Motivation

We are in a slump here. It's partly due to the long, cold winter we've had. We've missed so much school we now have two days to make up. We started school late this year so that means we're already going a little later than usual. The end of next week, March 14th, we start our Spring Break. After that we will be on a down hill slide sort to speak. We will be in the last quarter of the 2013-14 school year. It has been a long, trying year for me. I ran across the TEDtalks video by Diana Nyad last week. She is inspiring in so many ways. Her age, gender, strength, record and probably friends and family all said she couldn't accomplish her life long goal of swimming from Cuba to Florida. Yet, she made it, finally, after many years of trying. She didn't give up. She didn't lose her motivation. She didn't lose sight of her dream. I like what she says about following dreams, staying motivated and going against the odds. I hope it inspires you as much as it did me. I may have to watch it again!

http://www.ted.com/talks/diana_nyad_never_ever_give_up.html??utm_medium=social&source=email&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=ios-share

A little boost

I gave everyone in the high school building these today! It made a great end to a trying (though short) week. I had enough to include teachers, administration, secretaries, maintenance, cafeteria and all aides! I got to school early so I could slip most of them in their boxes before they arrived. It was great to hear so many great comments throughout the day for such a small gesture. I wanted to do a baked goody, but just didn't have time this week. I'll save that for another day, another week.

I've also been trying to think what I could do to give a little boost to the students. It's not possible for me to hand out a sweet or any kind of simple treat to the entire student body. I don't see the entire student body on a daily basis so it's not possible for me to speak to all of them either. What I decided to do was make up some small posters with motivational, uplifting, or thought provoking quotes and post them around the school. I made several weeks' worth and just printed them out in black and white to save on school ink since I liked the idea of including a little graphic to go with the quote. I also like the idea of hanging them around the school when no one is present and in places everyone will be at some point. I decided on the restrooms. This week I hung them up early Tuesday morning (our first day of this week). I don't like being there so early on the first day of the week so today, Friday, I waited until the school had cleared of students and hung them up, in place for next week already.

I realize they're not loaded with lots of color, eye popping graphics, but they're just something everyone will see (I even hung one in the lounge restroom) and be a nice (hopefully) surprise, a little encouragement possibly that some are headed in the right direction and indirectly encourage others to head that way, too. It's another way for me to make a small impact on the school environment.