Some Days Are Bad Days
It's amazing, the calm and peace that's come over me lately. After a very rocky patch, things have gotten much better, but not because my problem kids have been causing any less problems. Basically, I've decided not to let them bother any more. I didn't realize how powerful this decision was until today.
A day like today would have really gotten to me just a couple of days ago. But even though I was struggling and yelling all day today, I left school remarkably calm. It's not that I'm apathetic, it's just that I've made some conscious decisions about what matters, and what doesn't.
First off, I have to ask myself what I could have done differently. On a day like today, I don't think I could have done much. I didn't lose my cool and I didn't give up on my plans. I've adopted a strategy of calm redirecting (i.e. How do you think you're behaving? What could you do better?). And when it's effective it's great, and when it's not, I know it's not my problem.
Obviously, some of my students are not where I want them to be. But, it's not because I'm not trying, or planning, or caring. When things go wrong, I can still reflect on what to do better, but it I know longer feel to the need to dwell on it endlessly after the day is done. I'm not sure, but this is probably a good sign something is going right.
A day like today would have really gotten to me just a couple of days ago. But even though I was struggling and yelling all day today, I left school remarkably calm. It's not that I'm apathetic, it's just that I've made some conscious decisions about what matters, and what doesn't.
First off, I have to ask myself what I could have done differently. On a day like today, I don't think I could have done much. I didn't lose my cool and I didn't give up on my plans. I've adopted a strategy of calm redirecting (i.e. How do you think you're behaving? What could you do better?). And when it's effective it's great, and when it's not, I know it's not my problem.
Obviously, some of my students are not where I want them to be. But, it's not because I'm not trying, or planning, or caring. When things go wrong, I can still reflect on what to do better, but it I know longer feel to the need to dwell on it endlessly after the day is done. I'm not sure, but this is probably a good sign something is going right.
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