Monday’s can be a day measured differently for many. It is based on the life experiences of the weekend, the feelings they have for where they are, expectations, mindsets, and the culture.
Life journeys are different for each of us. Many things are not visible and are hard to detect. It takes effort to work on really getting to know someone else. Sometimes individuals will tell you just what you want to hear to get out of the situation.
Making connections with others is vital in an organization, workplace, and especially a school. No matter the age or position, individuals want to be seen, heard, and validated.
Have you ever been asked to come to your boss’s office to discuss a private issue and then when you arrive they are not there? A teacher looks at you and does not know your name? A group of co-workers is gathered talking about a great book they have all decided to read, but you have never heard about it?
Many things send signals to others that we do not value them. Individuals will take this information and store it. Over time incidents like these add up and devalued them to the point where they no longer work at the level of their potential. In children, this can be a detrimental factor in the trajectory of their development. We know in adults and others this can lead to enhance already existing mental health issues or bring about onsets of anxiety and depression.
Make Monday’s different for others. Let’s make every day different, but we will start today! I had some fantastic people who would join in my silly stuff sometimes, and it made days fun! Our technology department would play Happy Birthday with actual names to people over phones speakers, do pictures on your computer screens to brighten your day when you came in to start your day, and some funny cat jokes with pictures on occasion. Thanks, Scott and Alan!
Check out this video on how this school strategically looked at how to make sure adults were connecting with all students. You can do things similar to this with staff through fun boards, chats, and contests. https://www.edutopia.org/video/making-sure-each-child-known
Be the solution daily in helping others know their value! Thank you for helping choose to be the solution!