Dear Teach: Inspiration

Hi Boys and Girls.

This blog is dedicated to you. For any middle school student or any student who wishes to think and reflect about things. First off, I want you to know you are SMART beyond belief. And I mean all of you can do, and have, and be anything you want in this big universe.

Here’s the deal. Start your day by listing very quietly 5 things you are grateful for even before you rise out of bed. Smile and know that this day and everyday is a gift to you. When you either board the bus, or get a ride to school, notice all the wonderful things out there. Look out the window. What do you see?  Focus on anything in nature. Take a snapshot of it, in your mind’s eye.

Then when you are in school, and maybe something hasn’t gone right, pull out that snapshot and see it vividly for a few seconds.  It will carry you back to a secure and confident place. In no time, you will rebound and refocus your attention where it needs to be.

In fact, sometimes it is best to simply to be an observer on your ride to school. Yes, yes I know. A bus ride is LOUD. But it does not matter. You can still enjoy it, sit back and tell yourself today will be a good day. NO MATTER what you saw and heard on the bus,  from home, the student next to you or last night’s homework struggle. It is a good day.

When you are in school, remember to SMILE a lot. Because guess what, you will receive more smiles in return. I remember teaching a book titled The View From Saturday by E. L. Konigsburg.

In this book a boy gets bullied in a malicious way.  But he doesn’t fight back, instead he reaches out to other characters in the story and invites them over. Fortunately for this character, he has found other characters who appreciate him and his humor. Further, another character in the story becomes furious to discover information about her is common knowledge. During this classroom discussion I recall telling the children, “You know we all want to know what do kids think of us, or know about us, just like this character did.” Well, I can tell you this much: you are indeed liked, you are indeed appreciated, you are welcomed into a group, you are fun to be with, and yes, you do have an enormous sense of humor. 

If you can say this to yourself, and view each person you see in the hallways with a good thought, then you will be surprised to discover the number of friends you have will increase. Yes, of course, it is about being positive in spirit and sending out the good to others. This is very basic, yet, it is not done nearly enough by most children. In return, those good thoughts will be given back to you.

Tell you what. Try it for one week. Each day you arrive at school smile. Look for something to be happy about. If you simply smile at one new person each day, you will find yourself having a good feeling about life in general.

Things to think about besides school:

Here’s a great article I found in The New York Times about chairs. Those pieces of furniture most of you sit in for over 1,400 hours during a year. Yes, those hard as a rock, metal legged beasts that run in multi-colors of over 20 colors, and you all hate sitting in them. Did you know most schools have what is called the “super stackable” chair?

Well, now there is a new chair schools may soon be adopting, “Pupils can turn them to face front or back, or use a handle to pull them into football-like huddles or to fan out for more independent work.” But that’s just one new type, another one has wheels on them! I know you’d all love those.

Some schools prefer newer designs
for classroom chairs, like the Node,
which was made by Steelcase.

So check out the article here and then design your own chair. 

Send me the images and I will post them on this blog. Good Luck Everyone.

Be Well.

The Teach