Positive Vibes from Today - every day

I am a teacher, high school social studies/history.

Man, there are some real wild and dumb kids out there...and I used to be one when I was a teen too.  I get it. 

But I notice that in my job, 5% of the kids take up 80% of your energy and focus. Too easy to get bummed on what youre doing sometimes, you forget about all the AMAZING things.

And I thought about a recent topic where a guy's father is beating cancer. Freaking awesome.

So that's this thread, lets have ONE thing per day to keep our heads right, to realize it's all going to be ok and it all IS ok. 

This morning a student Ive taught several times (various classes) brought me a peanut butter cake, knowing my love of Reece's. Not the first time, but it was this time. And it lifted my dang day from an early start. 

GO! (and that's my initials ha, so I write that a lot)

I've been teaching shop for 25 years. Boy howdy I have to dig deep to see the good in a lot of students (I'm tired of seeing the same poo, but different shovels).  My biggest problem is I have very high expectations that are pretty much never met; I'm still trying to find the balance of "push them to grow and succeed" with "love and support them even where they are."

Along with GRM, I have this site on my "daily interweb check-ins" for uplifting thoughts:

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/

I excel in finding the cloud in ever silver lining. This one points out some of the good in the world to me.

It's 27 below, but the sky is blue and it's not windy.

In reply to SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) :

Unfortunately, I just put in grades for two kids and they still didnt pass (I had modified their final exam from 75Q to 60, and from 4 answer choices each (multiple choice) to 3...)they still came up a couple short.

Did they try to do the extra credit? No. Did they do the work that they were able to do that was previously missing? Some. 

I, too, have high expectations and I feel like beyond what we teach them in our course, we're also teaching them about life. I hold my kids to high expectations because I want them to succeed now and later, get a decent work ethic because it's needed in life. Are we teaching them anything if we say, "well we gave you a million breaks, you didnt get there, but we'll still pass you along"? Im very conflicted right now and waiting to talk to my principal, it'll come down to her decision on this. Im in the 'sorry dude, try harder next time, do your work' camp. 

SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) said:

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/

It's kind of telling that this site is 90% feelgood stories and 10% actual good news...

In reply to hybridmomentspass :

I hope the principal makes the right choice. The rest of the world is counting on y'all. 

Today it's in the mid-70s, the sky is blue, the shop doors are all open. All in it's a wonderful day. 

I'm glad me sharing some good news has inspired others to do the same. 

Really working hard on trying to be a less negative and snarky person. 

It's the middle of December in Central New York and yet it's 60 degrees out today. I'll take it.

We just picked up my son from the airport. He's going to be home for a month. On Sunday we're heading to Maui for a week. I can't wait.

Walked my dog in the woods, in the sunshine at lunch today.

At least I get to take my dog to work.

Today I had three messages from women on dating websites, and they actually seem to be real people and not catfish.

In reply to hybridmomentspass :

Our hopefully-soon-to-be-adopted 10 year old daughter is, through no fault of her own, one of those 5% kids.

She's made huge progress the last couple years, thanks in large part to one of her teachers last year who put in the effort to connect with her and go the extra mile.

It was 60 degrees today here in eastern MA so I took the fun car on a sales call.  It’s usually in the garage covered up and on the battery maintainer by now because salt.   I’ll take that win.  

Today I bought tickets to see my favorite band - Hot Water Music, as they open up for AVAIL here in NC

It sold out pretty quickly, I have an extra I'll sell, maybe make ten bucks or something. 

Had a kid in my civics class fail, just didnt do work. 

But he thanked me this morning for never quitting with him. That's very mature of him

I spent Sunday with my wife.

Nothing on the "to do" list, not running around like mad, just had a great day of doing not much at all together.

First time in a long time that I've actually been present enough to enjoy it.

Today I brought my principal some diet cokes. Had bought several and gave her some during our Secret Santa week last week...well, why not bring more to her today on this last exam day, which is, for her, very stressful. 

Received an e-mail from the shop that's doing the crankshaft swap on our Duesenberg engine. Apparently it was overhauled not that long ago and has Carillo rods and Arias pistons already installed in it. Car should be in good shape to actually be toured if the owner wishes.

I made coffee for my fiance. Small task, but usually Im gone before she's up (on the days she stays at my house).

Got a Christmas card from my principal to the house - a small gesture but goes such a dang long way that she actually took the time to mail out cards vs simple emails.

I got 3 hours of sleep last night and have to go into work. But seeing my youngest girl smiling when she wakes up in the morning puts a smile on my face everyday. This is the last day of work of 2021! Hurray!!!!

I'm going through a trial separation with the internet and I think I like it.

There's too much poison and not enough value left in it. Places like this are few and far between and I'm tired of nearly all of it. The other night I found myself sitting there, mindlessly scrolling through page after page of miserable, awful news and pointless videos that I'm not interested in at all except that I'm bored for some reason.

All that wasted time when I could be learning something useful or just spending time with the people I care about.

I'll still post here but I'm limiting how much time I spend in front of a screen.

To paraphrase several people "The internet is an excellent servant but a terrible master."

I'm going to go have a cup of tea and watch it snow.

Yesterday - family, friends, food

Today - family, friends, food

Also, 1st, & only, Christmas engaged!

Had the first family gathering in 2 years last week. Toddler son met aunts/uncles he didn't know he had, and it looks like nobody caught covid. Life is good.

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Teachers don't get enough pay, enough respect, or enough time off. Just because a kid didn't pass the class, it doesn't mean that you didn't impact his life in a positive way. Same goes for the other kids in the class who got OK grades but watched you be a smart/kind/good person. I don't think a day goes by that I don't think of at least one of my HS teachers.