Putting Things In Perspective

Sometimes as teachers we get in that rut. Especially if you have a larger class size than the norm and not the most responsible students. After a while of dealing with the same thing and not seeing a lot of progress at the start, you tend to get a little cranky.
I'm not going to lie...I was one of those cranky teachers 2 weeks ago. Then I started thinking of ways to change my crankiness...its not fun for me or the students. Now the students do usually admit that their behavior is poor, but then the next day the same 3 or 4 students still make the same mistakes.
I have had some pretty crappy things happen in my life lately. My grandma passed away in August, two of my friends lost their dads since the summer, my mom's two closest friends are terminally ill with cancer, and my pet rabbit also passed away. It really got me thinking of why do I sweat about the small stuff and worry about every little thing. All my life I have been a worrier and people always say don't sweat the small stuff and I always thought, "Easier said than done." Now, I think to myself that it has a lot more clarity and I am going to make a full effort to commit to that. Should 3 or 4 unruly students ruin my day? Nope.
Then I look at the clientele of a lot of my students. They come from single parent or multiple parent families, no rules at home, not a lot of money, and not a lot of genuine happiness that comes from relationships; their happiness mostly comes from materialistic things. It is no wonder these students are crying for attention. That is probably how they get it at home and since it has made me cranky they undoubtedly got the attention!
My goal till the end of November is to look and concentrate for the positive instead of looking for the same repeat offenders. I know this is our start-of-the-year intention but then we can get in that rut like I did. At the end of November I will reevaluate how I'm doing.

I will be logging my goal through the blog and if you have any interesting ways of implementing this please let me know and I will try them and post the result!