Positivity

I've recently realized the power of positive thinking. A few weeks ago, I was able to attend a fabulous training for teachers. At this training, we were told to practice some things that we (especially I) weren't particularly good at. Normally, I am easily discouraged and tend to be overflowing with complaints--you and I both know this is true. The leader required us to say "This is easy" every time we were unsuccessful with the difficult task. I found myself being more and more interested in persevering with the activity, even though I was absolutely terrible.

It just so happened that we were working with fractions when I got back to school, and I was able to teach this technique to my students. (In case you don't know, the word "fraction" strikes fear in the very soul of any 6th grade child.) They really took to it--every time they were feeling frustrated, they would stop and say this phrase aloud. It was crazy! They even requested that we turn this phrase into a poster, which now is permanently displayed in my classroom. We can all tell when a student is feeling particularly frustrated with something, because they will look over at that sign and say the phrase. It's just a simple reminder that this WILL BE easy really, really soon--you just have to get the hang of it first.

The recent introduction of the new Memphis head coach (Go Tigers!) brought positive thinking to the top of my list again. Our new coach, Josh Pastner, really focused on this concept. There are some sayings that he repeated more than once during his introductory press conference which demonstrate this idea of positive thinking.

I normally don't post things this "deep", but I'm trying it out for once. This is something I find really powerful in my life, and would like to continue working on. I know there are several well-written books out there on this topic, and would like any suggestions you might have! Right now, I'm reading Tuesdays with Morrie, which contains some interesting viewpoints on positivity. That book will be over soon, and I'll need another...