The Power of You

I'm sure you all get it when I say that some days are just hard. Especially afternoons, after recess, at the end of the week -- it just gets hard for everybody. We're tired. We've been working hard. We just need a break. How do we help those hard times get a little bit easier?

I did a little lesson with my classes that I like to call Problem Makers, Problem Solvers. First we sit down and brainstorm all of the different ways that kids can be problem makers at school, and then we brainstorm all the ways that we can think of that kids can be problem solvers. I'm not sure if I have helped more in the past or planted more ideas, but this year I had a startling realization. While both of my classes could come up with 50-60 different ways that kids could be problem makers, the problem solving list topped out at 17 for one class, and less than that for the other. How in the world can my kids be problem solvers, if they don't even realize what that looks like?

So I decided to spend more time on Habit 1: Be Proactive.

The first thing we talked about is our brains. Our brains don't want to be proactive. Our brains are naturally wired to be reactive: to fight, to run, or to hide. It takes a LOT of effort, even for adults, to be proactive, so we need to talk about it and practice it often and use reactive times as learning opportunities, not punishment opportunities.

After we talked about our brains, we talked about the messages we send to others. I have been interrupting class as we've worked on establishing our routines to say things like, "I'm getting the message that my words don't matter, and that's making me feel frustrated. Is that the message you want to send?" Almost always the kids say no (there is one who says yes, which is a challenge in and of itself), so we talk about what's going on and how we can improve.

The latest activity we did was called The Power of You. First, I had them share the things that teachers have done to them that they don't like. Their list included:

• yelling at us
• blaming us for something we didn't do
• taking recess
• giving me a checkmark
• taking away Free Bear (our Day 6 free choice time)

We talked about how some of the items on the list, like yelling, are things that are in my control; if I'm yelling that means I'm being reactive, so that's something that is out of their circle of control - it's mine. I have to think about how I respond. Then we talked about the others. Many of them, like some on the list above, are consequences assigned to student misbehavior. We talked about the fact that every single student has the power, in themselves, to keep all of these things from happening by being proactive. By stopping, thinking, and making the right choice. By walking away. By asking for help instead of refusing to do work. By trying their best. The list went on and on.

We watched the clip from old school He-Man cartoons. You know, "I HAVE THE POWER!!!" and each student added, "I Have the Power" statements to their superhero pictures. They are hanging in the room as a reminder that we all have the power in us. Sometimes it's hard, and none of us are going to be perfect. But this is a great reminder that we can do it!

Round Peg Square Hole

I've talked at length about the great start to my school year last year, and I was truly excited to repeat the practice this year.

This. Year.

Last year, I took everything I wanted to accomplish in terms of routines, technology, and culture and scheduled them out so I could make a little progress in each area, each day. This year, with the expanded implementation of our Leader in Me program, we were asked to participate in something called The First 8 Days. This intensive introduction to the 8 habits of the Leader in Me program helps everybody in the school have a common language and sets the foundation for all of our kids having the opportunity to be leaders.

Don't get me wrong - I LOVE..... and I mean L-O-V-E this program. The 7 habits have absolutely helped me become a better teacher and, more importantly, a better person. But my awesome plan to start the year and the many different activities included in The First 8 Days just were not jiving.

It was like trying to put a round peg in a square hole.

As I was trying to do my weekly planning on Sunday I started to feel anxious and frustrated. There was so much that I had already done last year that I hadn't gotten to this year. There were so many things for the First 8 Days that I just hadn't covered. There was an email that a diagnostic test may have to be completed by 9/13. There was another email reminding us that homeroom teachers were to be giving our district benchmark. A pit was forming in my stomach. My amazing plan - my great start - it was crumbling before my eyes, and it felt awful.

And then I had another one of those a-ha moments. I'm sure it's nothing new to you.

Anything worth doing is worth doing well.

This Leader in Me kickoff? It was definitely worth doing well. And I KNOW how important my tech boot camps and routine building were last year. 

I don't need to cram them all together. 

I just need to take the time to do them well. 

I made the decision to simply do the First 8 Days, and if something else fits, great. If not, I'll start with my plan next week. The diagnostic? It'll get done. So will the benchmark. 

I only get one chance to really establish the culture and routines in my classroom. So I need to do it right. The round peg, it's going in the round hole. And the square peg is going in the square hole. And when I do finally get to start my curriculum, it's going to be another successful year thanks to all of the time we take to set up the expectations for working in our classroom.