Finding Renewal and Strength in a Memory

December is an exciting month! The holidays are here... there is so much to do, the list is long. Out of all of the holiday things to do, one of the most important things you can put at the top of your list is the gift of time. This month, take the gift of time for yourself. Here's how to do it. You can give yourself the gift of time or a timeout from your schedule. Regroup, reflect and reboot yourself. Think of a time in your past that made you most happy...something you love, it could be with someone you love or your best friend, it could be a hobby like painting, singing or a concert you attended, or any event big or small that made you really happy. Start out small, it could something simple like listening to a song from long ago that you loved, maybe even dance! Think of anything that really made you feel free and happy. Whatever it is that comes to mind, recreate that experience again in your life and you will see, you will have an instant smile on your face or it may open doors for new opportunities you never knew you had! For me, I remember that painting or drawing made me feel lost in my world. Painting or creating gave me a renewed spirit, it energized me and made me feel more open to try new things. Recreating something from my past gave me strength and confidence I never knew I had. Try it and let me know how it goes.

If you are in need of a pick me up in the classroom from your day to day, check out this article for Preventing Burnout around the holidays or any time of year. Read and enjoy!

Growth Mindset-

This exercise leads me to our next area of focus- Mindset. We are going to study the difference between Growth Mindset and Fixed Mindset and how it applies to teaching and learning. There are two books that have recently come into my world, Mindset, The New Psychology of Success by the famed Stanford author Carol Dweck and The Growth Mindset Coach, A Teacher's Month-by-Month Handbook for Empowering Students to Achieve by Annie Brock and Heather Hundley. I am not claiming to be an expert in this area, yet. You will know soon why I wrote yet. But I do find it very interesting, and think that together, we can discuss on how to improve our teaching by considering growth mindset to improve instruction and create a more individualized and challenging curriculum for our students.