For Teachers: Where is the Joy?

Remember the joy of teaching?

(this tip comes from Tom Daly of adhdsolutions.com)

It is impossible to instill a joy of learning in our kids when we
are not feeling joy in our work.

Joy flows downhill. When joy wells up inside us, it impacts our
students! It is contagious!

But, when we are beaten down, and staring at our shoes, our
students are left to emotionally fend for themselves. And, even for
our most resilient kids, being left to emotionally fend for
themselves is a horrible plan that will only make things worse.

Imagine that you are sitting in a big room. Just you. Then, one by
one, every student you have taught or counseled comes in with a
card in their hand. A card they made just for you, straight from
the heart, reminding you of how you changed their lives. Take a
moment to close your eyes and picture those names and faces.

So today, my encouragement is to do these three things:

Focus on those kids.

Focus on those kids.

Focus on those kids.

Forget all the public rhetoric and criticism, and the unfair focus
on test scores as the sole measurement of your worth.

If we focus on how we have impacted our students, it will shield us
from the criticism of what we do each day, and it will keep at bay
all those issues that cloud us from seeing clearly our true
mission: reaching out and saving students around us.