Teaching has a tendency to become a negative profession. I’m sure you’ve heard it in the halls, the teachers’ lounge, or your own classroom. Teachers complaining about disrespectful students, uncaring admin, or ignorant legislators. Negativity spreads quickly and is frightfully contagious. That kind of negativity can drag you down and make teaching even harder to handle. How do you combat that feeling of hopelessness?
I found myself in that situation, searching for some solution, some formula for happiness. What I found over and over again was the suggestion to be grateful. Gratitude, the research shows, can rewire your brain for happiness by training it to look for the good in life. It sounded logical, so I thought I’d give it a try.
I went several months where I wrote down three things I was grateful for that day, but I didn’t see the benefits that everyone was promising. I still felt the effects of that negativity. Obviously something wasn’t working. When I looked back on my list, I realized I was writing down the same few things over and over again. I wasn’t training my brain to be grateful; I was just reinforcing the idea that I only had about five or ten things to be grateful for and the rest of my life wasn’t worth my gratitude.
Time for a new strategy. I revised my plan in two ways, and those two things completely changed my mindset for the better.
First, I made one small change to my gratitude list. I still write down three things I am grateful for every day, but now those three things go into an ever-expanding alphabetical list. I am not allowed to repeat anything on the list. Every day I must write three new things.
Now my gratitude exercise feels like real exercise because it requires effort. I come up with something I’m grateful for and go to add to the list only to find it’s already there. That means I have to come up with something else. Some days it takes quite a bit of thinking to come up with three new things that aren’t on my list yet. I find that as I go through my day, I often start thinking about possible things to be grateful for, knowing that at the end of the day I’m going to have to write those three new things. Gratitude has become my default attitude.
Second, I decided to write at least one note or email a week to a student telling them something they’ve done that I’m grateful for.
This exercise also stretches me and has so many amazing benefits. Like my gratitude list, writing notes to my students makes me think hard. It’s not always easy to come up with a specific thing to thank a student for. It becomes even harder when I try to thank as many of my students as possible and not just the top five wonderful students who seem to do everything. Writing these notes, however, has helped me to see my students as individuals who all have something to contribute. I find that my attitude towards them has changed. The students love getting these notes and being recognized for the good they do. We end up with stronger, more positive relationships. Those relationships then lead to better classroom management, more engaged students, and a work environment that is more positive overall.
Today’s Challenge:
If you feel like teaching is a negative environment for you, try one (or both!) of these gratitude practices. Open a document and start with three things you are grateful for today. Put them in alphabetical order. Add three more things tomorrow. Or write a thank you note to one student today.
No matter which gratitude practice you try, don’t go for the low-hanging fruit! Write a note to a student that isn’t always the best student in the class. Force yourself to think of things you might not immediately feel grateful for. Remember, this is strength training for the brain. Push yourself and you’ll see better results.