Celebrate the Wins

I'm Brian Martin, I'm a second grade teacher who find so much joy and fulfillment in what I do. Being in the classroom for almost 20 years, I know all about the time, effort and energy that you are continuously pouring into those you serve. That's why each week, I'm going to bring you an inspiring message to give you a little joy, and help fill your cup back up. Thank you for being here. And welcome to the teaching champions podcast. What's going on everybody, I hope this finds you striving and thriving in doing absolutely amazing. Now today, I want to talk about celebrating those wins that are happening inside a classroom. And this is big. Because when we celebrate those wins, we're inviting joy into our classroom, we're filling our students up with pride. We're building a classroom culture, and we're having fun. And it's so important, because at times, we forget to celebrate, we miss out on all those amazing things that are happening each and every single day inside our classroom. And part of the reason is, because teachings interesting field. There's an exact start date, there's an exact end date, we have specific standards and benchmarks that we want our students meeting at all times. And we can become so fixated on these that we miss out on some of the most amazing, some of the most joyful moments that are happening each and every single day in our classroom. And I found this happening to me recently, I found myself forgetting to celebrate those wins. And I had to step back and remind myself about how important it truly is. Now I'm 100% remote this year, and multiple days a week, I'm running small reading groups. And then one of my reading groups, I have four stellar young men. And we're starting the lesson. The gentlemen log on, we get it rolling. And I have three kids who are participating. They're completing the activities. They're working hard. And then there's my one friend. He's sitting off to the side staring in another direction. He's not participating not paying attention. And he obviously didn't get the memo that I was teaching the greatest zoom lesson ever that day. And as much as I want to joke about that, it really bothered me. And I let it get to me. So much so that the school day ended. And I was still frustrated about it. And I carried that frustration with me into the evening. And they even found me when I woke up in the morning. And I had to step back and do a serious check on where I was placed in my focus. You see, I was so focused on what one student was doing, that I was missing out on what the other three students were doing. Those other students, they were absolutely crushing it. They showed up, they put in great effort. They were growing, they were thriving, and I missed out on it. Because I was so fixated somewhere else. I put so much of my attention in one direction. Then I missed out on seeing all the great things that were happening right in front of me. So I made it a point to start looking for those wins more. And I sell it started celebrating my students more. I started celebrating the great things that were taking place. Because those students that were showing up those students that were growing, that were soaring, they deserve to be celebrated. They deserve to feel pride in what they were doing. They deserve to celebrate the gains they were making in the effort that they were putting forth. And as I started celebrating my students more my whole demeanor started changing. I was enjoying the lessons more, I felt better. At the end of the day, I started waking up more excited to meet with the students. And when I stopped focusing on what wasn't happening, and started focusing and celebrating all the great things that were happening, it took me mentally to such a better place. So watch where you put your focus, and celebrate all those wins that are happening each and every single day in your classroom. Because when you celebrate those wins, when you invite joy and love into your classroom community, you will see students who are growing and thriving and shining. And you may find yourself thriving and shining a little more to. So whether it be behavioral wins, or emotional wins, academic wins, celebrate those wins. Invite that joy and pride and love into your students into your classroom community and into your own life. celebrate those wins my friends. And I just want to say thank you for all your time, I appreciate you. And I would be so grateful if you could subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, or share with others that you think would benefit from this message. The teaching champions community is growing. And the great thing is, whether you're from rural America, or urban America, from Canada, to Australia to Spain, we're on that same team. We're on that same mission. And we're always better together. So keep doing amazing things, my friends. Now my challenge for you this week. Remember, life is short. And life is beautiful. And you do amazing things each and every single day. So what are the wins that you should celebrate this week? Because you are crushing it and you deserve to feel capable. You deserve to feel strong. You deserve to feel pride, and all that you're doing. So celebrate your wins this week, my friends. And as we step out into this week, may you step into your strength may step into your shine, and let's build these champions up. Have a great week, everybody.