Monday, September 17, 2018

An off Day




Today made me sad.  My students were not the best behaved.  In fact, they were completely disrespectful.  After talk to other staff members in the building, they reported the same thing...some even worse.

What is going on?

Full moon?

Something in the water?

Rebellion?

Or...

My students are feeding off of stress that I am feeling about so many changes in our building and a few new things thrown at me this morning....

Students truly do feel our stress.  They react when we are not "right" with things.  They can sense it.  The same way that students can tell when teachers are lying or not being real or genuine.  We act or react in a way that makes our students feel nervous.  They can sense that things are not right and that makes them feel uneasy or even unsafe.

As teacher, we need to slow down and patiently self-reflect before blaming our students for their behaviors.  Behaviors are usually a sign that something is missing or needed.  They can also be reactions to un-noticed emotions in our kids.  We are the adults.  We need to start with what we see and feel within ourselves before we jump to the wrong conclusions or blame.

After some reflection, I realized about 10 things that made ME off today before the day started.  Did my "stuff" impact my kids?  I am pretty sure the answer is yes.

Be Mindful.

Peace.

Mark Levine

#Mindfulliteracy
@LevineWrites


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