Year 13: Week 25 - Coming Back From A Hard Day

Thursday was a hard day. Things that students did, for some reason, affected me more than they should have. There were unforeseen situations and new challenges, and I had a lot on my mind.

This was a day where things that happened in school stayed with me into the evening, and it wasn’t until late after my children went to bed that I fully understood why I felt so deeply about the things that happened at school.

As I sat in the parking lot Friday morning, I thought, “How do I bounce back?” It felt a like a choice. Whether I had a good day was going to be up to me, and I thought about what I had been taught about teaching and what I knew about myself and remembered some keys to having a better day.

“Do one thing at a time.”

When the to-do list seems overwhelming, do one thing at a time. That’s all you can do. Think about what tasks you can do, write them out, and just get started. It’s a push like one step up a mountain, but each task that gets done makes things feel easier to handle, like looking down at the path and seeing how high you have climbed. Looking at a to-do list with tasks crossed out is a motivating feeling.

“Reboot”

One reason Thursday was challenging is that one class had many students having issues regulating their behavior. So when that class came into music on Friday, and they were not having to behave appropriately, I had the students leave the room and review classroom norms in the hallways.

Reestablishing expectations is great for the students and also teachers. Values expressed through norms of care, respect, and love should be present in all teachers; sometimes, we forget to remind our students and ourselves that our work comes out of love.

 

“Share Joy”

I love Motown music, and I’ve been fascinated by “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” recently. So I showed my students some video clips of performances of this song, and I geeked out in front of them. Because of my genuine enthusiasm, my students got really into the song, and we had some great conversations about why it was awesome.

We did drum circle, and I enjoyed the experience myself and told my students how special it is to play instruments together and share in the unique experience of making music.

Friday ended up being a good day.

The best way to improve things is to “make them better.” Passivity doesn’t help. You must put in the effort to change how things feel for you and your students. In that effort, you find your way and power to make change.