An Attitude of Gratitude

I generally consider myself an optimistic person, one oriented toward a growth mindset. But I find that when it comes to “quality control” issues in our school environment, my critical side takes over.  I want the best for our students, so naturally, I turn my attention toward those areas that need improvement.

“Okay,” “mediocre,” “good enough” – really isn’t good enough for me.  Because I’m not willing to settle for “good enough” for our students.  They deserve the best education.  The best instruction.  The best assessments.  The best environment.

My goal always is to provide the best in education for them.  And that is the perspective from which my critical nature emerges.  Because I care – maybe to a fault --, I agonize over our shortcomings, seeking solutions to move every student, every teacher toward a first-rate educational experience.

So this Washington Post article about Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg resonated with me (so much so that I tracked down the Business Week article that first quoted him).  Zuckerberg and I have something in common:   “’It’s important for me, because I’m a really critical person,’ he says at Facebook’s sprawling corporate campus in Menlo Park, Calif. ’I always kind of see how I want things to be better, and I’m generally not happy with how things are, or the level of service that we’re providing for people, or the quality of the teams that we built.’” 

Hmmm.  That could be a description of me.

What really hit home is how he finished that statement:  “’But if you look at this objectively, we’re doing so well on so many of these things.’”  Yes, we are doing so well on so many of these things, I think to myself.  “’I think it’s important to have gratitude for that.’” 

Gratitude. 

I am grateful. 

I am grateful for the students whose parents have entrusted us to teach them, to nurture them, to guide them.  For our teachers who spend countless hours planning & grading beyond their paid hours, for the expertise they bring to the classroom and to the athletic field, for their compassion and understanding, for their patience – even when they’re at their wit’s end, for their willingness to learn, to improve their practice, always striving to provide the best. For our administrators, whose unwavering support fortifies our efforts.  I am grateful.

I may not give up my “critical nature” for the Lenten Season, but I can take these forty days to express my gratitude.

After all, if Zuckerberg can write thank-you notes every day for a year, I can, at the least, do it for a season.

To Hearten or to Hamper: The Teacher's Choice in Setting the Tone for Classroom Interactions

            Entering a classroom recently, I cringed; what I heard was harsh, enough to make me want to turn around and leave; I had that freedom.  Sadly, though, twenty youngsters did not. 

Apparently, Mrs. Smith was having a bad day due to her students’ ill behavior.  She pointed out that Todd had not finished his math, and Seth couldn’t sit still for five minutes.  Beth was writing with a crayon instead of a pencil, and Ashley had left her lunchbox in the wrong place.  For each of these infractions Mrs. Smith felt compelled to express her exasperation to everyone in the room.

My heart broke for these students.  They had been wounded by her words.  Why would any student in this room want to come back tomorrow?  The embarrassment and the blows to their self-esteem that they had experienced that day would have been enough to make me not want to come back to school the next day.   

The climate in Mrs. Smith’s room certainly did not evoke the warm, welcoming nature that inspires students to work hard, to behave well, and to learn much.  While Mrs. Smith seemed to cast blame on students for their shortcomings, the real problem was not a room full of badly behaved kids. 

The problem lies in Mrs. Smith’s choice of tone and focus for classroom interactions. Her students’ behavior issues may well be remedied by examining her interactions with students.

Each day when we walk into our classroom we have the choice of embarking on a good day or a bad day.  We can allow our interactions to build up or to sour our relationships.  We can hearten our students or we can hamper their development. 

What we say has lasting effects on our students.  However insignificant a comment may seem to the teacher, its effect on our students should not be underestimated.  After more than twenty years in education, I have had students come back to me years later to say, “I remember when you said . . . .”  What a simple reminder that what we say has a lasting impact on our students!

Consider how you feel when people speak harshly or curtly to you as an adult.  Children feel no less insulted when we also speak unkindly to them, and because they are surrounded by their peers, they are more likely to feel ashamed or embarrassed.  After all, would you want your principal to say such things to you during a faculty meeting in earshot of your colleagues?

Building a safe and nurturing classroom environment requires a teacher’s willingness to forge meaningful relationships with students, to acknowledge and celebrate students’ accomplishments, be they ever so small. 

            While there are numerous characteristics that define effective teaching, perhaps none is greater than that which comprises our ability and willingness to forge trusting relationships with students.  As educators we are responsible for imparting not only academic knowledge and skills, but also helping to develop the whole child.

The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. Luke 6:45 NIV