Seek out your positive peers

I have empathy for those who have shared with me their negative teacher's lounge experiences as I have been there too.  In my experience though, the teacher's lounge is not the only place that negativity rears its ugly head.  It is like a disease and it mobilizes through many different areas of a school.  Like my dad once said, "If you look for the negative, you are going to find it.  If look for the positive though, you'll find that too."  It is a matter of perspective, focus, and attitude.

I spend too many lunches alone and working.  However, I do at the same time specifically seek out my positive colleagues - also eating with them and working in their classrooms over lunch, and I find those conversations to be full of vitality and passion for educating.  

I also will go so far to say that there are categories of griping.  Those that lead to a conversation about problem-solving and those that do not.  Not all gripes are worthless conversation for those with too much time on their hands.  Sometimes you need to bounce a frustration off of someone who can help you find a solution.  That is healthy discussion and you can leave those conversations with a plan of action!  When we are discussing our frustrations, it is usually because we are really trying to get to a kid and we haven't been able to do it yet.  Most often, I get my best tools to try from those problem-solving colleagues because it ends up like a brainstorming session so we can try to "unlock" a kid.  

Focus on the positive; you cannot afford to focus your time and energy on the negative people - you need that energy for your family, your students, and yourself.

Awakening Genius in the Classroom

I just finished a class using this text.  Very interesting and a short read.  I agree with most of what was said because I am an advocate for utilizing multiple intelligences in the classroom.  Thomas Armstrong discusses twelve such geniuses in people, and uses the word genius as: "giving birth to the joy of learning."  He says that it is this genius that gives the student "intrinsic motivation to learn."  I love it!

In most extraordinary people, I would add a genius and that would be the genius of persistence (or ‘stick-to-itive-ness’).  Einstein, Helen Keller, and Picasso had great focus and persistence in their passions.  That is something that our “instant gratification” generation is missing out on sadly.  I’d like to think that my own personal will, determination, and persistence maintained the presence of creativity at least (though not as much imagination for me) into adulthood, despite my formal education. :)  Just food for thought.

On a side note, I think that the organization of educational system allows for genius shutdown.  My mother went to high school in Salina.  At that time it was the 70's, (I'm not sure of current practices there), and she successfully completed all graduation requirements by Dec. of her senior year, and was able to graduate at that time.  In my own high school, I have literally had seniors tell me that they were only showing up for American Government and English 4 because that was all they needed to graduate.  They are waiting on hold in our classrooms to go out and work, join the military, or start college.  I'm all for offering those courses as semester-long ones, and letting them go!  That would provide for more time with the students who need the extra time in school. 

It would be great if students could accelerate through school based on skill and mastery and not on age...I know, I'm dreaming. :)