No Act of Kindness is Ever Wasted

 

Staying positive can be a challenging thing to be at times. Like today, many teachers are back at school after 2 glorious weeks off to decompress, and re-connect with family and friends. It is challenging to come back to the structure and the deadlines and the business of a school day. I feel it, I know that others feel it too. Staying positive today, enjoying my students is what is on my plate today, and not getting mired in the fact that I did not sleep well all night. So, 

How do I stay positive and share/encourage that positivity in my students?

I encourage students to do the same thing that I do: Take baby steps, celebrate small victories and be good cheerleaders to yourselves and to others. I like to start off or end my class where students say a kind word to one another: it could be something that they did that day, or something about them, their clothes, or their attitude that day. I try and encourage kind words that I believe will lead to more positive attitudes towards one another. I believe that small little acts of kindness add up to larger, overall kinder hearts and positive attitudes to oneself and to one another. As teachers, we need to remember to be a good modeler: be kind to yourself, give yourself a pat on the back, and find the silver lining in situations. Your attitude is what the students see as well!