This week is American Education Week and we have much to celebrate! We celebrate educators who are working hard to meet all levels of student need. You can multi-task to create rigorous curriculum opportunities as well as plan empowering social-emotional learning activities. The care you have for students drives positive relationships. You realize that students come from all different circumstances, and every student needs someone who believes in him. You are TEACHers! If you agree, do you feel like celebrating or do you sometimes feel like you are losing steam? You may sense that teaching is always changing, and you feel swept up in an unfamiliar dynamic.

Balancing curriculum and social-emotional learning

This is unfamiliar territory for many teachers as we are not used to teaching social-emotional skills. We all agree though, that it is essential and even fun to do so. Why the worry and why the resistance? Because change is difficult, albeit inevitable. Our resistance is not so much about the assumption that social-emotional learning is a vital new component of teaching than it is about our own feelings. Thankfully, we can change the way we feel. We need to realize that our role is a helper role. When we help learners, we are fulfilling our destiny. Be happy, grateful and thankful that we are exactly where God wants us to be at this precise moment.

Building positive relationships

Certainly, 100% of teachers would agree that positive relationships are key, but many students who need us most are the most difficult to reach. This requires a teacher mindset that is willing to reflect and change. Change is difficult, and people resist it. If you are using a student’s bad behavior as the reason you cannot develop a positive relationship with him, then you are only seeing the behavior, not the student.

We cannot develop a relationship with a behavior; we can only develop a relationship with a person.

Do you know what that student likes or is passionate about?  If you don’t know, then you haven’t yet begun the work of developing a positive relationship with him or her.  Give yourself and your student some time, and cultivate the relationship just like a seed in a flower pot.   

 Students come from all different circumstances

Every student needs someone who believes in him. This is a call is worth celebrating! God has put us in charge of carrying this out for our students. Of course, it may be difficult to believe in a kid who doesn’t believe in himself, but this is our greatest calling and it is our highest honor.

     Teachers do have a lot on their plates, it’s true.  Sometimes we feel overwhelmed by an ever-increasing variety of challenges. But we also have an excellent sense of what we need to do, how we need to do it and why we need to do it. We have an important mission for every student in our care.

Remember - we have the brains, power and creativity to succeed!

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All too often, we face life looking forward or looking backward.  We forget about the moment that we are in. 

I remember as a new mom, looking forward to having my children develop and grow because I was excited to see them enter the next phase or leave that ugly phase of something like teething or potty training!  What I often had to tell myself is to just enjoy the moment that is right in front of you today.  I had so many people tell me that it would go by fast and that I would want those days back.  Guess what?   They were right.  Now that I have one in college, two in high school, and one in elementary, I find myself thinking about how quickly life has changed and that it went by way too fast! 

I have found that as I grow older, that I need to find joy in each day and enjoy the moments that are right in front of me.  It’s not always easy; because let’s face it, some days are just not worth repeating!  However, remember that God has a purpose for trials and joys we face.  It’s not always clear at the time, but we are learning and growing in our faith. 

I lost my mother-in-law and three grandparents all within a span of two years.  Each one of them had a special place in my heart and always took the time to enjoy the people that they were with each day.  They had a wonderful way of listening and being focused on the conversation with those around them.  Too often our schedules and technology distract us.  Perhaps we could learn how to seek out time like this?  After all, how do you want to be remembered?  As someone who was always appears stressed and on a tight schedule or as someone who took the time to enjoy the people around them?

Whether you are looking forward to a vacation, being done with classes, or even the end of this day; take the time to reflect and find the blessings and joy you encountered today.  It might have been a smile from a student or patient, a phone call from a friend, or a hug from your child or spouse.  Treasure those moments and thank God that it was part of your day.  The more you seek out these moments, the more joy fills your heart and you will soon find yourself filled with blessings each day.

Rejoice in each day of life - and choose joy.

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