Share #yourEdustory, week 1: What is your #oneword for 2015?
In spite of the ongoing attacks on public schools and teachers; in spite of too many students in my room; in spite of too many papers to grade; in spite of never enough time or resources, my one word for 2015 is this:
POSITIVE
There are so many factors beyond my control that affect my work as a middle school teacher, that it is easy to whine, complain and be negative. But what good would that do? I’m not a Pollyanna, but I do know that each morning when I walk into my classroom, I have the choice to focus on what makes me smile or I can dwell on what makes my job difficult. And here’s the thing: if I am smiling and finding the joy in my days, there is a better chance that my students will also smile and find their joy, and that translates into a POSITIVE classroom environment, which means more fun and learning for all of us.
My #1 reason for staying POSITIVE in 2015 is my students: they are 8th graders, full of all that 8th grade brings, which means mood swings, enthusiasm, questioning authority, goofy giddiness and deep compassion. They can be hooked into a lesson by a silly grammar video just as easily as by one that exposes life’s tragic injustices. They wear their hearts on their sleeves and they need my POSITIVITY every day.
So how will I stay POSITIVE this year? One area of challenge for me is including lots of POSITIVE 
feedback on my students’ writing. With 160 students who need to do a lot of writing and who need lots of help strengthening their writing, it’s easy to fall into the habit of marking what needs improvement and ignoring what was done well. This year I aim to amp up my POSITIVE comments on my students’ work, building their confidence and boosting their self-esteem by honoring their successes, even those as seemingly tiny as one excellent word or brilliant sentence in an essay.
How do you stay POSITIVE in the classroom? What aspect of teaching challenges you the most to stay POSITIVE? Share below and let’s make 2015 a year of POSITIVITY!
Laura Bradley 
What a great word to choose, Laura! What really struck me is how you point out that each day you have a choice about how you will face your day and how that choice will affect your life and your students’ lives. As teachers, we need to remember that our attitude influences the behavior of our students, so we need to make that choice to be positive. Thank you for the reminder!
It’s a daily challenge, right? 🙂 Thanks for your feedback!
This reminded me of the 1950’s and Norman Vincent Peal, “The Power of Positive Thinking” . It was good for then and it’s good for now.
Laura, I love it, especially with the action steps of providing a greater quantity of positive feedback on writing. I find it is not just in writing, but many areas where it is easy for us to focus on what needs improvement (thus perceived as negative). As a special education case manager I try to, but often don’t succeed at communicating as many or more positives to parents and others about student progress as I do the areas needing improvements (negative). I look forward to sharing more Edustory together this year. Here’s to 2015!
Thanks, Shawn!