-doubt. I have always been a perfectionist, but I do think I have gotten better with that in recent years. However, I do have self-doubt when I compare myself to other teachers. It's hard for me to see how other teachers do things differently and then not start comparing myself to them or thinking about how they do things better than I do.
ReplyDeleteI think Lou's suggestion of just noticing when these voices show up in my head is a good first step in trying to stop measuring myself against someone's idea of success. I have to trust in the fact that I am educated and have a lot of experience and that I'm doing the best I can at all times.
In order to stop measuring my students against someone else's idea of success, I have to remind myself that there are so many factors that contribute to success, and just looking at one or two factors doesn't paint the whole picture. For some kids, coming to school five days a week after I have a one-on-one conversation with them is a success! We as teachers know our students better than most people, so we know success when we see it.
Listening for brilliance is important because everyone demonstrates brilliance, and the more we can listen for it, recognize it, and compliment our students on their brilliance, the more they will start to believe it themselves and the less they will doubt themselves, compare themselves to other students, or feel like they have to be perfect in order to be successful.
I feel like the characteristics that I relate to the most is anxiety and self-doubt. I have a lot of anxiety about doing and saying the right things and then it will consume me for a little while. I also doubt what I am doing and that I have done what I need to do on a daily basis.
ReplyDeleteI need to do a better job of being aware when these feeling arise and change the way I think about each situation. Look at it in a different perspective.
I think knowing our students and knowing their abilities, taking the time to talk to them can help us not measure their success by someone else's is standards. I think continuously reminding myself that each student is different can help me look at each scenario differently. This will play into listening for brilliance. Observe students in different ways to see how they are learning can help us eliminate comparing each child to a certain level of success.
I can relate a lot to comparison, and have been able to recognize it over the past few months. I realized that I would find myself constantly feeling less than after spending time on social media, due to comparison. My house wasn't perfect like I saw, my kids weren't as smart and well-behaved as those kids, I wasn't going on elaborate vacations, my husband didn't do major romantic gestures. I realized that I didn't feel as though I was missing something or less than until I compared myself to what I was seeing on social media. This caused me to unfollow people that were triggering these thoughts and to overall spend less time on my phone. I still fall into the trap sometimes, but it's improved a lot.
ReplyDeleteI don't work directly with other school nurses, as they're in their own schools, but I do compare and have self-doubt about what doing versus what they're doing. I have also compared myself to the previous nurse, whose position I took over, and wondered if she had done a better job at certain aspects. It's caused me to have self-doubt in my job and the decisions that I was making.
I think its important to "listen for the brilliance" in schools, we have the ability to see each student in such a unique way that we can foster what is truly special about them. We have the opportunity to spend the school year (maybe a few years even) and really get to know the students strengths and help build self-confidence in each of them.
The two characteristics I can relate to the most are anxiety and perfectionism. So many things to get done during your day. Someday's simply getting to the bathroom was just impossible. Between classes you have hallway duty, but you wanted to greet students at your door as they entered. There were also those classes where you had some immature students who needed the extra eye and were into everything. How were you to perform hall duty, greet students, answer email to parent, who wanted their answer right now, and watch the immature students, who were always there early? Some how, it all got done but you were not able to get to the bathroom. Those were the killer days, teaching was the easy part on those days.
ReplyDeleteI always wondered if I was covering material clearly enough for understanding. Was there something I could do better? What did make me feel better was having students regurgitate what we just did, for example reading chemical equations. I never felt perfect but I also never felt like a failure. I enjoyed watching other teachers and learning but I also believe variety is good. I think having a variety of pedagogy in the building is a good thing for the students. Otherwise you have a cookie cutter school, how could you reach every student that way? I think by being team players we can shake things up together and reach all students.
I am definitely someone who feels very uncomfortable with someone complimenting me. Thoughts such as "why would they think that?" automatically come to my mind when receiving a compliment. Tying in this week's reading of FTB, I am going to make being my "authentic self" and living a life that reflects what I truly believe in, a priority. I feel like living in this manner will help cultivate self-confidence and diminish imposter syndrome.
ReplyDeleteThis goes along with my students as well. I think so often as a teacher I am trying to cram in as much teaching as I can to ensure that students will meet standards that don't often match where that student is at academically. I need to continue to try to create an environment that allows students to be their authentic selves and to believe in themselves. When students feel comfortable and confident, that is when their unique brilliance will appear and flourish-and optimal growth in learning and life will occur.
Oh man, I have struggled with all the characteristics of imposter syndrome. In recent years, I have worked hard to work through perfectionism, but anxiety has overwhelmed me completely for various reasons. Becoming a parent has both made me struggle more with anxiety and self doubt while also emboldening me to confidently call out my "Ms. Vader" in order to become a better wife and mom.
ReplyDeleteIn a school setting, it's often the loudest, most active students who end up demanding our attention. I love the idea of noticing the quieter students but in a subtle way rather than calling them out by name, etc. I like the idea of always striving to meet students where they are and noticing and listening for brilliance... being curious about the subtle ways we might find it in our students.
I have all the characteristics, but anxiety is what I relate to the most. Anxiety is intertwined with the other characteristics in all areas of my life. A big step I took to stop measuring myself to others is keeping a distance from social media. It is easy to start doubting yourself in many areas when you spend a lot of time scrolling and seeing other people’s lives through social media. With your students you need to remind yourself that everyone is different. Everyone leaves at different speeds and everyone is brilliant in different ways. Celebrate the uniqueness and individual brilliance of each student instead of comparing.
ReplyDeleteI can definitely relate the imposter syndrome, especially during my first few years of teaching. Since I was trying to figure out who I was as a teacher, I was often looking to others and often comparing myself. It has become better this year as I've felt more comfortable with the type of teacher I am and my ability to for positive relationships with students. I am also better at not comparing myself to others or caring about what they think (for the most part). I try to be my authentic self every day and hope that students will start to feel confident in their true selves as opposed to being the type of person others (or the internet) tells them they need to be.
ReplyDeleteI think at times I can relate to all of the characteristics of imposter syndrome. It can be a hard thing to get yourself out of and definitely takes me being mindful of it to snap out of it. From a young age, I think that I was conditioned to always get things done perfectly and over the course of time, that just made things worse. Even now when I'm not actively teaching, I have to remind myself in my workload that it is ok if I make a mistake from time to time. For me, having the right support team around me is definitely helpful. I try and model this for my teammates and the people who report to me and give words of encouragement to not let themselves fall into the same trap. For students, I think it is important that they see this behavior modeled by trusted adults as well.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I can relate to all the characteristics of the imposter syndrome. I struggle the most with perfectionism and anxiety. I often feel overwhelmed with all the daily requirements and around this time of year there are tons of extra requirements. I always want my lesson plans organized and perfect. I have high expectations for my students. Sometimes I need to just let that go and know that I am trying my best and if a lesson doesn't go completely perfect that is ok! It is hard not to measure myself against other teachers. If I see that they are doing something, I feel like I should be doing that too. If our team works together and shares ideas that can help and we don't put that extra pressure on ourselves. Listening for brilliance is important in every classroom. All students demonstrate brilliance in their own way. In our school we have a high population of ELL students. Brilliance could be viewed very differently in my classroom versus someone else's. We need to recognize each student's successes and celebrate them. I think this also builds their confidence and helps them not to compare themselves to others. If you create a positive classroom it also extends to the students and they start to compliment and notice their classmates successes.
ReplyDeleteThe imposter syndrome I can relate to the most is anxiety. I have a great deal of anxiety when it comes to being prepared for the week. If I don't have all lessons ready to go by the time I leave on Friday, I can't seem to relax all weekend. I have anxiety when it comes to having my classroom, students, everything, just right at all times.
ReplyDeleteOne way to stop measuring myself to others is by limiting myself from social media. It's easy for everyone to post how perfect their lives are on social media, but it's hard to remember that everyone "has skeletons in their closet" and their lives aren't really that perfect.
What characteristics of the imposter syndrome can you relate to most?
ReplyDeleteI believe that I relate most with Anxiety and Fear of Failure.
How can you stop measuring yourself against someone else’s idea of success?
I wish I could stop measuring myself against others. I need to work on reminding myself that I am successful.
How can we stop measuring our students against someone else’s idea of success?
I do not believe that we can stop measuring students against others as long as we have standardize testing.
Why is it important for us as educators to “listen for brilliance” as Lou Solomon describes in her talk, The Surprising Solution to the Imposter Syndrome?
I would say self-doubt is the characteristic that I relate to the most. I find myself doubting my teaching abilities when I get caught up in the "comparison game". I'm an introverted teacher, so I'll compare myself to the extroverts and think I'm not connecting well enough with the kids. Or, I'll worry that I'm not as smart as another teacher in my building. I usually stop myself from worrying about being an imposter by reminding myself that I have other gifts and talents that other teachers don't have -- and that my kids are doing just fine. :) I think this is a good reminder for students dealing with imposter syndrome: reminding them to stop focusing on the gifts and talents that they don't have, and instead focus on the gifts and talents that they do have.
ReplyDeleteI related to this video so much right away because of her story about her alcoholic father and verbal abuse. I unfortunately have a very personal connection to that with similar results. My dad had very high expectations and expected nothing less than the best. He had his PhD and education, and hierarchy were very important to him. I could also relate to the vulnerability portion about never give up, never ask for help, never let them see you sweat because you just had to “grin and bear it” and pull yourself up by your bootstraps. I feel this has greatly impacted my emotional state and has contributed to the imposter syndrome within myself with self-doubt.
ReplyDeleteI need to do a better job of understanding myself and knowing my limits and where I excel, then I can measure my success in my own personal scale and not against anyone else’s measurements. I have anxiety with feelings of overwhelming self-doubt at times, and I need to understand that people don’t view me the same way I view myself and that’s okay. I have my own levels of success and my standards for myself are much higher than anyone expects from me. I don’t need to complete my 20 item to-do list to feel like I accomplished a “successful weekend,” because it’s my own standards not anyone else’s. Even small wins are still a win, and I need to pay attention to my own brilliance and not worry about others’. I am quite a perfectionist and this can lead to a spiral downfall quickly.
I like that she said “listening for brilliance” doesn’t take much, simple things like “I noticed you’re really gifted at this” are enough to break the cycle and reset your thinking. I think being aware of these negative thoughts and ways to change your beliefs are vital to the success we can have as educators so we can help crawl out of the barrel together.
If can relate to the feelings of self-doubt and perfectionism. The analogy of the bouncer over my shoulder ready to kick me out made me laugh, but it feels so relatable. I think time has made me better at not measuring myself against someone else's ideas of success. I wish I'd have read this book earlier on in my career. I once read some advice to avoid overthinking that involved sorting out your top core values and referring to them whenever making a choice. Any choice that lines up with those is an acceptable one. I consider my life successful when I live in accordance to those instead of living in a way that looks impressive to other people. I liked the "listening for brilliance." She says that they were, in fact, brilliant in that class. I think, to a degree, we see what we look for.
ReplyDeleteI am sure I have experienced all of the Fantastic 4! I although in the last few years have also learned that I am capable of way more than I used to think. The key is to go at my own pace and style. I do not have to be like anyone else. I feel this is so important for me to apply to my students also. They don't have to think, look, act, or learn like everyone else. They need to find their style too.
ReplyDeleteI try to help them find this in my 4th-8th grade group lessons, by asking " What did you hear?" They offer up their understanding of what was covered, this often helps others get the idea, or can even take us into deeper discussion, by making connections I had not thought of! By listening I can gather whether they got the lesson, if they missed the point, or if I need to teach that lesson in an entirely different way! By listening for brilliance for all of us in my room we can all be come successful and confident.
Perfectionist, anxiety, and self-doubt. Perfectionism runs the longest in me; I've had that since I was a child. If I'm going to do something, then I'm going to do it right. Coaching, teaching, parenting, cleaning, car shopping, anything! In turn, this puts a lot of stress on me and I wonder what's wrong with me for wanting to do EVERYTHING the right way. It's a constant fence I go back and forth over.
ReplyDeleteI have anxiety about teaching because it's changed so much the last several years. More expectations, more ungrateful students, more ungrateful parents, walking on egg shells, more behavior problems without help, more hoops to jump. Teaching isn't fun anymore.
I struggle with self-doubt because of everything that's expected now-a-days, I wonder if this is what I'm called to do anymore.
I can get over this by understanding to "listen for the brilliance" and continue to see the good in each student as though they were my own. Having that sense of empathy and love can ignite a new understanding and drive.
The characteristics of imposter syndrome that I relate to most are self-doubt and perfectionism. The story of the typo in the email and going back to work at 2am to fix it really resonated with me. I also enjoyed her way of talking about negative self-talk and labeled it as Miss Vader and that you need a radical hero (Betty Lou) to help you combat the negative self-talk that happens. Which I think also plays into how you can stop measuring yourself against someone else’s idea of success and also students’ progress against someone else’s idea of success, your radical hero can step up and confront the lies told by your imposter syndrome trying to get you to doubt yourself and your abilities. Students in our classroom may feel like they don’t have a voice, or their voice doesn’t matter. If we, as teachers, do a good job of being intentional about listening for brilliance then we will organically catch students saying impressive things. Then if we initiate a conversation- praising them for their insight, a seed can be planted in that student that grows into an intrinsic motivation in that content area or just motivation to learn and achieve. The mention of Maya Angelou then the story of remembering her Biology teacher reminded me of the quote “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou. I think the presenter’s story speaks to how this Biology teacher made her feel during her time in his class and how much she treasures that feeling.
ReplyDeleteI honestly relate to all of the Fantastic 4! I think in today's society where so much is thrown out there on social media, it's hard to stop measuring or comparing myself to others' ideas of success. I also feel as an educator, so many not in our field feel it necessary to dictate policies, standards, curriculum, teaching techniques, etc.; many of which tend to feel unattainable. I try to focus on the good things that I see happening in my classroom, the small successes I notice in each of my students and push forward. I think looking at each individual's needs and individual successes is important, and not just test scores. Success in each child's life is different. Sometimes success is making it to school on time or remembering to finish his homework. There are so many factors anymore that contribute to the overall success of each student. I loved the story about "listening for brilliance." You could tell how much she treasured that teacher and the interactions in that classroom. Each child deserves to feel brilliant and have someone believe they are. We all need someone to plant that seed of brilliance, the seed of self confidence, the seed of courage so that we, too, believe in ourselves and eliminate the imposter syndrome.
ReplyDeleteThe characteristics of the imposter syndrome I can relate to most are uncomfortable feelings when praised and fear of failure. I grew up with five siblings and was the middle child. My family stressed the importance of an education and expected nothing less than the best. While I struggled to maintain a C in some of my classes and received a D in middle school science at one point, I felt like such a failure. My younger siblings were straight A students and school seemed so easy to them. My parents never completed higher education, but my dad had siblings who did and had higher paying professions. I think my dad always felt like he didn't succeed because he compared himself to his siblings' accomplishments. Because of this, it felt like we were always pushed to do better and better or what we did was never good enough. We had a great childhood, but I definitely grew up feeling like my dad--that I was not good enough, no matter how hard I worked, some of my grades were proof of this, just like he thought his career compared to his siblings' careers was proof of this. I think he felt like he had to make up for not feeling like he was enough, and in a way, this belief about not being good enough was instilled into me. Throughout my life, I came across a lot of wonderful people including my siblings and some teachers who helped me indirectly work through this debilitating feeling of not feeling like I was never good enough. This feeling pops up at times still, but I now know my worth. Just like success in each person's life is different, so is success in each student's life different. Because of this, each person is brilliant and has his/her own unique talents/skills to offer in our world. Each of us will follow our own path. I do find that the people I surround myself around makes a huge difference on if this feeling of not being good enough pops up more frequently, so I choose places I work carefully. Even if I'm paid less, I'd rather work in a healthy environment that supports me and my successes. Surrounding myself with people that believe in me and are there to help me grow is the best way I can grow and prove myself. The biggest part of this is to stop comparing myself to others and their successes. Our students also deserve wonderful people and places that help them. A wonderful leader will believe in them without comparing them to others--they will recognize their individual successes and their individual brilliance. It is important for us as educators to “listen for brilliance” as Lou Solomon describes in her talk, The Surprising Solution to the Imposter Syndrome because each student deserves to feel brilliant and that they have something to offer. Without feeling like they are a productive part of society, what hope do any of us have to succeed? We all need someone to believe in us, so we build the self confidence we need to believe in ourselves.
ReplyDeleteWhat characteristics of the imposter syndrome can you relate to most? How can you stop measuring yourself against someone else’s idea of success? How can we stop measuring our students against someone else’s idea of success? Why is it important for us as educators to “listen for brilliance” as Lou Solomon describes in her talk, The Surprising Solution to the Imposter Syndrome?
ReplyDeleteI can relate to all four parts of the Imposter Syndrome is some aspects and situations throughout my life journey. I definitely can be a perfectionist and like things done right, but have learned to let go of that some as my own children grow older. I am not in control of everything, we can have cereal for supper at times and my dishes can sit in the sink until the next am. This letting go some strategy has lessened my anxiety. I have self- doubt and probably more experienced the fear of failure growing up more so that currently. I feel proud of things, yet always felt I needed to be humble so didn't receive compliments as I should have. Since being in the teaching profession, I have noted this weakness about my growing up and have really strived to share it with my students. Teaching them to go out and give things a try and there is not value in the fear of failure, yet loads of benefits in learning that failure is a normal step in finding success. We learn from mistakes and they are the proof that we are trying. Comparing yourself to others is not fair, nor measurable in any way. I love showing my students their beginning, middle, and end assessments. Knowing their starting point and the growth they have made is so rewarding for them. The solution to the Imposter Syndrome is recognizing and helping our children recognize every step forward they make, their big and little successes, their social and academic growth, and helping each and every individual recognize and celebrate their strengths. Letting them know we all have different but great characteristics that we need to applaud and value. Self- confidence and all around complimenting our students, colleagues, friends, and family is vital in a productive and positive environment. Growing up my parents were very hard-working and expected the same from their 7 children. We had great work-ethics and great respect toward our parents. In parenting my own 6 children, I often would ask them how they got us to always respect and do what we were told. The answer was often a little encouragement, positivity and compliment can go a long way. It may not seem like much, but kids do not always need to be paid or given things to reward good behavior. Most often just a simple compliment can go a long ways and will make a much longer lasting impact.
I relate to the self-doubt imposter syndrome characteristic the most. I question if this is the best way to teach this concept and if I’m doing all I can for my students. It is hard to not measure student success in such a data driven world, in terms of others’ ideas of success. I truly wish test scores weren’t the only result we cared about and looked at all the growth students have. “Listening for brilliance” is beautiful. We need to see and hear each child as they are and celebrate them.
ReplyDeleteThe characteristics that I relate to most self-doubt and anxiety. One of the ways I found to stop measuring myself was to keep a close teacher friends to discuss these feelings of self-doubt. It is hard to stop measuring students as we have to do testing, but I think that is just a snap shot of what they can do that day, not what they are capable of. When students aren't under the pressure of a test, I am able to see more progress in what they know. I love the saying "listening for brilliance" and it is important to find those in students and to share with them when you see any accomplishment, no matter no big or small. I think I will have to make a note on my desk to help me look for that daily when the school year starts again.
ReplyDeleteSelf-doubt and fear of failure are characteristics that I relate to in this Ted talk. Growing up in a household that didn't offer encouragement it was easy to doubt the value of myself. I would fill that space with making sure I was helpful and always willing to do whatever was needed to make sure everyone was happy.
ReplyDeleteI have been able to take that experience and work to make sure that everyone whom I come in contact with knows they are valued as they are and not for what they do or accomplish. I hope to leave each person with a feeling that they are enough simply by being. To listen for me is to listen for brilliance. There is always a reason that the person is in your life, we just need to find it.
Self-doubt is the characteristic that I believe I deal with the most. I sometimes begin to question what I am doing as a teacher when the kids don't "like" what I am teaching, or I don't get positive feedback from those who observe me. I sometimes find it hard not to think about what others perceive as "success" in my work, especially with my wife who has been teaching for nearly 30 years. I know she is a "success" and sometimes when I ask her opinion on things I feel like I can't live up to what she is saying I should do. I know she doesn't mean to cause me to doubt, and that I bring that on myself, so I need to remember that it is part of my subconscious so that I can avoid my own frustrations and doubts. As a former special education teacher, I am really good at looking at students as individuals and not comparing them to each other. I know that success for one student is not the same as it is for another. I try to help other teachers see that as well. We need to listen for brilliance in our students (and in our colleagues) because self-esteem if fragile. Our negative, and even our neutral comments can quickly tear someone down when we should be trying to build them up. I do this well with my students, but I sometimes forget that I should also do this for the other teachers I work with.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I can relate to each of those characteristics in different ways (or on different days), but the one I probably relate to the most is self-doubt. I started my first teaching job mid-year when a position opened up during winter break. A few people reached out to me about the job, so I contacted the superintendent, who called me back on New Year’s Eve to set up an interview for two days later. I was offered the job the next day, which was an in-service day, so I immediately went to the school to meet my coworkers and set up my classroom. Students arrived from winter break the next day. That was an incredibly rough way to start a teaching job, and I always look back on that semester when I need a reminder that I can do difficult things. However, there was quite a bit of self-doubt most of the time I worked there since I felt that I was hired by a district that had no options and no time to choose carefully. I questioned whether or not I was truly meant to be a teacher, and it didn’t help that coworkers would joke that the district simply wanted a living, breathing body in the classroom but that they lucked out with me; it was meant to be funny but always watered that seed of doubt that was already there. I gained more confidence during my time there, and while I enjoyed working there so much, I think it helped to go through a more thorough interview and hiring process with my current district.
ReplyDeleteI think it’s important that we remind students that they’re all learning at their own pace. When students become impatient or frustrated because they don’t immediately understand something while their neighbor seems to have mastered it right away, I try to remind them that I’m not expecting them all to master what we’re doing immediately. It’s important for educators to “listen for brilliance” because, while students might struggle in some ways, they likely are good at and excited about something else. I’ve had those interactions numerous times over the years; a student that struggles shines in other ways, whether it’s a sport or activity or simply that I see them babysitting and realize how good they are at working with young children. It’s important to recognize each of our students as individuals with their own strengths.
What characteristics of the imposter syndrome can you relate to most? The characteristics of imposter syndrom that I can relate to most are anxiety and perfectionism. I have always set high standards for myself in both my career and in my personal life. This can cause stress not only on myself, but on my family as well. I try to remind my students that everyone learns at their own pace. Develping relationships with your students and encouraging them to set personal goals based on their strengths and areas they may need improvement. Success can look different for each student, where one might master a topic easily, while others may struggle. "Listening for brilliance" to me is the idea that every students has unique talents and strengths. When teachers can celebrate the qualities in their students that make them unique, the overall learning experience is that much better for everyone (both student and teacher).
ReplyDeleteAnxiety and perfectionism are the 2 imposter syndromes I most relate to. I've always had anxiety and fear of doing something wrong. I'm sure that relates to the physically abusive household I grew up in. Nothing I did was ever enough. When I was proud of accomplishing something, I always got the "You could have done better" speech. I have noticed the older I get, the worse my anxiety gets. I don't care to be in large social gatherings. I'm content being at home watching tv with my dog. I had the worst class I've ever had last year and it pushed me to the point of needing to get on anxiety medication. I'm horrible at accepting compliments. I'm told over and over how great of a teacher I am. Or I'll get told how nice I look and I can never accept the compliments. I always deflect. One way I can stop measuring myself against others is to stay off social media, or at least limit my time on social media. Everyone always posts how wonderful their lives, marriages, and vacations are and sometimes it makes me feel inferior and gives me a case of the "I wish I had that". I'm a single mom of three boys living on a teacher's salary. It's just not in the cards for me. I've really been trying to focus on what I've accomplished. I once read the house you live in is someone else's dream house. The job you have is someone else's dream job. The car you drive is someone else's dream car, etc.... In other words, be thankful for what you have and learn to appreciate what you've accomplished. My goal with my students is to always make them feel valued. I never want my students to feel what I felt as a child. I want them to feel like they can move mountains!
ReplyDeleteWhat characteristics of the imposter syndrome can you relate to most?
ReplyDeleteI can relate to the perfectionist part. I have very high standards for myself. I always want to do my very best in all I do. When I fail to measure up to these standards I set for myself, I can feel disappointed and feel that I could have done things better.
How can you stop measuring yourself against someone else's idea of success?
I am my own person with my own individual and unique abilities and talents. I was given these talents and abilities to use and share with others. Each day I work to use them to teach children in the best way possible. I think it is important for children to see that just like they themselves have different areas of strength, so do teachers.
How can we stop measuring our students against someone else's idea of success?
In my classroom, I look for ways that make my students special and unique. I am always excited to see the growth that they make in all areas, not just academics.
Why is it important for us as educators to "listen for brilliance" as Lou Solomon describes in her talk.
All students have differing abilities and areas of strength. I think we as teachers need to recognize this and encourage all students to embrace their strengths. For some children we may be the only encouraging people in their lives.
I'm think that the characteristic I identify most with is self-doubt. It's super easy to compare myself to other teachers, moms, etc and find areas where I don't think I match up. The older I get and the longer that I've been teaching, I do find it easier to push those thoughts aside and know that I am doing my best, which is what matters most. As a teacher, I found that I worried how my students' test scores compared to other students when I taught in a bigger school with multiple classes of the same grade-level. I'm in a small district now where I'm the only teacher in my grade. I now just teach & guide my students the best that I can, but don't have to worry about comparing them to others. I loved Lou's comment about "listening for brilliance"! What a calming thought for me! Let the students embrace their strengths and encourage them to believe in themselves!
ReplyDeleteI think at times I can relate to all the characteristics of imposter syndrome; however, the characteristic I feel myself relating to the most is self-doubt. I compare what I am doing (at home and at school) with what I see others doing and then the self-doubt about my abilities begins. Why can’t I be more like that? How are they able to balance work and their home life so effortlessly? I wish I was more organized like so and so. I wish I could get my act together like so and so. Then when I really spiral, I dig a deeper hole and then get further and further behind in my work which then makes me anxious.
ReplyDeleteI think it is hard to not compare myself to others’ ideas of success. It feels as though, as educators, we constantly are being measured against others and have a microscope shined upon us whether it is at a local level like administrators critiquing successes/areas of improvement in the classrooms to a district level where we are comparing test scores to other districts around us to a global level where we are comparing ourselves to people, we see online. This constant comparison is hard to step away from. I try my best to remind myself of the positive things that are going on, but I definitely have a voice in my head that wants me to focus on the shortcomings I feel like I have. Continued practice with positive self-talk will hopefully help with that.
When it comes to my students, I try to not compare them to other people's idea of success. Each student is an individual and their success may look different than another. I tell my kids, it’s not perfection we are looking for, it is progress. So, as long as my students are making gains and are progressing, that is what is most important.
It is important to listen and look for brilliance because students show it daily and in all sorts of ways. There is no cookie cutter way to show brilliance and we as educators get the privilege to experience the spoken and unspoken, the written, or even the drawn brilliances of our future in our classrooms each and every day (and how cool is that!)
The main characteristic of the imposter syndrome that I relate to is perfectionism. I constantly write myself notes on how to improve this quiz or that activity. In theory, that's a good move, but in practice, it can be obsessive.
ReplyDeleteIt can be difficult not to measure my success according to others' standards. I have seen/read amazing stories of teachers who constantly go above and beyond anything I have ever done (I think of those teachers who went to students' homes during COVID to teach them through the screen door!) However, I have found some peace in telling myself that I need to be happy to give what I can give each day in my own way. I hope that I consistently convey that to my students as well. I often tell my students about my grad school prof who taught me that sometimes a B is better than an A.
I want to consistently listen for brilliance from my students. I need to remind myself that many people (including myself!) remember defining comments made by their teachers. I have the chance to help students believe in themselves, feel seen and heard, and maybe even instill hope in their futures.
There are a few main characteristics of Imposter Syndrome that I can relate to the most - and two of them of self-doubt and perfectionism. I am constantly getting down on myself, thinking that I haven't done enough or a good enough job. When I make a mistake, I overthink it and overthink it. I don't want others making negative comments about me or my work, so I think that is why I overanalyze and stress so much about simple little things to make sure that they are done to the best of my ability. There have been so many people throughout my life who have said to me "stop being so hard on yourself, you're doing great", but sometimes I just don't believe it.
ReplyDeleteI think as long as I stick to what I know I am good at, and continue to stay confident in my work and my abilities, I will become better at not measuring my success to what others think it needs to be.
We can stop measuring our students against other's ideas of success by just letting them be themself and showing what they know and encouraging them to do that. At the end of the day, we cannot do it for them, so having them show us by using words of encouragement is so important.
It is important for us educators to "listen for brilliance" because children need to be recognized for their own strengths and abilities, and need to be heard for them to be successful. As a preschool teacher, this is so important for me because my students are so young and need to hear compliments and words of praise, because they are just learning themselves what they are good at or maybe aren't so good at.
Why is it important for us as educators to “listen for brilliance” as Lou Solomon describes in her talk, The Surprising Solution to the Imposter Syndrome?
ReplyDeleteI can relate to the self doubt aspect of imposer syndrome as I am currently taking on teaching classes I am not familiar with. So the sense of am I doing this correctly and giving my students enough is always in the back of my head and I learn about these classes as well. I have to keep my goals in mind and not what others think my goals should be. I also need to be reminded to let the students be themselves as they are finding their passions, goals and interests along the way. Being supportive and listening to them is the best way to support them in finding their own success.
In Listening for Brilliance students an take ownership in their strengths and interests and foster a sense of pride in success. I have students of all ages and listening to them is a great way to support them in finding their way.
What characteristics of the imposter syndrome can you relate to most? How can you stop measuring yourself against someone else’s idea of success? How can we stop measuring our students against someone else’s idea of success? Why is it important for us as educators to “listen for brilliance” as Lou Solomon describes in her talk, The Surprising Solution to the Imposter Syndrome?
ReplyDeleteI can relate to all of the characteristics of the Imposter Syndrome. In fact, on page 100, I have never felt more seen. "Even if your students are generally learning and engaged, parents are complimenting you, colleagues admire you, and your principal thinks you're doing a good job, you *still* might not see yourself as an effective teacher." This sums up my thoughts and beliefs immensely! I think the characteristic I most experience though, is self-doubt. I am always overthinking, rethinking, and second guessing decisions I've made and conversations I've had. How can I stop measuring myself against others' ideas of success? I'm not sure. Yes, I can recognize the lies my inner self tells me. Yes, I can recognize small achievements along the way, but I don't know that I'll ever be able to stop measuring myself against others.
I love the idea of listening for brilliance. Some students aren't great test takers, so their standardized testing results look poor. However, those same students can articulate or demonstrate their learning in other ways. If we take the time to really listen to the conversations in our classrooms and listen to what students are saying rather than just waiting our turn to respond, we can praise these students and their understanding of the topics taught. We can help them feel worthy and competent - 2 feelings that those with the imposter syndrome don't typically genuinely experience.
What characteristics of the imposter syndrome can you relate to most? How can you stop measuring yourself against someone else’s idea of success? How can we stop measuring our students against someone else’s idea of success? Why is it important for us as educators to “listen for brilliance” as Lou Solomon describes in her talk, The Surprising Solution to the Imposter Syndrome?
ReplyDeleteWhen Solomon listed off the 4 characteristics of imposter syndrome, each one resonated with me in some way or another but particularly anxiety and perfectionism. She spoke of measuring ourselves against someone else or another person's expectations and the "taboo" of vulnerability, and it really reminded me of Brene Brown's work around vulnerability and how shame shows up at the work place. Even as I enter my 14th year as a teacher and know I am a good teacher, I struggle with comparison or the "Miss Vader" telling me I'm not good enough. At this point in my career, I find myself trying to let go of perfection--understanding that's not what my students need anyway--and strive for authenticity. Being authentic ties into the idea of listening for brilliance because if I can be real with my students, including making mistakes and being vulnerable, then maybe they will take their cue from me and try the same. Wonderful ideas don't come without some risk taking, and I have to model that for my students. And this is all easier said than done and takes daily commitment and practice.
One of the best things about getting older is that you stop the constant comparisons, and you get more confident and more comfortable in your own skin. That doesn't mean I don't still feel like an imposter periodically -- I definitely do -- but it doesn't throw me like it used to. I've come to realize that we all have different strengths and weaknesses. I may be really good with interpersonal relationships, but my lessons aren't the most creative. That's okay. I watch some of my really creative colleagues, and now, instead of feeling inept or less than, I just admire, compliment, and try to incorporate more of that particular style into my own teaching.
ReplyDeleteI can most compare to perfectionism as one of the characteristics of the Imposter Syndrome. I like things to be perfect and I am constantly thinking that what I do is not perfect enough to be the best teacher that I can be. One way that I can stop measuring myself against someone else's idea of success is by not comparing myself to others. When another teacher has a great idea for teaching a lesson, I get down on myself for not thinking of that and incorporating that into my teaching. Instead of doing that, I can incorporate the idea and give credit to whoever's idea it was. Listening for brilliance is a really cool idea. We need to model and encourage students to create brilliant ideas and gather ideas from others, while still giving credit where credit is due. Working together is one way that I can help my students listen for brilliance because they will be able to work together to get great ideas and then incorporate those ideas into whatever they are doing and learning.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to perfectionism the most. Being a musician, I had to be prepared for a lot of criticism, and to putting my skills on public display often. I remember after performing a flute solo in college, my flute professor congratulated me on a job well done, and while accepting from her I had done well, I told her I had made three mistakes. I've grown less perfectionistic, but still think back on my high school and college days and marvel at how much a perfectionist I was.
ReplyDeleteI think being able to stop using someone else's idea of success as your own measuring stick comes down to knowing your values and deeply believing in them and yourself. I think getting to that point comes from growth, self-reflection, and by being surrounded by people who believe in you and are also honest with you.
I LOVE the phrase "listening for brilliance". What Lou said in her talk about how the "talkers" are successful or are often considered the smartest, is so true unfortunately. My father is a brilliant man, and is very humble and soft-spoken. He isn't going to draw attention to himself. So often teachers notice the most outgoing student, as they make themselves known, but I believe it is so important for teachers, and anyone, to notice and value the quieter personalities; often they are brilliant and can be looked over and to miss out on their input would be a shame.
What characteristics of the imposter syndrome can you relate to most?
ReplyDeleteI can most relate to the characteristic of perfectionism. I have struggled with perfectionism all my life and have to keep telling myself that sometimes good is good enough.
How can you stop measuring yourself against someone else’s idea of success?
This is a hard one. I used to think that everyone's idea of success as a teacher was to win our district's Teacher of the Year award. There is no way in my large district that I will ever win this award (this is not imposter syndrome talking!), so it is a very lofty measure of success. By putting this into perspective, I can stop measuring myself against others' standards and focus on just being the best teacher I can be.
How can we stop measuring our students against someone else’s idea of success?
This is also a hard one, since the district and curriculum and standards set the measures of success for our students. I think COVID put this into perspective for me. I realized that with kids "learning from home" for almost a quarter of the previous year that there was no way to expect any of the students that next school year to be "on grade level" according to the previous expectations. Since then, it's been a lot easier to focus instead on individual student growth and progress.
Why is it important for us as educators to “listen for brilliance” as Lou Solomon describes in her talk, The Surprising Solution to the Imposter Syndrome?
When we "listen for brilliance", we are able to empower students. We are able to see the strengths and skills of all students, not just those that always raise their hands and want to share.
What characteristics of the imposter syndrome can you relate to most?
ReplyDeleteI can relate to all of the characteristics of the imposter syndrome. Due to my past I have always felt I was never good enough or smart enough because of my life as a farm girl who only knew how to work and do chores. Later in life I suffered from anxiety, wanted to be perfect, and lastly the fear of failure. Life has taught me over the years that these characteristics does not define who I am. I no longer measure myself with others, and I finally realized I do the best I can and be the best person and teacher. My idea is this, I will let my light shine and give to others.
How can you stop measuring yourself against someone else’s idea of success?
I have stopped measuring myself against others success. Each person has experienced many things throughout their lifetime, and these experiences is what makes a person interesting, valuable, and has created the person I am today. I have over-come this barrier with age, experience, and a good support system. I continue to do the best I can to help my students and support my colleagues to be the best they can be.
How can we stop measuring our students against someone else’s idea of success? As an educators and working for the district we need to follow the standards, but also try our best to help each and every student to be the best they can be. I remember when the educators had to follow the federal mandate "Leave no child behind". Wow! That really put the educators in a vice grip. We worked very hard to make this happen, but our expectations were lowered to meet the needs of those low level achievers. We found ways to keep our expectations, but still encouraged students to be the best they could be. A test does not identify what kind of a student you are.
Why is it important for us as educators to “listen for brilliance” as Lou Solomon describes in her talk, The Surprising Solution to the Imposter Syndrome?
I like the quote, "listen for brilliance" because listening and reaching out to others for assistance in the end helps all of us (society) to be better people creating a better world. We need to encourage, and praise our students to be the best they can be, and not wallow on perfectionism, self-doubt, and fear of failure.
ReplyDeleteI would say that self doubt and comparison is what I relate to the most. I often compare myself to my co-teacher or other teachers in my building. I often question what I am doing compared to what others are doing and if my job is good enough compared to the others. If my students score lower on something compared to the other class I often wonder what did I do wrong in teaching them that skill? I see other teachers do something and wonder if I should be doing the same. I have to remind myself often that we all do things different and my way might be different than the others, and thats OK!
I remind my students that everyone's success looks different. Even though some might score a bit lower, they have maybe made gains and made success in their own way.
Listening for Brilliance is seeing success in all our students in different ways. We do a lot of group work and students get to share with their peers. This allows for other students to hear other ideas and be respectful of others thoughts.
I can most relate to feelings of perfectionism and self-doubt. I grew up in a house where constant criticism was the norm and so I think I learned that I had to try to be perfect at all times. As an adult, I have struggled with self-doubt and feeling that I am not really deserving of any of the accolades I have received in my teaching career. As the speaker said, I have often felt like I am constantly looking over my shoulder. With age and more years of experience, I have gotten better at countering my negative self-talk by openly talking about these feelings with my family and close friends -- basically realizing that vulnerability is OK and as the speaker says, it is important to know when to ask for help.
ReplyDeleteSimilarly, we need to be kind and show grace to our students who are under immense pressure to demonstrate success on high-stakes tests that oftentimes do not accurately reflect what students have learned. Listening for brilliance in our students is so important because we as teachers can really have an impact on how students view themselves- and that impact can be positive or negative. Every individual student has unique strengths and attributes they bring to the table and it is important for us as educators to help students flourish by recognizing and applauding those strengths.
What characteristics of the imposter syndrome can you relate to most? How can you stop measuring yourself against someone else’s idea of success? How can we stop measuring our students against someone else’s idea of success? Why is it important for us as educators to “listen for brilliance” as Lou Solomon describes in her talk, The Surprising Solution to the Imposter Syndrome?
ReplyDeleteThe characteristics I can relate to the most are those of perfection and self-doubt. I can stop measuring myself by having more confidence in myself and by getting off of social media will assist me with this! I can stop measuring my students' success off of someone else's idea of success my digging in and getting to know my students on a more personal level and setting individual goals for each one of them rather than grouping them together. We can listen for brilliance when we stop doing all of the talking!
I have had moments of imposter syndrome take over before. Characteristics of perfection or self doubt, why me, or that teacher does this and that why can't I figure it out. I just need to remember that I am doing a great job in my classroom and those others who I am comparing myself to, are probably doing the same thing with me. We are always harder on ourselves. Making my students believe that same thing is important. I get goals for my students individually and they graph them as they learn them. I feel that this helps them to see what they are learning and not care comparing themselves to others.
ReplyDeleteWe need to listen for brilliance from all of our students. The outgoing students who love to share their ideas, but also those students who are quiet and keep their thoughts to themselves. All different personalities are brilliant in their own way.
Characteristics - for me anxiety stands out the most. Then along with the anxiety comes to dark 'what if' and 'am I really good enough' questions. Also, I am too much of a perfectionist at times. If my son loads the dishwasher I should just BE HAPPY, but instead I think that's not where I put the bowls, so I fix it. Sometimes I need to stop the fix, and just be gracious for the help. I need to define my own version of success instead of falling into the presumption that success is evident by wealth and fame. Prioritizing success as being happy and content and loved is so important. We constantly hear people talk about teachers getting summers off, it's not a hard job. YES IT IS!! It is important to know that we are doing good and important work. We are positively impacting and molding young minds. We are brilliant, we just need to choose to revel in that, even if we don't hear it stated out loud by students, administrators, or members of the school community.
ReplyDeleteI relate to perfectionism the most. If I am given a task, I will go above and beyond. It’s often much more than was ever expected. I do this because I need to prove my self-worth to others. I recognize that I need to stop measuring myself against others, it’s just difficult because of my childhood and how I was raised. I shouldn’t worry about what others think, but I do. It’s a struggle and something I continue to work on. We can stop measuring our students’ success against someone else’s success because we know our students best. If a student comes into my first-grade classroom and is only able to read a few words and at the end of the year can read a book with several sentences on each page, that is success. He/she may not be where we would like our first graders to be at the end of the year, however we need to celebrate their success. It’s important for educators to “listen for brilliance” to encourage and nurture students to expand their abilities and skills to reach their full potential.
ReplyDeleteI relate to the fear of failure and perfectionism characteristics most. I’ve always been worried about doing things right and I’ve felt that if I failed at something, it meant that I would always fail at it. To try to combat that, I have found myself investing extra, unnecessary time into making sure something is perfect. Understanding that failure is part of learning has been something that has helped me as I’ve gotten older and I’ve been able to use that reminder to help me stop comparing myself to others. Students are all capable of learning, but they learn at different paces and in different ways. Finding various ways for students to demonstrate their knowledge is something that I try to incorporate into my teaching. This helps me “listen for brilliance” in each of my students.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to the Imposter Syndrome with the crappy best friend in your head who tells you negative things about yourself. I don't like to sit in quiet with myself due to that voice. I did not learn this from my parents but other influences in my life. I have to focus on the other Voice that can counter the lies the crappy voice says. I think many times my students have that voice it their heads as well. Like Lou it may stem from hearing the negative voice of their parent repeated in their own minds. I have heard parents say terrible things about their children while the child is sitting right there. I try to be the other voice in their heads that say you are good enough and smart enough and worthy of success. One way to keep from comparing myself to others is to stay off social media. I hardly ever post or read things others post. It makes me more positive.
ReplyDeleteWhat characteristics of the imposter syndrome can you relate to most? How can you stop measuring yourself against someone else’s idea of success? How can we stop measuring our students against someone else’s idea of success? Why is it important for us as educators to “listen for brilliance” as Lou Solomon describes in her talk,
ReplyDeleteI can relate to self-doubt and perfectionism from the talk. I feel like only in the last 2 or 3 years have I become confident enough to know that I have earned the recognition I get at school. Perfectionism comes through for me in the form of control. I like to be in charge of things in my life, not unlike a lot of people in the teaching profession. I can confidently say that I know that I struggle with imposter syndrome because it is hard for me to read compliments from peers or administration. I used to shove the notes in my desk and not really read them because I was sure they didn't know what they were talking about. I believe that I had the feeling that someone would one day "catch" me being less than average and call me on that. When I won Teacher of the Year in our district, I wasn't really prepared for the attention and blew off compliments by making jokes about it. It is hard to hear praise. I identify with the speaker's background history and know that verbal abuse sticks and that is often what you continue to believe about yourself.
I believe that we stop measuring student success against one another. I hope that every day, students know that I listen for and expect brilliance from all of them. They are expected to do their best and know that whatever their level of success is, I am proud of their achievements.
The part of the imposter syndrome that I can relate to is that my success is not me, it’s by chance or fake. I don’t know why myself and many others have a hard time with accepting success. I accept when I’ve failed.. so why not when I succeed? I’ve been a teacher for 24 years and some form of a coach for 23 years. I should feel success but instead I mostly feel doubt.
ReplyDeleteI should not compare myself to other teachers and definitely not compare students against each other. Everyone learns different and there is brilliance in everyone. We and I need to listen a little harder to hear the brilliance because if we shrug off even what the lowest scoring student has to say their brilliance may fall on deaf ears.
Well, if there was an "all of the above" button, that would be my answer. I struggle with anxiety, self-doubt, fear of failure, and perfectionism, and in that order. These are often fueled by my own version of what success is, and I rarely feel I achieve it. The work lies in remembering that my overall value is not solely based on my work/job performance. I need to stop focusing on every small mistake I make or imperfections in my work. I also need to stop falling into the popularity trap that seems to occur with teachers. I need to be my own "radical hero" and stop listening to my crappy mean best friend as Solomon refers to it. As a teacher of a high-stakes tested subject area (ELA), test scores are a huge deal. The expectations are that I get my students to perform at a specific score/level and we all measure up. While it is great to see students succeeding on these types of ability measures, I also need to celebrate the little victories and accomplishments. Sometimes the victory is helping a student feel safe and supported as they learn positive behaviors that will allow them to stay in the classroom and learn. Sometimes the victory is is helping a student enjoy the subject area for the first time, or again after a long time of dread. Getting to know my students well can help me identify their strengths and help them succeed. This skill of listening for brilliance helps identify strengths in others and reminds me to focus on the positives (in others and myself) and reduce the effects of the imposter syndrome.
ReplyDeleteWhat characteristics of the imposter syndrome can you relate to most? How can you stop measuring yourself against someone else’s idea of success? How can we stop measuring our students against someone else’s idea of success? Why is it important for us as educators to “listen for brilliance” as Lou Solomon describes in her talk, The Surprising Solution to the Imposter Syndrome?
ReplyDeleteI think as a newer educator, I struggle most with self-doubt and fear of failure. I think really the only thing that can help with this is time. Time and surrounding yourself with people who will lift you up is the best way to separate yourself from this way of thinking. I think listening for brilliance goes along with the idea that you need to fill your own cup before you can fill others. Surround yourself with people who will lift you up and not bring you down!
There are a couple characteristics of Imposter Syndrome that I relate to -- anxiety and perfectionism. They both go hand-in-hand for me. I am anxious about not being ready for all of the possible outcomes. I have been better about this with list making and then prioritizing the needs of what needs to be done. This is also where my perfectionism comes in. If there needs to be a plan A, B, and C; I have thought about it and planned for it. For me, I do not typically compare myself to what someone else thinks I should be doing. I am pretty honest with myself about the areas I need to work on. As for listening to brilliance in my students, I think this is very important with the students I work with. I need to continually build them up and let them know they are capable of the things they put their mind to. Reminding them that everyone is different, learns different, and has different strengths is something we do a lot in my classroom.
ReplyDeleteI think that self-doubt is the characteristic that I most identify with. As a teacher, we are naturally isolated and therefore, we do not get the positive reinforcement of a job well done. We usually get an admin who may stop in for an evaluation in which you hear good and bad. So this makes it hard to really know if I am doing well and the self-doubt is lingering near me. I think it is hard to not compare against others who do have a successful classroom and wonder how we can do better. I think that we need to constantly be sending positive messages to our students so that they can know that their success is just that, their success, regardless of how others are doing. By listening for brilliance, we can acknowledge all of the wonderful things our students say (and do) and help them to feel the success that helps to motivate them to keep pushing forward and becoming more awesome each day!
ReplyDeleteThe characteristics of the imposter syndrome I relate to most is self doubt. I wonder why I'm not as smart, advanced,pretty or as good as other people. I can you stop measuring myself against someone else’s idea of success by reminding myself what I value. Last year, you had us make a list of our "Top 10." Reminding myself of my Top 10 would be a tool to stop measuring myself against someone else. How can we stop measuring our students against someone else’s idea of success? That is a hard question, because we are giving grades that demonstrate their success against someone else's idea of success. On tests, I give my students the opportunity to make corrections for parial credit--they can are still learning. We need to help students value learning more than the grade. It is important for us as educators to “listen for brilliance” so that students know they can contribute in meaningful and valuable ways hopfully giving them the desire to contribute in meaningful and valuable ways.
ReplyDeleteSelf doubt is definitely something that I struggle with. Education is a career that is so full of opportunities to compare ourselves to others and each opportunity is a chance for us to wonder if we are good enough. Professional development books and podcasts are full of shiny glittering examples of "perfect" activities and lessons. Teacher lounges are full of people talking about the amazing thing they did with their class (probably on a day that feels lackluster in your own room). The internet and social media is full of teacher influencers selling materials that are more polished than you can create during your planning, and of course those influencers are sharing all of the triumphs they have experienced (no one buys products from a failure). Basically, the message we often feel like we are hearing is if we just pushed harder, if we were more entertaining, if we just sacrificed more, then student achievement would soar, engagement would skyrocket while behaviors plummet, and suddenly our classrooms would be problem fee zones. I often have to tell myself that I am not hearing or seeing the whole stories in these cases. I am not seeing the lessons that flopped, people aren't writing into their books the kids that they struggled to connect with despite their best efforts, and no teacher influencer is selling materials from their "off days." I have to do better in reminding myself of that and to spend more time thinking about the "brilliance" happening in my own classroom.
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ReplyDeleteI can relate to all four of the characteristics and have lived with them all and probably still do. I grew up always being compared to my others, constantly being criticized for various things. I always felt I was never good enough. I think that is why I always tried to be perfect and feel anxiety. That perfectionism causes me to freeze sometimes and not even be able to move forward because I'm afraid I'll do it wrong or it won't be good enough. I've spent a lifetime comparing myself to others and always living with self-doubt and fear of failure. It is paralyzing at times.
ReplyDeleteI try to tell myself that I do make a difference and that I do have a lot to offer and not to worry about what others are doing. I remind myself that we all have our own talents and strengths. We just need to find them and put forth our best efforts and stop comparing ourselves to others. Giving yourself grace when you feel that you have fallen short.
I always encouraged my students to celebrate every success and compare where they are at to where they started. I try to instill in them that they are unique and have been given talents. Some things may be hard for them, but if they push through and do their best, that's all that matters. If they say something negative, I always tell them to say 5 positive things for every negative thing they say.
Listening for brilliance is creating caring genuine connections, celebrating every win, whether it is small or huge, and continuing to foster positive interactions with people.
What characteristics of the imposter syndrome can you relate to most? How can you stop measuring yourself against someone else’s idea of success? How can we stop measuring our students against someone else’s idea of success? Why is it important for us as educators to “listen for brilliance” as Lou Solomon describes in her talk, The Surprising Solution to the Imposter Syndrome?
ReplyDeleteI would say I most relate to anxiety – I am a very anxious person when it comes to things maybe not going the way I am hoping/planning. I get anxious about others not thinking I am doing what they think I should be doing…not doing enough. For my students, it is so important to have strong relationships with them so that they believe us when we tell them they are doing great. We can’t compare them to others, especially if we don’t want them to compare themselves to others. As teachers, we need to see and hear each kiddos brilliance and worth – always.
What characteristics of the imposter syndrome can you relate to most? How can you stop measuring yourself against someone else’s idea of success? How can we stop measuring our students against someone else’s idea of success? Why is it important for us as educators to “listen for brilliance” as Lou Solomon describes in her talk, The Surprising Solution to the Imposter Syndrome?
ReplyDeleteFor me, anxiety, perfectionism, and self-doubt are the three characteristics I relate to the most. Anxiety and self-doubt creep into my teaching if a lesson doesn’t go as planned or if I don’t handle a situation the way I feel it should have been handled. It becomes too easy for me to compare myself to my colleagues and feel inadequate in certain areas of my teaching.
Three things that have helped me combat these limiting beliefs are:
-Limiting social media: Reducing exposure to others’ highlight reels helps me focus on my own journey.
-Practicing Positive Self-Talk: Replacing negative thoughts with affirmations boosts my confidence.
-Understanding That Life Has No Timeline: Recognizing that I am on my own unique path and that progress and success come in different forms for everyone.
For my students, it has become important to emphasize a growth mindset—the process over the product, so to speak. In art, we all come into it at different levels. I stress to students that they should not compare themselves to others, but rather to their own progress and accomplishments along the way. This is why the idea of “listening for brilliance” is crucial so that we can recognize and nurture the unique strengths and talents of each student. This approach helps build their confidence and encourages them to express their individuality.
What characteristics of the imposter syndrome can you relate to most? I struggle with fear of failure and never being good enough.
ReplyDeleteHow can you stop measuring yourself against someone else’s idea of success? I have stopped following many people on social media because it made me feel bad about what other people are doing and all the things that I am not doing. I also make myself think about how online we only post things that we want people to see and not the negative. I feel like some people may see me as that person who has everything together. Remembering that if I am a bit of a hot mess most of the other people on social media have things in their lives that are not going as planned as well (actively acknowledging the thoughts and actively changing them).
How can we stop measuring our students against someone else’s idea of success? I believe the biggest part of this is acknowledging that all people are different and have different experiences in life. So, success for one student is completely different for another student. We need to look for the strengths of all our students and helping them to see those things as strengths as well. We as adults/teachers need to change our mindset of educational success to help our students see their own success. I think of the story of the little boy who kept drumming on everything using his hands, pencils, est... and the teacher not getting mad at him for being loud and disruptive but acknowledging his passion and talent for music and giving the kid a set of drumsticks. We need to see that in all of our students.
Why is it important for us as educators to “listen for brilliance” as Lou Solomon describes in her talk, The Surprising Solution to the Imposter Syndrome? As stated above...we need to recognise students strengths and passions and help show them that they can use these strengths to achieve brilliant things. We need to teach kids that brilliance comes in MANY forms!
What characteristics of the imposter syndrome can you relate to most?
ReplyDeleteI think my faith helps me in so many ways, so I generally am able to cope or see through the lies. However, the one I most connect with is fear of failure. It can be so challenging to just put myself out there and to take on a leadership position. I have been teaching long enough that my varied experiences serve as great assets, but it is easy for me to sit back for fear of not feeling accepted by my peers.
Comparison is the death of all things. Ms. Vader needs to take a long vacation to Siberia. The negative self talk is a direct path to all the things destructive.
The solution is to focus on our students. For me, it is 100% about relationships. The curriculum is the conduit to build relationships. Additionally, it can be so tempting to compare our students based on a grade. Our students have so much potential and too often we see them as a percentage or letter grade. To "listen for brilliance" should be pasted to every teacher desk, break room, and office.
Self doubt is something I can really relate to. I am always hard on myself and feel like I am not doing enough or doing things correctly. I truly just want to be the best educator for my students. I think looking at what I have accomplished and focusing on the positives is how I can stop measuring myself. I think it is important to “listen for brilliance,” so we can be our students biggest cheerleaders.
ReplyDeleteWhat characteristics of the imposter syndrome can you relate to most? How can you stop measuring yourself against someone else’s idea of success? How can we stop measuring our students against someone else’s idea of success? Why is it important for us as educators to “listen for brilliance” as Lou Solomon describes in her talk, The Surprising Solution to the Imposter Syndrome?
ReplyDeleteThe anxiety and the perfectionism are two of the characteristics that I can relate to the most. I always want my school work and my home to be perfect. I want everything done quickly and efficiently, I want it all presented well, and most importantly, I want to spend time with my own kiddos. I realize that this is not always 100 percent possible. I feel like I have the knowledge and the skills to work through the anxiety and the perfectionism on a day to day basis. I really struggle as the weeks go by and things begin to build up. I have to remember constantly that something has to give and not everything will be perfect. I do my best to remember that my own kiddos and my students will not always remember what I did or what I said, but they will remember how I made them feel.
We need to do what feels right to us. When we start measuring ourselves against someone else's idea of success, we begin to lose sight of what is MOST IMPORTANT to US. Our heart knows exactly what is important to us. We just have to listen to it.
We must "listen for brilliance" at all times. There is so much brilliance around us. Not all brilliance can be measured on a report card. We have to let our students know that they are seen, heard, and valued on a daily basis. When we are consciously on the lookout for brilliance, it is easy to see. We cannot get caught up in all of the mundane and all of the noise around us.
I most relate to fearing failure when someone wants me to take on more of a leadership role. I have trouble feeling adequate in certain professional situations, and as a result it leads to anxiety. I'm not so much of a perfectionist, just don't want to feel a fool. To be honest, I just try to concentrate on my classroom, but I see that others are managing their classroom duties and taking on extra duties. I feel that taking on more would interfere with my students and have declined additional obligations. I just wonder how they do it. . . I think to some degree that is how some students feel. They are unsure of how to step out of there comfort zone, or maybe have to decide IF they want to. I try to encourage my students to take a chance while in a classroom culture that is supportive and non judgemental. I don't want them to have the anxiety I've experienced and want them to know there is so much they can accomplish.
ReplyDeleteI relate the most with perfectionism. I always want everything done just right and because of that I put more on my plate then I'd need to. Over the years I have reminded myself many times that it doesn't have to be perfect and hat I think someone might notice, really isn't a big deal and no one really cares that much.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to measuring one students success against another, I think its important to look at each student individually and find each ones area of strength and talent. "Listening for brilliance" can come when we slow down and really get to know someone. Everyone has something they can teach us if we really pay attention and take the time to notice the little things.
Imposter syndrome which I relate to the most, feelings of self-doubt, and inadequacy. I worry that I am not living up to my own or others' expectations, which can stem from comparing myself to more accomplished peers or more successful friends.
ReplyDeleteI can stop measuring myself against someone else’s idea of success by reflecting on my values, passions, and goals. Defining for myself what it means to be successful. Acknowledge that everyone has unique journeys and struggles. Be kind to yourself and recognize your achievements, however small. I can create f for myself an inner radical hero who can speak up when the voice of self-doubt enters.
To stop measuring students against someone else’s idea of success, create a supportive environment, celebrate achievements, and focus on the growth mindset. Build a classroom culture that values collaboration and support. Encourage students to share. Recognize and celebrate different forms of success, whether academic, social, artistic, or personal. This helps students see value in their unique contributions. Emphasize the importance of effort, persistence, and learning from mistakes. Encourage students to set personal goals and reflect on their progress, rather than comparing themselves to others.
Listening for brilliance, as Lou Solomon describes, is crucial for several reasons such as recognizing potential, building confidence, and encouraging engagement and innovation. Listening for brilliance will empower our students and create a better educational environment.
I definitely experience a few characteristics of the imposter syndrome.
ReplyDeleteI constantly feel like I'm not doing enough and that I'm falling short all the time as a teacher. Another characteristic I experience is not being knowledgeable enough to teach about certain things and that other teachers could do much better than myself.
After reading these chapters, the emphasis was on how YOU are enough. YOU are exactly the way you were meant to be. You have to be yourself unapologetically, and I LOVED how that was worded.
Our students are also enough for who they are. All students have different talents and abilities and we shouldn't measure all students on the same scale. Some kids, who don't perform well in math, are incredible at building things. Why isn't that enough? It should be and we should allow them to excel at that and not hold them back. Honestly sometimes it feels like we are holding high school students hostage once they become juniors and seniors...
As educators it is very important to listen for brilliance. 70% of people experience a characteristic of imposter syndrome and if we can help young students see their brilliance early, it could help reduce their self doubt, and allow them to really flourish later in life. I would've loved for my teachers or coaches to help me see my own brilliance in different ways. I wasn't a 4.0 student and it seems that's what tends to define brilliance in students...or high test scores. But there's so much more to it than that.
I definitely fit the perfectionism characteristic the most. I hold myself to a high standard whether it be at school or home. I am my own hardest critic. I have had to be very purposeful to tell myself I don't have to do it all or to do it perfectly. I can let some things go and still be ok. I hope to model this for my students. The philosophy of “listen for brilliance” is important as an educator as it reminds us kids don't always show their strengths in the same way. I can relate to this in seeing the leadership potential in my students. I can find characteristics in a student that I know will be make them a good candidate to run for an office. Encouraging students who may not have confidence in their abilities is something I can do well.
ReplyDeleteThis is Brigitte Brucklacher
DeleteI can strongly relate to feelings of self-doubt and the tendency to compare myself to the incredible teachers in my building. To combat this, I believe I can focus on acknowledging the great things happening around me and incorporating them into my own classroom. It's also important for me to recognize that I care deeply about my students and am doing great things as well.
ReplyDeleteUnderstanding that all teachers are doing their best, just like I am, is reassuring. Additionally, we should consider our students individually and celebrate their unique accomplishments. Each student's learning journey and goals are different and deserve recognition.
I think that self doubt seems to be prevalent when I start to compare myself to the other teachers in the building. I do think that even though your class is well behaved and they are making great progress it is hard not to compare and have self doubt. Listen for brilliance is a way to honor all learning styles and methodologies.
ReplyDeleteI've always enjoyed the quote "Comparison is the theif of joy". I don't feel that I relate to this one when it comes to teaching. Maybe a little bit in my first year of teaching when I couldn't believe that I was the one that was in charge and was questioning why they thought I was good enough to hold that authority over a classroom. But because of some special training I experienced during the summers of my first few years of teaching I didn't feel I had to measure up to anyone else's success. I felt confident that although I'm teaching differently than others, that I was doing the best I could and everyone has a different style and that's okay. I do see a lot of self-doubt with my students, however and do believe it's very important to continue to listen for brilliance as each student has it in them. Students need to realize their giftings and be confident in them.
ReplyDeleteAnxiety and self-doubt are the characteristics that I relate to the most. I find myself comparing myself to the other teachers in the school and feeling like I am not doing enough. I can be very hard on myself. When life gets really busy I get overwhelmed and that is when my anxiety creeps in. I feel anxious about all of the things that I need to get done and how I am going to do it all. It helps for me to make a list and prioritize the things that really need to be done now and the things that can wait.
ReplyDeleteIt is important to remember that each student is different and their success will look different than other students. We need to make sure we are celebrating those successes also. It is important for us to always "listen for brilliance". When we are really keeping our eyes open for it, we will notice all of the brilliant things happening around us. When we are listening to students and encouraging them to step out of their comfort zone, we can truly start to see each of their individual, brilliant characteristics and abilities.
The characteristic I can relate to the most is self-doubt. I think the reason for that is the sheer number of things we have to deal with every day as teachers. I am pretty good at not worrying about what my colleagues are doing and if I am good enough to “compare” with them, but I do know that some people definitely like to sound, act, or believe that they are more important or have more say simply due to the personality differences we all have. This does affect my view of the world from time to time and I have to learn to let that go. I like to celebrate the success of my students on a daily basis with some type of meaningful reinforcement. The littlest of things to help bolster self-confidence can have a huge impact! From simply saying good job, to you drew a beautiful picture, or you have really improved have to be sincere and genuine, but kids need this in their formative years more than most people realize. Listening for brilliance is basically us acknowledging the voices that reaffirm our worth, help us see new ways to be more confident, and help us realize that we are all in this together. Anxiety, perfectionism, self-doubt, and fear of failure all are lessened when we listen for the brilliance and encourages us to keep moving forward with our dreams and not to worry about what the negative possibilities could be when we focus on the positives!
ReplyDeleteWhat characteristics of the imposter syndrome can you relate to most? How can you stop measuring yourself against someone else’s idea of success? How can we stop measuring our students against someone else’s idea of success? Why is it important for us as educators to “listen for brilliance” as Lou Solomon describes in her talk, The Surprising Solution to the Imposter Syndrome? I related to the self doubt the most and that I don’t deserve to be recognized. My first year of teaching 4th grade I was nominated by a wonderful family to be considered for teacher of the year. While I was so honored, I was filled with self doubt that I couldn’t possibly deserve this as it’s only my first year teaching. I didn’t even share this exciting news with my coworkers as I thought they’d share my thinking of not deserving it. To stop measuring ourselves against other’s idea of success we need to focus on what we have accomplished instead of what we haven’t or wished we did. We need to realize that it’s not just the talkers who succeed. Listen for brilliance all around your classroom. I was one of the quiet shy students who are often overlooked because they follow the rules and succeed without much help. They need attention, connection, and recognition too. I strive to give those students more attention daily and look for opportunities to have them shine.
ReplyDeleteI think the characteristic I most relate to is the self-doubt. I am my own worst critic. So then comparison also creeps in at this point. This is unhealthy and isn't the right way to go about success. I can stop measuring myself against others success because my success may be different. Each person is made unique and has their own strengths. These strengths can help those around them. We should truly focus in on these strengths and amplify them in the school setting. Students will have things they could add to their own and others learning. It is important to help them succeed with their strengths. It is equally important to be authentic with students to help them understand how we all have our struggles. We can overcome struggles with the connections we make.
ReplyDelete"Imposter syndrome isn't rooted in reality or your actual skills and expertise at all. It's rooted in the way you see yourself." I think the "fantastic 4" all show up from time to time in my daily life but anxiety and self doubt are probably the most prevalent. It is SO easy to feel like others are constantly assessing you as an educator, are your test scores high enough? Are your students feeling connected with enough? Are you teaching enough of the core subjects but also doing fun stuff? The stress and anxiety of doubting how well you are doing as an educator is part of my every day life. Its such a contradicting thing sometimes to know we are not supposed to compare our students to each other but to their own growth, and their own strengths but yet feel like we are constantly being compared to our co-workers or other educators in the field.
ReplyDeleteI think if we did a better job of listening for brilliance in all areas of our profession not just with our students but with each other we would create a much kinder, understanding atmosphere to learn and work in. "Listen for Brilliance" means we are going to take time to get to know people, support their strengths while helping them grow in their weaknesses. It would be a much more understanding work place if we could take that idea of practice and use it on each other and not just our students.
The characteristic of Imposter Syndrome that I relate to the most is self-doubt. This feeling of self-doubt often causes me to not feel confident in my abilities, causing me to not speak up when it comes to my expertise. You can stop measuring yourself against others by taking pride in your accomplishments and acknowledging your intelligence and ability to do a good job. We can also use this when comparing our students to others' ideas of success. You can acknowledge the success the students have had rather than comparing it to others' success. It is important to "listen to brilliance" because brilliance is relative. One person's view of brilliance is different of what others may see.
ReplyDeleteWhat characteristics of the imposter syndrome can you relate to most? How can you stop measuring yourself against someone else’s idea of success? How can we stop measuring our students against someone else’s idea of success? Why is it important for us as educators to “listen for brilliance” as Lou Solomon describes in her talk, The Surprising Solution to the Imposter Syndrome?
ReplyDeleteSelf-doubt is my most relatable trait for the Imposter Syndrome. If I reflect on all I have accomplished, it helps. The whole time I was working toward my masters degree, I felt like an imposter. I had a fear of failure and doubted my ability greatly. Now when something makes me feel like an imposter, I think back to that journey. I tell myself that I can do hard things. I remember the feedback give by my prof that helped me believe in myself. I regularly tell my Spanish students that they are all on their own path to proficiency and they are right where they should be. I encourage them to keep going and celebrate with them along the way. I continue to "listen to brilliance" and uplift my students because they probably feel like they still can't do anything with the language, when in reality they don't realize how much they are doing and showing when they answer a question that I have asked in Spanish.
I can relate to all 4 characteristics of imposter syndrome. I struggle a lot with anxiety and overthinking things. I worry that I'm not doing all of the things that I need to be doing to be a successful teacher when I hear things that other coworkers are implementing/doing. I worry that I'm not drilling enough standards and getting through everything needed for smarter balance testing, etc. I know that as an educator we can't be perfect and accomplish everything we hope to. I need to remind myself that I'm doing the best that I can with the time and energy that I have and every day I'm trying to make those minutes count. I need to remind myself that it's not all about brilliance and perfection, it's about shaping and forming these students lives. It's about setting them up for success and teaching things that matter in that moment instead of worrying about whether or not we get through all of our content standards by the end of the year.
ReplyDeleteI relate to ALL the characteristics of the imposter syndrome she listed. I think less of measuring up to someone else's idea of success and overthinking my OWN version of success. When comes the time when I step back and look over what has been acheived, nod my head, and say 'Hey, that's pretty good'? When is the time to cut myself the slack to call a project good (or good enough), to stop dreading the parent phonecalls, to allow myself the breathing room to calm? Barring the inner voice telling me it's good enough, I seek the approval of others, and even when they are complimentary, I cannot seem to accept. I think this is a matter of growth and confidence that only comes with continual practice. I am better at pointing out the improvement, celebrating milestones, and encouraging the progress for my own children and students than for myself, but what kind of role model am I for them if I don't practice what I am preaching?
ReplyDeleteI can relate to fear of failure and anxiety the most. I can overthink things and worry. I think it is easy to play the comparing game in today's world. I have worked hard the past few years to not compare myself to others, and it something I continue to work on. Being "you" is what makes each person great. I like the line "listen to brilliance"! Our students and colleagues all have talents and gifts and we should help people know how amazing their talents and gifts truly are and how that can help our world.
ReplyDeleteThe characteristics of the imposter syndrome that I relate to is perfectionism and comparing myself to others. I want everything to go perfectly in my classroom. As I get more years of teaching under my belt, I realize that sometimes you may have to reteach a lesson because they are not understanding. And that is ok--you are not a bad teacher. When I started this job teaching kindergarten at a new school, I would watch the teachers that have been here 20years or more and notice how much they knew about the families and the classroom management. I finally had to realize that I too will get there, I just need to be consistent with my classroom management for the school year. I just need to realize that no teacher is going to be perfect. We all have different strengths and weaknesses.
ReplyDeleteI can honestly relate to all four characteristics of the Imposter Syndrome. I am 100% a perfectionist, thus I get anxious and have self doubt and I am afraid of failing. I need to stop comparing myself to the rest of the world, but that is so hard to do in today's world. As I get older this is getting somewhat easier, albiet still hard. I need to give myself grace and remind myself that I cannot be 100% perfect, 100% of the time. Our school was fortunate to have an incredible superintendent who stressed the three things our students need to make them successful: relationships, relationships, relationships. If we form that relationship with our students they will want to work for us and their brilliance will show! Our superintendent also stressed continually a growth mindset (for we as educators, also). If we form that relationship, stress a growth mindset, and constantly emphasize being the best-version-of-ourselves they are on their way to showing their brilliance!
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