Positive Attitudes

In Attitudes are skills from Seth Godin's Blog, Seth Godin, 

“Once you realize that you can improve, amplify and refine the things that other people call attitudes, you may realize that they are skills.”

I think that people have the ability to develop better attitude skills. They can choose to have a positive attitude or a negative attitude. You are not born with this so it must be acquired. Attitude is closely connected to our perceptions. How we see things help us to improve our attitudes. Our attitudes can affect our work skills.

Negative attitudes can cause mistakes, imperfections, feelings of frustration and anger, and even lead to failure.

Positive attitudes open up possibilities. They give feelings of hope and anticipation of better things to come. It opens up options and can lead to success.

I thought I would list some positive attitudes that I thought I should help my students to develop.

1. I am capable of doing many things. 
2. It is good to work hard to achieve the things I want. 
3. It doesn’t hurt to try new things (as long as they aren’t illegal).  
4. I need to practice to get better at new things. 
5. It’s alright to make mistakes as long as I don’t keep repeating them. 
6. It is okay to ask for help. 
7.  It is good to help others. 
8. Teamwork can help hard things easier. 
9. Accepting criticism helps me to improve. 
10. It is okay to feel proud when I achieve something.

These are just ten things I would start with. I think it would be good to pick one for a lesson and open it up for discussion with the following questions:

• Why is this hard for some people? 
• How can I start to believe this? 
• How can I help others believe this?

What other positive attitudes would you add to the list? What other questions would you add to the discussion? Please share.

Photo by Miguel Bruna on Unsplash 

Bring Out the Best

In What brings out the best in you? From Seth Godin's Blog,  Seth Godin asks,

“Can you change your posture so that the situations you’re in a lot bring out your best instead of your worst?”

I’ve heard the cliché: “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” And I believe it is true.

I can wallow in a bad situation that I have no control over and whine about it until anyone around me can’t stand me. I can keep complaining about how bad my situation is and how miserable I am but none of that will help make my situation any better. In fact, it will make me, and others just feel worse.

During this virus, I have done a lot of gardening at home and usually, I complain that I never have enough time. My husband trimmed bushes and did some things that he needed to do.

When a tornado hit our Florida house, we had to hurry down there to fix the damage. Since we couldn’t go anywhere, we were able to make some repairs on our own. In addition to repairs, we were able to do some maintenance things that we normally put off until “we get around to it.” Of course, we are having so much fun doing other things that the opportunity never comes around.

I’m reading a lot more library books that I don’t usually take the time to do.

I’m making more phone calls to connect with family and friends that I don’t usually contact. It is good to know that they are doing okay.

I see that the amount of pollution in the air has decreased and a lot of wildlife has been able to exist in less dangerous environments. Loggerhead turtles are able to use the beaches more freely to lay their eggs without the danger of disturbance.

Many this virus has just given the world a pause in their regular routines and letting people see how they could live their lives more simply. People realize they can still do many things with a lot fewer resources and luxuries.

I hope I’m being kinder to people and their situations even if I don’t agree with their point of view. I hope that I’m appreciative of the many things people do to make my life more comfortable and that I let them know this. I hope I am taking the time to appreciate my loved one and my life the way it is.

How are you bringing out your best? Please share.

Photo by Arwan Sutanto on Unsplash

Keeping a Good Attitude

I saw on the news that this health crisis is affecting people’s emotional health. People are tired of being cooped up inside and being in close quarters can make people cranky.

Here are some things you can share with students that may help them keep a good attitude:

Exercise

There are a lot of YouTube videos that have workout routines. I do a walking routine at home every morning to get my heart going. I feel pretty good after I exercise.

Sunlight

Go outside in the sun and get at least 20 minutes of sunlight. People who stay inside do not get enough Vitamin D. This can affect your moods.

Connect

Connect with others either through video chats (Skype, Zoom, Facetime), or call people you don’t normally call. I have a hard time with calling but now I would rather do that then feel isolated.

Letters

Mail a letter to someone and let them know that you are thinking of them. Before the internet, we used to mail a lot of letters. Maybe students can become penpals with another student and regularly communicate this way. This would help handwriting, spelling, sentence writing, and letter writing.

Cooking

Food is always comforting. Trying a new recipe can be exciting.

Reading

Reading can be a great way to escape the real world. Reading outside in the sun can be doubly beneficial.

Gratitude Journal

Keep a daily journal with what you are grateful for. This helps to focus on the positive instead of the negative.

What would you suggest would help others keep a good attitude? Please share.

Photo by Gian Cescon on Unsplash

Attitude is a Choice

In Gloom (and doom) from Seth Godin's Blog, Seth Godin shares,

”Doom is inevitable. Gloom is optional.”

On Monday mornings, I can go on social media and see so many people whining about how it is Monday. They hate Mondays. Everything goes wrong on Mondays. It is hard to get started back to work on Mondays after a nice weekend. And on and on it goes!

I was always amazed on Mondays when my special education students seemed happy to be back at school. They reacted the same way after holidays. While other students hated coming back, my students looked forward to the return. You see,  my students like a routine and liked thing they could depend on. Weekends and holidays usually had no routines and could even involve a lot of chaos and confusion. Many of my students liked knowing what was going to happen before it happened. Most families don’t plan their weekends and holidays because they enjoy the escape from routines and planning.

Every day my husband wakes up and declares how glad he is to be alive! He is the most positive person I have ever known. He always makes me smile when he says this, and I realize that I’m glad too.

When I worry about things that might happen when we go on a trip or we want to go on a new adventure,  he talks about it with me and lets me talk about the worst thing that could happen. Other than dying, we talk about solutions if those things ever happen (which they usually don’t ever but I feel prepared if they do.) This is his way of compromising and allowing me my fears but not letting it stop us from having fun.

It is these times when I realize that my attitude is a choice that I can make. I can choose to be gloomy and discouraging or I  can choose to appreciate the life I have. If I choose to be negative, the self-fulfilling prophecy will probably make my thoughts come true. If I choose to be positive, I will look at my day in a better light and expect the best.

I want to set a good example for my students in the same way my husband does for me.

How do you teach your students to have a positive attitude? Please share.

Photo by Thomas Young on Unsplash

Strength in Numbers

On Sunday, the church sermon was about strength and how a piece of wood can break but if you have a bunch of wood together, it is much harder to break.  As I listened I think about how I apply this lesson in my teaching also.

My students know they have a disability and weaknesses. They might not completely understand about the disability but they know they have trouble with academics. This is not something new to many of them because they have struggled with this all their lives.

I try to help my students understand their weaknesses and accept them and also to work their way around them. To do this, they need to find out what their strengths are which is something hard for them to do since they don’t realize that they have any strengths. Since they have failed so often, they feel they lack strengths of any kind which isn’t true. Everyone has strengths and just need to figure out what they are.

Once the students figure out what their strengths are, I try to show them that it is okay for all of us to have different strengths. When we put all our strengths together, we are altogether stronger as a group.

I try to impress upon my students that because we all have different weaknesses and strengths, we need to watch out for each other. Instead of ridiculing each other for weaknesses, we need to jump in and give help when needed. If we all take that attitude, we all can be successful over time. It is too easy to knock someone down when they are already feeling weak but it is another thing to bolster someone up when they need it.

We have many discussions about why it is easier to ridicule someone and point out their weaknesses instead of helping them focus on their strengths. Understanding why they do certain things helps my students see how they can change their behavior.

This may take some time and practice because this doesn’t happen overnight. When students miss the opportunity, I try to talk about it and see how they could have acted differently. The more we talk about it and practice it, the easier it becomes. Then when they are in different situations where I’m not available, they can feel more comfortable acting appropriately.

This is an important job skill to learn and can help students in the future become successful in the workplace.

How do you encourage strength in the classroom? Please share.

Attitude or Technique

In What's Most Valuable Attitude or Technique? From  @DavidGeurin Blog , David Geurin talks about how a Sports Illustrated Kids reporter asked SC coach Frnak Martin,

“When you coach or teach your team defense, what’s more important, technique or attitude?” 

Then he asks,

“ How can we generate more focus on Effort, Attitude, and Team in our school cultures? What is your school doing to promote these qualities?”

Years ago, I used to coach a cheerleading squad for 6 years. When I held tryouts I didn’t look at appearance so much as I looked at attitude. I remember that I had one overweight girl, who I will call Jane,  who had tons of school spirit and I would rather have a whole squad of girls like her instead of 12 girls who were slender and bratty. My squad was not happy when I chose Jane to be on the squad but over time, she won the hearts of everyone. She pulled the squad together and when they were typical teenage girls at each other’s throats, her humor eased the tense situations. She ended up being the squad captain and made our whole squad look amazing. Years later, she lost weight and actually won several beauty contest titles. I like to think that her confidence and attitude on the squad made a difference in her life.

I try to tell my students that their attitude is what is going to help them succeed in life. How they face the challenges and obstacles in the way of their goals will determine what kind of life they will have. If they always act miserable and treat others miserably, then their life will feel miserable and keep them from achieving their goals. Yet, if they have the attitude of determination and perseverance, it is more likely that they will do what they set out to do. Usually other people are more willing to help those with good attitudes and shy away from people with bad attitudes.

I love to hear stories where school communities pull together to make their school great. I worked at one school where the community would come in several times a semester to work on beautifying the school grounds. Later in the day, the school would host a cookout as a way of thanking the community. There seemed to be less vandalism and litter around our school because the community worked hard to make it look good and would not tolerate any bad behavior. This pride was instilled in our students which helped them have the right attitude towards our school.

I love to hear stories of student groups within the school who decide to help their peers with disabilities be part of the general education community as much as possible. When students go out of their way to see life from someone else’s shoes and give each other a hand up, this attitude of generosity seems to spread more easily.

How does your school promote good atttitudes? Please share.

  

Classroom Gratitude

In Thank Your Class – Teach Happier Strategy #1 from Success In the Classroom, Sam shares

“…make a special effort to include a moment of gratitude in your daily routine. Sometime in your class, stop the lesson, and show some appreciation to your class as a whole.”

Many of my students felt they were unwanted misfits and many were in constant trouble over the years. Many were ridiculed and felt like a burden on others.

On a weekly basis, I would tell my class how much I enjoyed teaching them and how glad I was that they were in my class. At first, they were skeptical but after hearing this at least once a week, they started to believe me. No one wants to feel unwanted or unappreciated.

Sometimes I would explain that when I would get annoyed or frustrated with them, it meant I cared. If I didn’t care, I would let them do whatever they wanted and not care if they learned anything. But it was important to me that they learn and become productive citizens.

Many times I would tell them how much that I respected them and how brave I felt they were to keep struggling and not giving up.

A lot of my students had never been told this by a teacher or even their family. The more I showed my gratitude, the more they tried. The more I showed by example how I respected them, they learned to show their respect back.

I liked to explain to them that we were like a big team and we had to help each other. We had to appreciate each other’s strengths and use them to learn from them. I explained how thankful I was to learn from them every day. This always shocked them because they always thought a teacher knew everything! I would show them that I learned how to be a better teacher from them because each student is like a fingerprint and no one person is alike. They all have different learning styles and ways of learning that are different from each other. Every student teaches me how to be a detective and figure out what works best for them. I explain how lucky I am that they are patient with me as I learn this.

This attitude of gratitude also helped me when I felt frustrated and depressed that I wasn’t making as much progress as I would like. I would stop myself and remind myself how thankful I was for my class. I would think about all the little steps they have taken towards success and remind myself that change doesn’t happen overnight.

How do you show gratitude to your class? Please share.

It’s a New Day

Yesterday might have been a bad day. A student was disrespectful to me. Another student misbehaved. One student almost got in a fight. Some students didn’t do their homework. Some students didn’t understand the concept that I was teaching. A colleague and I had a disagreement. The principal was not happy and when he isn’t happy, no one is happy.  It was an example right out of the book from “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day!”

But today is a new day.

The disrespectful student may have been having his own bad day. Maybe he had an argument at home. Maybe he didn’t get enough sleep or food to eat. Whatever his reason, today is a new day. I will give him a clean slate and we will start fresh. I won’t hold a grudge. He gets to start again today.

The student who misbehaved may have felt justified in doing what he did. Maybe he was bored or maybe he couldn’t focus. Whatever his reason, today is a new day. I will not hold yesterday’s behavior against him. He will have a chance to start anew.

One student who was so angry she almost got in a fight. I will not stay angry with her. It’s a new day. I will help her set her own anger aside and start today in a more calm attitude. It is hard to learn when you are angry and angry thoughts cloud your mind. There isn’t enough room to let in new learning.

For the students who didn’t do their homework, today is a new day. They will have a chance to show improved responsibility. I won’t hold it against them but I will hold them accountable. Failure is not an option with homework so if it wasn’t done at home, it will be done first before anything else is started. They will learn that they will have to do it one way or another and that it is much easier to just do it at home as required.

For the students who didn’t understand the concept I was teaching. It is a new day. I need to figure out a different way to explain it. I need to help them learn in the way that is best for them and not for me. It might include having a peer explain it in a way they understand. Whatever it takes, it is up to me to help them figure it out and put our frustrations aside.

The colleague who disagreed with me may have been right. I will consider the argument and possibly look at my own opinion differently. But today is a new day. We work together and will put this disagreement aside and move forward.

If the principal isn’t happy, I need to figure out what I need to do to change this. It is a new day. I need to do what is expected and if I don’t understand or know, it is up to me to find out. I don’t need to hold my own anger or frustration up for the world to see. This is blocking me from doing what I need to do. I need to start the day with a clean slate and move forward.

Do you give others a clean slate on a new day? If so, please share.

Image: 'School House' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15704220@N00/3415741500
Found on flickrcc.net