Kids do well if they wanna? Say What?

What is your philosophy? I have talked with even the very best of teachers who fall into the "kids do well if they wanna" trap. It is so easy to think this way, especially if we have kids standing in front of us telling us they "DON'T WANT TO DO WELL" or they "DON'T CARE." Sound familiar? I'm a firm believer that there's more to the story. There's more to all of this behavior we see on the outside. Kids need us to not give up. They need us to advocate and care and love and support. They need us not to judge. They just need us.

Busyness...

How many of you set new school year goals? I have too many to count, but the personal one that I have been struggling with already on the 4th day of school is to "be less busy." I know that sounds ridiculous, but I mean it. We spend so much of our lives being "SO BUSY" and I really do not think that is necessary. Yes. You heard it right. I do not think it is necessary, even in a fast-paced school environment, to be busy all of the time! Being too busy is stealing our ability to connect, to reflect and to breathe - all of THE most important things we do in a school.

What we often forget is that our students notice us. They notice all the little, and big, things that we do every day. I like to say that "every day is a job shadow" for our students. They are watching how teachers go about their work. And these moments with each student matter. Every single one of them matters. I love this article (below) that said it best when it stated, "There is a whole eternity present inside each of these moments, these breaths, in which we are truly present. And there is a thief that robs the grace inside these moments. That thief is scatteredness, busyness." Here is where that comes from: The Thief of Intimacy .

I took a step back to think about whether or not my busyness was robbing me of moments with my students and the answer was a resounding YES! That means I have work to do, and it is so possible. My goal is broken down into things like this:

1. Walk slower in the halls - you don't need to practically run everywhere!
2. Make sure your body language doesn't scream "I'm busy!"
3. Smile more (I have a case of the RBF - look it up ;))
4. Keep your desk clear and neat so the "scatteredness" isn't shining through
5. Breathe. Take more deep breaths to reset your brain.
6. Spend less time on emails/computer work, it can wait.
7. Answer the question "How's it going?" with positive remarks about the day - Never, never say things like "Oh, it's going." or "I'm busy!"

To name a few. :)

How are you going to cherish the important moments with your students this year? What's your strategy to be less busy? I'll take all the advice I can get! Remember, connecting, reflecting and breathing - that is the real work. The important work.