A Time to Reflect on Thinking

Have you ever found yourself in a car ride lost in a sea of thoughts.

This is completely normal and most probably beneficial to our overall mental health.

When we recognize that our thoughts may go into one of two categories: positive or negative, we should then think about how to respond to these thoughts.

Let's start with the easier one: positive thinking and reflect on why this benefits us in the world of education when we think positively.

Positive Thinking: Fueling Growth and Motivation

In the realm of education the benefits to positive thinking are profound.

We feel, learn, teach, work, create, and do things much better when we think positively towards any situation in the classroom.

Positive thinking fuels growth and motivation in both students and teachers.

It seeks to allow students the opportunity to see school as a world full of knowledge at their finger tips. It allows teachers to fulfill their goal of growth as a leader, and find new and creative ways to motivate the passion for learning in their students.

Negative Thinking: Transforming Challenges into Learning Opportunities

Letting negative thoughts overcome us is normal and should be recognized as such. Seeing and experiencing devastation in school will undoubtly bring on such thoughts and it is not something we can ignore.

However, how we deal with these thoughts will determine more than the outcomes of our actions, it also impacts on our mental and physical health.

Keeping our health in mind, transforming negativing thinking is not easy, but worth the effort.

Seeing school as a prison is one negative thought that creeps up on students (and let's be honest, teachers as well) from time to time. The lack of relatability between what students learn in school and what they see in the real world seems so small and not worth the time or effort.

However, when students look at what they are learning as stepping stones to building their character through knowledge, then school is a place to value whatever is being taught.

Final Thoughts...

Life is full of problems and mistakes and seeing both as a opportunity to get better at problem solving and learning opportunities is hard, but again totally worth the effort. You come out of it a better person.

As 2023 draws to a close, taking the time to reflect on how you think about your life, and what you do, and the world around you can make you recognize how often you keep positive or negative in your thinking.

If I can leave you with one piece of advise until the new year, it is this: get into the habit of using kind words, even if you don't feel like it - and tell me if you notice a change in how you think.

I wish you happy thoughts for now and always, and into 2024.

Best wishes for a happy 2024 for you and yours,

Danya, xo