Stress

Spring fever has hit room 131. I don't think it would be beneficial to tell the 6/7 year olds that it isn't spring yet. They know and I know the groundhog was wrong--it's going 70+ degrees tomorrow! I'm giving up hope.

After a morning rock concert assembly about writing, it was impossible to focus on any of my plans. When I asked a student in math to count up by 1s for me, the tiny number of students not twirling on their chairs a la Britney Spears or passed out on their desks half the class had deer-in-headlights eyes. We moved on to March centers, which they beg me for all day.

I'm beginning to have a seemingly chronic eye-twitch which is going along nicely with the clenched teeth I wake up with. One major stressor is I am beginning to doubt the running records I performed on my students the other day before report cards. After the principal emailed saying she as impressed by their reading growth, my self-consciousness sky rocketed. Tomorrow I am nervous to meet with these groups and verify their reading levels.

I met with the superintendent today to discuss my last observation, which went really well. She had nothing but compliments for me, which was nice. Here's hoping I don't have to change all of my report cards by hand on Friday before they go home!

At our staff meeting today we talked briefly about the fixed vs. growth mindset. My boyfriend had mentioned it to me before, but now I think I need to change the way I praise my students. A fixed mindset would result from telling students they are smart. If they think that smartness is something they are just simply born with or without, they either will not try or will become intimidated when they come to something they are not good at automatically. A growth mindset would be one that praises the effort the child is exhibiting and showcases that the effort is what results in the correct answer or learning. Tomorrow I want to try changing my teacher talk to reflect these philosophies.