Our yearly, somewhat scary (but very inspiring!) back-to-school message for you...

Hello, colleague! Maybe you've been been back to school for a while. Here in Michigan we won't be back at it until September, though today is our first PD day back in the saddle.

Whatever the case: Happy New Year!

Here is the annual re-posting of one of my favorites. A few years ago Matt Reeves, then my assistant principal, read this to the staff on the day before school. So now I 'm passing it on as a back-to-school thought that is both cautionary and inspiring:

"I have come to a frightening conclusion.

I am the decisive element in the classroom.
It is my personal approach that creates the climate.
It is my daily mood that makes the weather.
As a teacher I possess tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous.

I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration.
I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal.
In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis
will be escalated or de-escalated, and a child humanized or de-humanized."

~ Haim Ginott 

from Teacher and Child: A Book for Parents and Teachers, 1972

Boost your happiness and increase your success with one word . . .

Success breeds success. And, success breeds feelings of competency, mastery, and worth. Which, in turn, breed success.

So when you have a small success, even catching some falling DVDs you thought were about to make a big random pile on the floor; successfully balancing out the finances at the end of the pay period; or getting your power steering to stop leaking . . . whatever . . .

Say the word, "Success!"  Say it out loud. Hearing a real voice, even our own, is a form of being spoken to. And this way someone (albeit you) is taking note of a small positive thing you've done instead of just cruising along on autopilot. The more you can notice positives, the more positive a world you get to live in.

And now I've written a new post I hope will help somebody out: Success!