I of all people know how hard it is to stay positive. I have been known almost my whole life as a cynical complainer. I can even admit now that it wasn't an unfair assessment. What's worse, is I can see it in my own children as times, and it's almost unbearable. I really don't know how my parents kept their patience with me (most of the time, at least).
As a teacher, I found it so easy to fall into the complaining trap. I complained about every single thing about teaching, it's a wonder if anyone thought I even enjoyed teaching. I complained about the students, the families, the paperwork, my coworkers, the administration, you get the idea. But I DO LOVE TEACHING! But why didn't I act like it?
I've started listening to a lot of podcasts in the shower (because that's about my only time alone) even then I get interrupted several times. These women in these podcasts are SO FREAKING POSITIVE! There's a lot of talk about visualizing what you want and speaking out loud positive affirmations until you believe it. I didn't change overnight, in fact it probably got worse before it got better. This year was probably my hardest year in all of my teaching career. I started thinking that if I wanted things to get better I needed to make some changes not only in what I was doing, but in what I was thinking.
First there was a lot of blaming. I blamed everyone else for things going wrong. Then I started blaming myself and thinking the worst. Thinking I should quit my job because I just wasn't good enough.Thinking I should just quit teaching all together, but what else would I do. This is all I know, this is all I'm good at... (I know the reasoning doesn't make sense, anxiety and depression don't make sense)
Wait a minute... I am a good teacher. I literally have years upon years students' successes that proves this. This year is hard, but it will make me a better teacher. I know more now then I did at the beginning of the year and as a teacher I know that the more you know, the better you can do.
I'm still not good at saying my own positive affirmations out loud. It's still weird for me to talk to myself, but I am trying to remember my self-worth as an individual, a wife, a mom, and a teacher. All of this has led me to speaking positive words over my students and encouraging them to speak them, too.
This pack of Positive Classroom Affirmations is what I used in my own classroom with my Head Start students. The first one is always "I am Safe." Not only do I want them to know that school is a safe place to be but also as a classroom pact to keep each other safe. Each morning we recite our positive affirmations as part of our morning meeting. We decide together an action to go with each affirmation and I photograph one of the students doing it and we hang them on the wall together. Each week we introduced a new affirmation, what it means in our classroom, and a new action. It was definitely an honor to get to do the action and everyone in my class of 18 got to have their picture on the wall. Some days we would focus more on a certain affirmation if it seemed like we were struggling in a certain area. I am responsible could help us focus on cleaning up after centers, taking care of yourself at meals, etc. I am kind could help us focus on helping classmates, giving complements to peers, and more.
These Positive Classroom Affirmations are more than just nice words to say at circle time, they can literally change the way you create rules in your classroom. These are the expectations for everyone in the room and the agreement that you make each morning to make each day as AWESOME as it can be. Here's the other thing, we all made that agreement together to be safe, kind, respectful, and much more, so if someone is not living up to that agreement, it's not just me that might say something, in fact it is usually one of their peers. "Hey, remember at school we are safe." (this one got used a lot last year, we struggled some/ or a lot). But when your students are the ones that are calling out their peers for breaking the agreement, you can maintain a positive relationship with those students that you might have to talk to the most. This mindset shift from the teacher makes the rules and the students just follow them or else, to we agree that we all value these things and will work together to achieve our best is not easy at first. If you value your students' positive self-esteem and want to give them ownership of their learning and classroom, you are already half-way there.
These Positive Classroom Affirmations are only $1.50 in my TPT store. What a bargain for something that can change the way you do classroom management in your classroom.
If you are nervous about this change, message me because I'd love to talk you through what a difference it can make in your classroom and in you as a teacher.
Allie P
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