Gratitude part 2

Just a week of school was enough to pull me back to reality. I was still somewhere on cloud 9, savoring the peace and bliss acquired from the holiday . But i say this with no regrets since this new year i have promised to be more grateful about the things in my life. Instead of feeling miserable about things that cause stress in my life , i  have vowed to find ways to come out of difficult situations positively. I was introduced to Deepak Chopra's soul healing meditations by a dear friend. The CD has 8 guided meditations with soothing instrumental music. My favorite is the heart meditation and it relaxes me immediately when i am stressed about something. Someone was kind enough to put it on you tube. You can listen to it by clicking on the video.

And since i want to sound efficacious about my brand new attitude, i would like to talk about the book" I am Thankful Each Day" by P.K. Hallinan.

I have been intending to read this book for some time now and was ecstatic when i received it during the first week of January. I had ordered it on Amazon and though they did take time to deliver it, i think it came to me at the right time.

The book has simple language and fantastic illustrations and children immediately related to it. We brainstormed various things we were thankful for and made a class book. These are few of the things they came up with.

If you would like to download the cover of the book, please click on the image below:

Also since this was the first time i made a new year resolution, i was pretty excited to hear from my kiddos, what would they like to do in 2014. The idea for the craft came from Pinterest.

 Children first did a countdown from 10-0 and shouted happy new year and made noise with the party blow- outs. Since they got an opportunity to make noise they were easily able to part with the blow-outs and use it in the craft. :)

This is what some of them said

We also continued with the transportation unit and i would be sharing the pictures very soon. So have a great day and be grateful !

Appreciation

Appreciation of any kind is imperative for an individual's growth. But i feel that in the field of Teaching, it is even more vital as there is no monetary motivation for teachers. So what encourages teachers? Is it their students success, self motivation, peer appreciation, inspiring mentors or simply a desire to better oneself and make a bigger difference in the lives that one touches? For me, motivation is a cocktail of all the above things. When my students respond positively to my lessons, i feel motivated. When they shower me with their love by giving me a hug early in the morning or making a card, i feel ecstatic. When parents tell me how much their kids missed me in the summer break and wanted to come back to school, i feel appreciated. And i think it is these little things in life which makes a teachers world go round.

Just today a little girl in my class made a drawing for me. She said i was a beautiful princess with a jeweled crown and a diamond necklace (WOW!)I loved the diamond necklace part...jokes apart, her sweet gesture made my day.

I am on a motivation high these days. My school organizes an annual appreciation event, where employees(teachers, administrators, support staff) get recognized and praised for their efforts. I was chosen by my peers for inspiring them the most. 

It made me feel great that my work inspires others. I owe my learning to a lot of people in this field. I have already mentioned Deanna Jump in one of my previous posts.She inspires me in my day to day teaching. My first mentor - Mrs Bagnato at The American Embassy School blew me off with her innovative ideas and introduced me to a whole lot of concepts that i still do in my class. Dr Bindu, Dean of NPSI School is a dynamic leader whose passion for teaching influenced me a great deal. Expressing gratitude and appreciation positively impacts individuals. Sometimes in the hustle and bustle of life we forget how much we have and concentrate only on what we don't have. We don't appreciate others and forget to thank god for the things he has given us.

In class, I encourage my little sweeties to appreciate their friends on a regular basis. During circle time, they say one nice thing about a friend. We also catch each other doing the right things and praising that effort. Thank-you's are also a big thing in my class. I am intending to do a a mini lesson on appreciating what we have and the importance of being thankful by using the book "I am thankful each day" by P K Hallinan. I will do a post soon on it.

Till then, think of  somebody/something you are thankful for and appreciate it.  :)