Creating a Successful School Day

I'm Brian Martin, 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 and doing absolutely amazing. And I just want to start off today, by thanking each and every single one of you for supporting the podcast for sharing it. The podcast is growing. And it's all because of you. And this community is awesome, because we're all about encouraging, inspiring, supporting, being there for one another. I am so appreciative of you. So thank you. It was another great week in the trenches, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to start the week off by being the opening speaker at a conference. And that was so much fun. But the highlight of the week, it was picture day at school, such an awesome day, the young ones come all decked out. The young ladies, they're so precious in their dresses, and their hair's all done up. And they gentlemen, they come and they they have the clip on ties, the bow ties, looking very dapper. And it's just a great day. And then I finished the week off with an inservice damn Friday. Now, truth be told, I had planned to put out a much different podcast this week than what I'm doing. And that is partly due to how I felt this week. And also to what I heard from the people around me, and from what I saw on social media. And what I'm seeing is people are starting to get tired. And there was a moment this week, when myself, I just needed to take a step back and regroup for a minute. And in our in service day that I had, we met and we had a little check in. And people started sharing some of what they were feeling. And it's been a tough go. And it's been a tough goal for people all over the place. When you see it on social media, teaching is never easy. And I think we hold out that this pandemic is gonna end soon, but it keeps on going. And we're seeing some of the side effects in our classroom. And I know that from my second graders, the last time that they had a full school year, that was unaffected was when they were in pre K. So they haven't had a normal school year. And this is going to affect them. And it's gonna affect us. And there's a lot on everyone's plate. So it's important to be aware of where you're at, to have your finger on your pulse. And you have to know it's all right. If you need to take a step back and call that time out. You know, there are times to battle through certain situations. And then there are times when you need to hit that pause button, you need to step back in you need to regroup. It's not a sign of weakness. It's a sign of strength this week is for everyone that has had to take a step back at some point this year, for those who are on the brink of needing to take that step back. Or even if you're not, maybe you can incorporate some of these things that I share into your day to make it even better. And when we talk about how can we make our day better? How can we stop feeling so overwhelmed. The easy ones that we can say right away is to get your sleep that seven to nine hours a night. The research is out there. It's important emotionally, it's important cognitively. So we want to make sure that we're getting that sleep and not just running off of coffee and caffeine. We also want to make sure that we're getting that act Exercise, that we're feeding our bodies the right way to keep ourselves healthy. But be honestly, beyond paying attention to the foods that we consume, the physical exercise that we give our bodies, there are things that we can do to make our days well. So today in honor of everyone who just needs a little breather, a little reminder of some small, simple things that we can do to make our days a little brighter. And first and foremost, you know, the great self development coach, Tony Robbins, he always says, where our focus goes, our energy goes, and this is a big one for all educators. Sometimes, we just need to step back and listen to the conversations around us. Listen to what others around you are saying, are the conversations positive? Or are they negative? Are they focusing on what students can do? Or are they focusing on what they can't do? Are these conversations focusing only on the problems that are happening all around? Or are they looking for solutions? are they seeing the bright spots? Or are they only seeing the negatives, the drawbacks? Sometimes, we can learn the most when we step back and listen. And as you listen, think of where that energy around you is flowing. And ask yourself, where do you want your energy to go. And if it's not where you would like it to be, then make a conscious effort to look for the positives, to see what your students can do. And to remind yourself and see how far your students have already come to look at those bright spots, to spend time searching for solutions. And not just marinating in problems, we want to be deliberate on where our energy goes. Another thing that we can do, to try and breathe some freshness into our day, is to try new things, you know, as I age, and I'm definitely no longer a new teacher, something that I envy of the student teachers of those teachers that have only been in the game for a year or two is many of them have an excitement for new things. There's a willingness zest to expand their skill set. And I'm lucky to be surrounded by master teachers. But all of us as we get set in our ways, and as we've taught the same things for many years, and we've taught the same way. It can be hard to break out of those habits. So breathe new life into your teaching, try new things. And not necessarily the things have been forced upon you by the district. Try new activities, new teaching methods, new units, try new things with your students. Sometimes breaking out of the rut of what we have always done can be the thing that gets us excited for the day. Third thing we can do is make a point to celebrate each and every single day, find that joy in the day, celebrate those around you celebrate yourself. Teachers were high achievers, we like to be successful. And in many ways, deep down, many of us want to be the best at it. And there are times this can cause us to be extremely self conscious. And it may cause us to look at our colleagues as competition. When they do great things. Instead of feeling threatened or insecure. Let's lift them up and offer them praise. Listen at the primary level when I walk around my building, and I see the projects that these teachers are putting out on display. It makes me extremely self conscious. These ladies are ridiculous. And I have some strong suits. But hallway displays will not rank up near the top. And it's important that I recognize the great things my colleagues are doing and that I let them know because truth be told, I should be in competition with only myself and I should be cheering them on. I was listening to Ryan holidays podcast, and he was talking about stoicism. And he said we should all be striving to cheer on those around us and compete only against ourselves. Because when you lift up those around you, when you recognize others for the great things that they do, you not only help make them feel better, but you fill up your cup as well. Now that you're going to be busy walking around school, offering compliments left and right, make sure you take that time, and you cheer on the person that you see in the mirror. Because you do amazing things. You do them each and every single day. Sometimes, we get in that mindset, that if it's not something big, then we shouldn't be celebrating it. But we should any goal that you have ever achieved, there had to be many small steps that you had to take to achieve that goal. So cheer yourself on for all those small wins. Be proud of yourself, encourage yourself, remind yourself of what you are accomplishing. I read a quote the other day, and it said, Be careful of what you say to yourself, because you're listening. And isn't that the truth, you want to have some better days, start by speaking greatness into yourself. The fourth thing that we can do, to have a good day is build that crew that lifts you up that inspires you that encourages you, that supports you, that fills you want. You know, if you like coffee, like myself, and a friend brings it to work, you'll gladly take if they put some cream and sugar in it great. And they add a little French Vanilla to it. Even better. If they brought that coffee to me though, and they put pepper or chili powder or vinegar in it. There's no way I'm going to take that, because it's probably gonna taste awful, and it's gonna upset my stomach. Well, the energy those around us give us is just like that coffee. If they're great listeners, if they make us laugh, if they make us feel good, then they're adding to our day, they're serving up some coffee with those sweeteners in it. But if they're showing up in their negative, if they're showing up, and they're gossiping, and they're putting others down, if they only see what's wrong, if they suck out the energy of the room, then they're giving you that coffee that is making you sick. So choose your group wisely. The last thing is always keep things in perspective, always remember what's most important. This week, I got a call around 1030 at night, and it was a friend. And he was telling me that a mutual friend of ours, mother had passed away. And this was a wonderful woman, a former educator, a great mom, a wife, a friend. And then some moments like that, when you get that news, that sometimes you just turn off the lights, and you sit in a recliner. And you just think and it's a reminder of how special life is the amazing people that come into it, the memories that we have. And it's also a reminder of how frail it is. When those things happen. You know, we make promises to ourselves that we're going to keep things in perspective, that we're going to remind ourselves what truly matters and put those things on the forefront. But then a few days pass and we fall back into the same routines, we fall back into the same mindsets as before. So be conscious of those. Think about what's most important to you on a daily basis. Remind yourself what matters most. And then take a look at the problems that we face. keep things in perspective. And think whether or not that issue that we faced. If it was as big as we made it out to be today. Keep that healthy perspective. And just know, if you find yourself struggling, be sure to take that time to step back and breathe. Remember that we have to be deliberate on our day. We have to be purposeful on our practices, and we have to set ourselves up for the best day that we can have. There's always going to be some tough moments. There's always going to be those tough days. But we have a lot more power over our days than we realize. So focus on where your energy flows. Try new things celebrate this and amazing day, surround yourself with some uplifters. And keep things in perspective. Thank you so much for being here for being part of the teaching champions community, we encourage we support we lift each other up. If you think someone could benefit from this message, I truly appreciate it, if you could share it with them. It's all about creating messages to help support to encourage to be there for all of us. And always remember, it doesn't matter whether you're from rural America, to urban America, to Canada, to Spain to Bahrain, we're all on that same team. We're all on that same mission. And we're always better together. My challenge for you this week is to pay attention to where you're putting your energy. Take some time each morning and think about if you could choose where you want your energy to go throughout the day, where would that be? Then consciously be aware throughout the day of where your focus is at and if it's not where you would like it. Make that conscious effort to adjust. Always remember where our focus goes, our energy will flow. Keep being amazing, my friends, and as we go out into the week, may step into your strength may step into your shine, and let's build our champions up. Have a great week, everybody.