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Happiness coach to address Good Teaching Conference
02/03/2020

Kim Strobel is a keynote speaker at ISTA’s upcoming Good Teaching Conference. She is the owner of Strobel Education. Strobel is a nationally-recognized teacher, education consultant, motivational speaker and happiness coach. During her 20-year education career, she has partnered with teachers at all levels to implement innovative and inspirational practices in the classroom, increase academic achievement and create positive school-wide climates. Here’s a sneak peek at her upcoming keynote address.

For the past 20 years, I’ve studied and researched the topics of happiness and positive psychology, which is the study of happiness and how we learn to thrive in both our personal and professional lives.

The happiness pie chart breaks down the three factors that influence our happiness:

  • A whopping 50 percent of happiness is genetic – which seems to run counter to the idea that we have the ability within us to make ourselves happier! And it’s a valid concern when you think of some of the people and personalities we encounter in our daily lives.
  • Ten percent of happiness is based on individual circumstances: your job and its challenges; how much money you make – or don’t make; your material possessions, like cars, homes, shoes, etc.
  • Here’s the fascinating section of the pie chart: the remaining 40 percent is up for grabs. This means that 40 percent of our happiness – be it personal or professional – is changeable. We can create happiness! There are many activities and behaviors we can adopt to make this happen.

Happiness researcher, author and speaker Shawn Achor explains it best, “Happiness is not about being blind to the negatives in our environment; it’s about believing we have the power to do something about them.”

In other words, it’s not necessarily reality that shapes you, but the lens through which your brain views the world that shapes your reality.

For too long, conventional wisdom has told us that success fuels happiness. However, research has shown that this is backwards thinking. Happiness fuels success! When you reset your brain, you become more engaged, creative, motivated, energetic, resilient and productive in life – including your work life.

This is a powerful realization that can have practical applications in the classroom. Education guru Robert Marzano says, “The single most influential component of an effective school is the individual teachers within the school.”

Imagine a school filled with teachers who focus on the positives of their environment, who know the importance of tending to their personal wellbeing, as well as their professional, and who bring their very best self into the classroom every day.

As an accomplished keynote speaker and Happiness Coach, I’ll show you how the science of happiness can help transform your classroom and school into one where students love to learn and are able to thrive.

Register to attend the Good Teaching Conference.