The Happy Teacher Habits: 11 Habits of the Happiest, Most Effective Teachers on Earth

This book popped up on my Amazon suggestions, and initially I was not going repurchase it because I'm fiercely "old school" and was not interested in an e-book. But, I read the review and it spoke to the heart of my exhausted, stressed out, burned out, and overwhelmed (but at the bottom kind and well-intentioned) teacher mind. It was exactly what I needed to refocus, recharge, and strike out again after Spring Break with a new focus on not being a cranky, stressed out teacher, but a happy and effective one instead. The wisdom is practical and doable. I found myself nodding my head along and saying audibly "yes, yes, that's how I feel" and "exactly right, that's how it is" repeatedly throughout the book. I even took notes in my notebook to help my craving for paper. I would recommend this book to any teacher, young or more experienced, who genuinely wants to do an exceptional job, but feels (as Linsin says in Chapter 2) they have been walking around with "a two ton refrigerator" on their back. If you are a teacher, you know what that means, and you just nodded your head, didn't you? But, in all seriousness, buy the book, read it, press the reset button, and get to getting. There is a child waiting for you to be the teacher you always wanted to be, or used to be and got too exhausted to keep it up. What you do, and don't do, in the classroom matters so much. This book will help you set you sights on the important things in a very important and difficult career field. Kudos, Mr. LinkedIn. Job well done!

I’m back in the classroom teaching for the first time in 7+ years, and I am determined to prevent the apathy or burnout that I know occurs in the teaching profession. I happened upon this book on my Kindle and started reading out of skeptical curiosity. However, I was soon hooked by the storytelling and easy-to-understand (and implement!) wisdom imparted by the author. The author challenges educators to think about ever-changing education practices and encourages teachers to make small changes, like focusing on the 80/20 rule and using story-telling to get students invested in a lesson. Reading about how “Happy Teachers” tell stories was the perfect mindset switch to help me make my lessons more engaging. Just yesterday, I took a boring lesson about classroom expectations and turned it into a story about two people traveling to a foreign country (one who ignored culture and another who observed and studied it before traveling). My middle school students were attentive and interested… and that’s no small feat for me. The practical and actionable advice in the book “Happy Teacher Habits” is well worth the time it takes to read, and provokes critical thinking about the “why” of decisions educators make each day. I highly recommend this book for educators who are new or returning to the field, and those who feel that happiness is eluding them. 5/5 stars! I’m going to get a physical copy to keep at my desk as a reminder.

I think my expectations were set too high for this book. I began visiting Michael Linsin's blog Smart Classroom Management in response to the first negative evaluation I've received in 20 years. I receive email tips from him as well. I thought I knew how to teach after doing it for so long and with moderate success and positive feedback. Realizing that there are serious problems after having so much experience is upsetting and embarrassing. I am burnt-out. I keep trying to escape the classroom but I keep ending up back where I started. I tried administration. I tried other roles in education. I'm now taking a class for a certificate outside of education. But while I'm here, I still need to teach. And it would be nice to be effective, happy, and calm. I've turned into a version of myself that I don't like. My negative attitude is also affecting my personal life. So, I'd say the book is a start. It's the first step in the journey. Linsin packs lots of stories and anecdotes into the slim volume and that falls in line with his advice for teaching with storytelling and improvisation. He does a good job with empathizing with the reader and pointing out that education has changed. He discusses its flaws and explains how poor classroom management lets students off the hook. We should not be doing the heavy lifting of education; students must take on this responsibility. It builds grit and growth mindset. He helps with tips about organization and finding balance in life. He mentions Marie Kondo and talks about working less, not more. The chapters remind me a little of clickbait, circumventing the ultimate point with the results of the strategy before stating what it is. Interesting but a little formulaic and slightly annoying.. It's good advice and good motivation. There are thoughtful and memorable points. It's good for novice and veteran alike. But I wanted more, perhaps from seeing specific tips and how to implement them on Linsin's blog and emails. I wanted something that would help me love teaching when I'm so frustrated by it that sometimes I fantasize about walking out in the middle of class and never looking back. I suppose that's probably too much to ask from a book.

Unlike many books that claim to aid you in your personal or professional development, this one actually does. Furthermore, unlike most books about teaching, it’s not vague and theoretical but one hundred percent hands-on, offering guidance that really is practically applicable in any grade level, subject matter and neighborhood. The habits are presented straightforwardly, along with intriguing stories, making the book a very pleasant read, as well as showing in action how to put at least two of the habits to use - inspiring and being knowledgeable in your subject. The author’s own teaching skills shine through even in writing. After I started incorporating these habits, my lessons became very different. I am working less hard and my students are behaving better. There is a new sense of calm in the classroom. I believe these habits are what students intuitively expect from a teacher, so when they are not carried out there is general unrest. I feel like this book gave me permission to truly teach - instead of complicating everything in a way that leaves everyone thoroughly confused, the way educational studies unfortunately do. The advice of this book is such a relief. Any stressed out, miserable teacher could through applying these habits transform their work life beyond recognition.

For over thirty years, I've been involved in teaching teachers at various universities, and I have to say that this is the first book I've come across that provided practical guidance and inspiration for the teacher's emotional well-being. I loved this little book, filled with common sense strategies for teachers, guiding them to stay sane in such a demanding profession and/or GET sane when needed. There are 11 chapters with thoughtful commentary about the value of "saying no" to reduce overwhelm and spreading oneself too thin; tidying up one's living and teaching spaces (which, when messy, can also drain energy); and so much more. I highly recommend this book for anyone in the teaching profession!

If you like analogies, you'll like this book. I would've rather had a lot more teaching examples to illustrate the principles the author discusses for being a happy teacher. Instead, it reads like a sort of montage of stories from other books about real people and their fascinating situations. The problem is that I'd heard most of the stories before. I wanted to hear more about teaching and less about violinists and explorers. It's a quick read, and if you're new to teaching and aren't well read, I'm sure it's a valuable book. There were good points, but the book lacked a larger discussion of teaching that I was looking for.

This book’s wisdom isn’t just good advice for becoming a happy teacher but is the recipe for a happy life. It is also a good way to help young teachers to recognize teachers that would be the best mentors or teachers to befriend and observe. I am going back to university after many years away to pursue my bachelor’s degree in education, due in part to this book and in part to a happy teacher I had the privilege to work with. I also plan to set up my classroom using the principles outlined in the book, so that I can start my career off on the right foot. I highly recommend this book to teachers, future teachers, administrators, and homeschool educators as well. It’s worth the time to read and implement the changes outlined.

Short and to the point but so refreshing and empowering. I’ve read it multiple times and I am a better, more resilient teacher because of it. Highly recommend!

This is a concise book with wonderful anecdotes explaining the value of the habits Mr. Linsin says can make you a happier teacher. Personally, I like his realism. He is not trying to tell you something because it's going to make the school or the board look better. He is talking to the average teacher who wants to do a great job but at the same time realizes that you need balance in your life. In fact I highly doubt if this book will ever be bought and endorsed by school boards because of some of the practices he advocates (learning to say 'no', for example ) go against what boards are demanding of teachers. Someone will surely write out his 11 habits in a blog somewhere but do yourself a favor, read this little book, think about the stories and then find a way to put them in practice for the sake of your sanity.

This book is a real eye opener. It contains many useful and easy to action ideas that can be applied in any classroom. I'm an experienced teacher and I recognise some things I do subconsciously but that are effective. I now have more in my toolkit.

Linsin Book Review One thing is his personality shines through. When he describes hamming it up for laughs in the classroom he is likeable and I think this is part of why he resonates. He offers some deceptively simple advice about the best way to build relationships, like always being pleasant - the Law of Reciprocity - or the value of setting simple goals which I think most teachers would agree with and which I think most at least attempt unless stress wears them down. Simplifying the essential skills of successful teaching is sort of the goal of his book. So Linsin conveys a spirit of relaxed enjoyment and humour that has helped him reduce stress in the job to a minimum. He is not unswervingly positive or optimistic. He is irritated by the onerous time burdens of many new programs that are constantly being introduced. Throughout the book Linsin argues that teachers are overburdened with information, that they need to cut back and simplify, to protect their time and concentrate on the essential skills of effective teaching. I agree with his observation and it is a sentiment shared by many of the teachers I work with. He sees it as an act of strength to be able to say 'No' and believes that you should protect your time politely but firmly. Linsin's blog and his earlier books give the nut and bolts of his classroom management approach and his teaching style. As many of the comments on his website attest, implementing these practical ideas often proves transformative. They really are empowering ideas and I would encourage anyone who is struggling with classroom management to discover them. They give you a sense of clarity and control - self control mainly, control of your emotions, thoughts and actions - plus a sense of agency, of being able to successfully achieve desired outcomes - that makes the job feel organised, that makes it harmonise like a delightful piece of music played by a large number of instruments. I identify strongly with some of the practises Linsin advocates. The use of humour, the abolition of anger, the enjoyment of the kids, the relationships, the irritation at boring meetings. And there are areas in which I have taken his advice on board and improved my practise. Having less permeable boundaries with my rules. Protecting the relaxed, respectful, attentive atmosphere in the room as a matter of the utmost importance. Watching like a hawk at certain key points. Modelling extensively. I have eliminated anger, scolding, nagging, long winded counselling and negative emotional interactions in general, I have reduced my teacher talk and I have a renewed sense of where I am heading with a group. This book tries to stretch his ideas into wider, more general, integrative theories and concepts, it encourages us to explore techniques like improvisation and visualisation and storytelling to really engage students, it attempts to take the idea of successful teaching to a higher level. On his blog you will find practical, down to earth techniques which definitely have the capacity to transform the management aspect of your job, to empower you and give you an amazing sense of clarity. And you will find scattered through his blog entries and earlier books many of the ideas he has gone on to develop in this latest book. So they are complementary. One follows naturally from the other as a sort of stretching of the wings. There are some moot points in his latest book and some overstating of the case at times, for example with regards to the extreme damage caused by rewards or the 'you can achieve anything' transformative power of grit, or the idea that 'adding sofas, bean bag chairs, floor lamps, and excessive decorative items translates to clutter.' (not an idea that accords with the Reggio Emilia philosophy of my school). This is a habit many writers employ because it is more dramatic and attention grabbing. I have seen it recently with John Hattie, an Australian education writer appearing in a television series called 'Revolution School,' where he says that most things most teachers talk about are a waste of time and that he has all the answers. But both Linsin and Hattie do have valuable ideas so gaining attention by overstating the case might be useful as they both deserve attention. And in Linsin it is kind of a likeable offshoot of his enthusiastic personality. In this latest book Linsin advocates rolling out the strategies one by one and I think tidiness would be the first one for me. I am not terribly untidy but I could definitely do better. After that I am exceedingly curious to use storytelling to bridge the gap between the head and the heart and engage kids more. I acknowledge that I am not great at improvisation or thinking on my feet and will come more to that later. I already use and value visualisation although I cannot do it as quickly and efficiently as he suggests is possible. To transform your teaching practise I would recommend starting with his earlier books or blog entries which have similar content. The books are slightly more discursive and personal, with more anecdotes and illustrative tales. And then I recommend travelling on through the great ideas in this book to help you stretch your wings. Just before ending the book I had the thought that it would be nice to have a short summary of each chapter heading. Then a few pages on there it was. Sent from my iPad

Recommend it to my colleagues in school. Will prove helpful to them. Hope they will use it to better their teaching.

I thoroughly enjoyed read this book, it was short and to the point, with a lot of tips to simplify and get to really enjoy your teaching experience. I realised I was already implementing some of the techniques and I had already encountered some of the principles behind the tips, like habit building and the dangers of clutter, but seeing it all together and laid out in a practical path really made my brain click and get eager to start on this journey of improvement. Thanks a lot to the author for thinking about ways to help us fellow colleagues on the verge of burnout! :) Definitely a recommended read.