The Power of Gratitude

My principal tricked me into being happy.  It was a clever ruse, and it worked.  We usually only get to wear jeans on Fridays.  To earn Jeans Passes to wear jeans on other days, all we had to do was tweet messages of gratitude to Twitter.  For each tweet we would receive one Jeans Pass.  It was unlimited.

Sensing a loophole in our "Business Casual" dress code, I counted out the number of days left in the quarter and set my goal of 21 tweets.  I could wear jeans everyday until our winter break.  Sweet.

I began to search for things I was grateful for at work- like my funny-sweets students, my hard working colleagues, and a working copy machine.  My brain became finely tuned to noticing things that were good around me so I could tweet them and earn more glorious jeans passes.

Then, I noticed something strange happening.  I was happy almost all the time.  I smiled at my students more and laughed at their jokes.  I hugged my wife tighter and loved on my own children more.  I said thank you more for the little things people did for me.  Even as we prepared for the end of the quarter with assessments, report cards, conferences and squirrely kids, I didn't feel stress; I felt peace.

Turns out my cunning principal had intended such an outcome.  He knew about the power of gratitude and had been reading about how it affects people and organizations.  It turns out that acts of gratitude have a bunch of positive effects.

Effects of gratitude:

• better immune system
• lower blood pressure
• more feelings of happiness and joy
• acting with greater compassion
• feeling less lonely

Once I knew what was happening, I began to be more intentional about my acts of gratitude (and less self serving).  I also introduced ways for my students to show gratitude to others in class.  Whenever I felt my self feeling down, I would list all the things I was grateful for and soon the cloud would lift.

So here is my assignment for you.  I don't have any Jeans Passes, but I do offer peace and happiness which are pretty good too.  

Find 10 things to be thankful for each day.  Write them down or say them aloud.  Watch what happens in your life :) 

Teaching: It's a Marathon not a Sprint

It is around this time of year I have to remind myself- dude slow down.  The excitement of a new school year makes me want to pour all my energy and soul into my work.  I talk too loud, move too fast and stay on my feet all day.  I eat poorly and get dehydrated.  It is hard not to give 120% right now.

BUT, there are 177 more days left.

We need to pace ourselves to go the distance.  Every year I see new teachers going like sprinters early in the year and then losing their voices and getting incredibly sick.  By November they look haggard, emotionally drained and ready to cry.  In some areas, up to 50% or urban teachers leave the profession in the first 5 years.  I have beat this statistic because I know that teaching is a marathon, not a sprint.  In fact, it is a multi-year marathon. 

So here are some tips from a guy who has done this before:

• Sit down whenever you can.  Take a moment to sit and talk to students, reflect or just be.  Even cheetahs spend most of the day laying down or sleeping.  
• Eat good food and drink loads of water.  Make sure you take the time to sit down and eat.  Be sure you have good snacks to sustain you and bottles of water on hand.
• Talk less.  When we talk too much and too loud our students stop listening and we lose our voices, figuratively and literally.  Use non-verbal gestures whenever you can.  
• Slow down.  Walk slower, talk slower, move slower.  It will help regulate your nervous and circulatory systems to a more sustainable level of excitement. 
• Breathe deep.  I actually put a poster on the wall accross from where I teach to remind me to do this.  It helps everything.  Do it.  Now.
• Have fun.  Take time to just have fun with your students.  Be silly, sing a song, read a funny book.  Laughter can renew us (and our students).
• Share the pain.  You don't need to be a hero.  Share how you are feeling with your co-workers.  They are feeling it too and it is good to know you are not alone.