Combating Internal Self Doubts

Lets face it, we all have them (especially educators).  Those internal voices in our head saying "That could have gone better" or "You didn't do your best" or "That kid didn't learn anything that you tried to teach them today".  In the words of a sweet little child who lost her life to the Sandy Hook Tragedy, we can't let these self-doubts "Suck our fun circuits dry" 

R.I.P Sweet Ana Grace

I was recently chatting with a fellow educator (Greg Curran - @innov8reduc8r) for his podcasts on Thriving and he asked me how I deal with these internal voices - the self-doubts, and the negativity. (Something that has been VERY difficult for me in the past!)

To combat my internal self doubts - I started something this year that has been absolutely wonderful for not only myself, but my students as well.

Each afternoon we meet together in a circle for Afternoon Meeting.  Our meeting is a time for us to do 3 things:

-Recognize people that we wrote compliments for throughout the day.  We write a compliment and put it on our compliment board when we see friends working very hard, or helping someone out.  We share these at the end of the day

-Reflect on how the day went.  Each student shares something that they think went really well or something they learned.  

-Relax together for a nice "See you later" at the end of the long, exhausting, learning filled day instead of the chaotic pack up, craziness routine we've had in the past.

Hearing students share what they've learned throughout the day or what they think really well - has helped me stay more positive about what we are doing in our room - and celebrate even the smallest successes!