Last Thursday I was jazzed up for 7th grade Spanish class- I was trying something new, it was fun and engaging. My first class was a slam dunk…and my second class was a disaster.  Behaviors were escalating and starting to be very grating, until they culminated with a student screaming “these new groups really s*#ck!”. I lost it. Canceled the game and they sat in silence for the remaining five minutes.

After the students were dismissed, I remembered a quote I had seen on twitter “Don’t make a bad moment a bad day”. I had three more classes ahead of me after lunch duty- was I going to be a grumpy monster, or was I going to deal with how I felt, and move on? Well, I wanted to do the latter but I didn’t exactly know how.

This is how I approached what happened in order to not let one really difficult class make my entire day a “bad day”. If you have anything to add, please share in comments:

• Identify how you feel: Was I mad at the kids? Was I disappointed in my lesson or my classroom management?
• Find a place to cool down: I couldn’t just run up to lunch duty. I stopped in the staff bathroom, took a few deep breaths, the really deep kind that fill up your belly and slowly exhaled. Better already.
• Deep breathing – as mentioned before. If you are turning classes over its just about the only thing you have time for. Three to five deep breaths can really ground you and help you regain perspective.
• If you can – take a quick walk. My school has a loop. I waited until after lunch and I walked it really fast. I thought a little more about how I felt and let a little bit of it go.
• Look for the good: As I stood in the cafeteria, I looked at my students. One came up to me and told me in Spanish that she didn’t want her apple, and I could have it. I was so proud of her. I read a great book called Hardwiring Happiness that suggested focusing on one good thing in a room and move from there. You can really feel your mindset shift when you look around the room for good things – from the smell of a cup of coffee to the sunshine and snow.
• Vent – but only once. I have a really wonderful resource in my roommate, a 6th grade Social Studies teacher who is someone I really trust. I vented to her and it felt really good to get it off my chest. When I went to my lunch with another colleague who I also trust, I decided not to re-hash it. It would only bring me back down. So, I let it go.
• Remind yourself “Don’t make my bad day my students’ bad day, too”. This is a very motivating quote for me, because I want my students to enjoy school and learning. So many of our students have enough people in their lives being grumpy with them, I do not want to be one of them.

I am happy to report -my day was not destroyed! My next classes were super fun and I left school feeling happy. I was also in a place where I could reflect on that one difficult period and start thinking about ways to make it better.

We all have bad days, weeks, and even years. There have been times during my educational career when it wasn’t just students’ behavior during one class that made me have a bad day. Personal trials and tribulations are unfortunately part of every teacher’s life – from divorce, sickness, financial stressors, to losing loved ones, we all have issues that face us all the time. It is our job to develop ways to manage these stressors so students can get the best learning environment possible.

Thanks for taking the time to read my first Blog.