Notice the Happiness, Teach!

How can I be happy as a teacher?  What a loaded question!  It can be hard to keep up the passion and energy as an educator.  The constant demands from admin, parents, and so many others can be overwhelming.  To help you rediscover your motivation for teaching, here is today's tip for finding that elusive happiness as an educator: Notice the happiness.

It sounds obvious, but it's far too easy to overlook.  Even in the worst circumstances, there's something good to be found if we pause to notice it. As abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher observed "The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things." Do you notice when a student does something cute or hilarious or when some other good thing happens at school?  Do you take time to pause in gratitude or laughter in those little moments?

For example, today we practiced a school music program.  I gave the kids a pep talk about working hard for the music leader.  I told them that it's important to do what the music leader says--even if you don't particularly love dancing. When we arrived for school-wide practice, the music leader asked the teachers to join in the dance!  I am a terrible dancer, but I had to "man up" and set the example for the kids by diving in and trying.  After my terrible dancing...and I mean TERRIBLE...I found the note below on my desk after school.

I took a moment in laughter and gratitude after reading this note.  As educators, we constantly need to remind ourselves to pause and enjoy.  It helps significantly in avoiding teacher burnout.

If you are looking for more encouragment for teaching, you might enjoy my blog post about how the earth's fate rests in your hands.  (Click here to view it.)  You might also enjoy just browsing my blog archive to read all the uplifting messages.

Below I've posted links to two amazing products that have helped me be happy in teaching.  One is a decoration of Henry Ward Beecher's insightful quote, and the other is a journaling book for teachers.  I highly recommend each, but I can especially vouch for the power of that little book.  It really helped me "extract happiness" from the common situations in my classroom.  If you decide to order either, please do so from the link below since I get a small commission from each order.

As always, hang in there, Teach!
Happy Teaching,
Frank

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