Each new school year seems to begin with and end with lots of negativity. It can be mentally and physically draining. If I could have one school wish granted before I retire, it would be to work with a staff that is one hundred percent about the kids and that would include dropping the negativity at the door in order to create a warm welcoming setting for kids to learn, grow, and flourish.
I don’t want to hear about the ugly paint color someone else picked out, complaints about the schedule, or the angst of having to do RTI. I want to hear about new ideas, activities, great professional development, ways to communicate with parents, funny kid stories, and how the effort of a staff results in the accomplishments of children.
When the negatives start, they travel from room to room having free roam over our school. Everyone becomes affected. A happy, lively school can turn sour and ugly in just a few hours. I am not immune. I get caught up in it too and I don’t like how it feels. That negativity can cling onto people following them out the door at the end of the day…traveling home…and then back to school the next morning. I love home and I love school. I don’t want that lurking menace anywhere around me.
Negativity is not the same as problem solving. We all have to deal with problems but there is a right way and a wrong way to do this. Negativity travels through whispers, closed doors, and rolled eyes. Problem solving commutes with open dialog, respect, trust and compassion. It travels above ground.
This year, I am returning to school with high hopes. I am entering the door with an open mind. I am covering myself with an invisible shield of positive to repel those negatives. I hope all my colleagues do the same.
Oh-best wishes to you with your shield. It's a good idea to cloak yourself in protection, and just let the positives win out. There are so many & it is all about the students, isn't it? Maybe find a partner in crime to thwart all of that. Best wishes for wonderful things to happen.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it's important to repel the negatives!! I always try to look at the positive side of things which is hard to do when there's a lot of negativity around. Having a positive attitude can be just as contagious as negativity. Have a great start of the school year! --jee young
ReplyDeleteYou can't change others, you can't change some situations. You can change yourself and your attitude. I hope that your positive approach is going to spread. We ended our last year with quite a bit of negativity, so at the beginning of this year we talked about it as a team and made an essential agreement to look more for the positive and complain less.
ReplyDeleteRuth wrote a a post that connects with your writing today. In case you missed it you can find it at http://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com/2011/07/27/the-mind-flip/.
ReplyDeleteHere's to a wonderful school year for you!
-Stacey
I relate to this post completely! It is so hard to keep the negatives away. I have found the only attitude i can really change is my own. But a positive attitude is catching!
ReplyDeleteYour attitude is contagious, I know you will repel the negatives and have a great year. Keep the flame alive!
ReplyDeleteYou are reading my mind! One of my goals every year is to try to keep my mind focused on what is important: the kids. It is a battle sometimes. Nice to know I'm not alone. :)
ReplyDeleteI agree that I want to repel the negatives - but for me, since I tend to be so optimistic and positive, I need to acknowledge that others aren't so. Balance, that's the key for me.
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