Tip #8 - Count Your Rainbows

The teacher who shares an adjoining room with me gave me a beautiful calendar, full of wisdom, for Christmas. And this month's inspirational words are very timely. Especially in this second semester of the school year.

So.  Here goes tip number 8 from a so-called veteran teacher...



Count your rainbows, not your thunderstorms.

This is something I continue to struggle with as a middle school teacher at a Title I school. Sometimes (okay a lot of times) it's hard not to focus on the negatives of this career. You've heard the saying before that all it takes is one bad apple to spoil the whole barrel. Well this couldn't be farther from the truth in the teaching world. You could have the best lesson planned, everything is going well, and the students are all engaged.  Sounds great right? Only your favorite little troublemaker has decided that now is the perfect time for an outburst or a strange and funny sound...and even your best student becomes distracted and loses it with the rest of the class.

As a teacher, you know better. You know to ignore it, laugh it off with the rest of the class, and not let it get the better of you.  Only you can't because this has happened too many times, you're tired, maybe even stressed out, you're not getting parental support (or involvement), you have a lot to teach (in very little time and the kids who are causing the trouble are the ones who aren't even performing at grade level), and yet you still have to prove to the "powers that be" that you're teaching "your socks off" and have the data (data, data, data!!!) to prove that your kids are improving on their district assessments. That's a mouthful right? It's enough to make anyone come undone!  Especially now. I mean getting through the end of first semester was tough. And now we face our biggest challenge as we gear up for high stakes testing in April while dealing with low motivation, behavior issues, learning disabilities...I could go on and on.

And with all that said, it's really important to count your rainbows and focus on the positives. You have to keep things in perspective.  Most of the students are trying their best. Most of the students want to learn. Most of them are motivated. Deep down, they're really good kids.

I was reminded of that today...

I'd dropped the kids off in the lunchroom and left for a few minutes to use the restroom. When I came back, one of the cafeteria workers approached me and asked me my name to make sure she had the "right" teacher. Oh no...what had my little darlings done now? She said to me, "Your kids are wonderful. I just had to come let you know." She said a box of utensils had fallen over and spilled onto the floor, and "a bunch" of my students rushed over to help her.  She went on to tell me how helpful they were, and it was really nice to hear. Mind you, this is after we had just left the media center (to check out books and read) when a few of my beloved kids decided that was the last thing they wanted to do. Instead, they chose to chase each other, get a little rowdy, and a little playful. Just kids being kids, right? By the way, those little darlings are the same ones who rushed over to help.

I'm reminding myself...and you should too...to focus on those rainbows. Not the thunderstorms.