Phone ringing…My daughter is on the phone with a flat tire on her way to school. She is the teacher, so time is precious. My son-in-law is on the way to the rescue. The older two kids were on the bus to school, but the younger one was on his way to me with his dad. Could I drive to get him? Absolutely! Thank goodness my husband had filled the car with gas the night before.
Our days can start in very hectic ways. Many of us have daily routines we go through to get going, and when unexpected things happen, it is great to know you have others to count on.
As students arrive at school, do you think about how their days began? If we pause for just a few minutes each day before we start, we can think about the possibilities of hectic mornings, sleepless nights, fighting, and other ways their start to the day began.
The noise of the world can be to much for me. I told my husband just this morning I do not like to hear all of the negatives going on without someone providing real solutions to end them.
So, do not start your day with a daily dose of negative news. Instead of negativity, breathe into your life positivity with several choices to select from:
- Daily Devotions
- Gratitude Journaling
- Music
- Excercise
- Meditation
- Reading
- Listening to a podcast/webinar
- Praying
- Acts of Kindness
- Painting/Doing a Craft
There are many other choices I am sure I have not listed that you could add, but find what works for you. Also, find something that will work to start the day for your students as well.
As a teacher and principal, I knew the importance of starting the day right for children. Welcoming everyone to school helps everyone feel good and to be part of the community—especially when you call them by name.
When students arrive in your classroom, how does it feel? Do you have music playing? Do you have a video playing on the whiteboard? Is there a fun activity for them to do? Are their procedures for them to complete and then join a circle time of conversations?
There are many things you can do to help children start the day off right and to let them let go of whatever they need to move forward. School is the place they need to feel good and to feel safe. Have things in place immediately so they can begin to let go and start the day with…….. Let them complete the sentence. Please find out how they would like to start the day. They may want donuts. This tells you they are hungry when they arrive so we can work on earning a donut party. We can send our request to the office or one of the clubs. This is how you find out more about what the needs are of your students.
Resources to start your day with students
The Foundation for a Better Life is a non-profit 501 organization founded in 2000 to “promote good values.” The foundation creates public service campaigns to share with others its interpretation of values, including honesty, caring, and optimism, to develop better social paradigms. Wikipedia. https://www.passiton.com/inspirational-stories-tv-spots I utilized these when I was a principal to play during my lunch periods, along with slide shows of our students with our Character Counts and PBIS information. We also highlighted our student/staff birthdays and extracurricular activities. Our announcements we read in the morning were also on the big screen. Teachers had access to these videos in our shared drive to play in the classrooms during the morning.
Simple Truths is something I have utilized for several years. It is “simple” to use. I began with selecting books to help with motivating and inspire staff. Then I turned to use it with students at the middle school with the 212 degrees. You can use the books and short video clips and create posters and themes with these materials to spark inspiration, motivation, and creativity. I have pulled out quotes before to use in my messages as well. https://www.simpletruths.com
Have a quote of the day for kids as they walk in the door. There are several resources to use for grade-level appropriate quotes to utilize each day.
https://designwizard.com/blog/inspirational-quotes-for-students/
https://bright-culture.com/exam-tips-for-students/202-motivational-quotes-for-students-studying/
https://chimesradio.com/parenting-blogs/thought-of-the-day-for-kids/
Have children create quotes! You may be surprised in the things they can create!