4) You had a particularly tough day at school (and it’s not a Friday), enough to make you question and test your devotion to teaching. What would you do that evening to get going again the next morning?
Not going to lie. I let myself cry! Only from when I am in my car and away from the school and only until I get home. Once I am home it is DONE.
Once I get home, I push all thoughts of school out of my head. Tomorrow will be a new day! I might make a nice, healthy (or really unhealthy) dinner, watch a good TV show or movie, and just spend time with my hubby. When I get back to school in the morning, I stay positive while reflecting on what went wrong the day before. I will ask myself a few questions:
- What could I have done differently?
- How could I have responded differently?
- What do I need to do to repair any relationships that may have been damaged?
- Who can I get some advice from so that this situation does not happen/happens differently next time?
Then I go on teaching that day in a positive way!
This may all be silly to some people, but as long as I stay positive and reflective, my worst days become a learning experience and I can move on without hurt feelings or a damaged view.
Ready for school to start tomorrow!!! Hoping I can remember to do all of this on my worst days! (I know I’m not perfect and some days I get really negative, but hoping that happens less often this year!)
Good luck and best teaching to everyone starting school this week!!! …. and everyone else I guess 😉
Math with Morrison 
This is great! I’ve been teaching 28 years and I still have days that I wish I could take back. The important thing is to learn and to NOT beat yourself up! Best of luck to you as you start your new year. We started 8/20.
It is so important to remember to stay positive – I think we are often surrounded by negativity and it is much easier to be negative than positive. Nice way to reframe your day!
–Lisa