Day 153: Newsies

After yesterday, I went home and did a ton of soul searching.  I thought about feelings of powerlessness and claustrophobia.

I thought about my own reactions.  I considered how I have a tendency to wallow in my own self-pity.  Frequent readers of this blog know that I've been having a difficult few weeks.  Conversations with colleagues have left me feeling as though my only options are to bow my head and weather the storm or let the winds cast me aside.

That doesn't work for me.

So I went to see Avengers: Age of Ultron last night with some of my favorite people.  In talking to them about how I was feeling, I got some much needed relief.  I decided to try the "mind over matter" thing.

I demand that today will be excellent. I demand it so hard that I'm humming the soundtrack to Newsies! #OpenTheGates #SiezeTheDay

— Justin (@JustinAion) May 1, 2015

This was how I started my day.

One of my student interactions was asking a group of boys outside of my room to please move to homeroom, to which they replied "Nope. You're not my dad.  Leave me alone."

I accepted the powerlessness of my situation, asked them politely again and then went to get referrals.  Instead of getting furious and screaming, I let it slip from my mind and went about my business.

I also gave assigned seats to my classes.  They were not happy, but I reminded that the seats they had chosen had proven to be poor educational choices.  The grumbling stopped within a few minutes and we got underway.

I answered questions, had excellent participation and gave a quiz.  The students who participated in class (the majority today) did VERY well.  Almost 50% of them earned a perfect score.  I told them how proud I was and, at the end of class, they asked me if they had had a good day.

I turned the question back on them and they said they felt they did.  I agreed and thanked them.


I think there is a fine line between "Fake It Til You Make It"

  

and "SERENITY NOW!!"

I honestly don't know which side I'm on but I suspect it changes daily.

Today, I found myself on the former side and I'm happy with that.  I will hang on to this feeling for as long as I can.

Every day is an opportunity to improve, stand still or drive off the precipice.

Today was a good day.  Thank you, Christian Bale of 1992.

'No problem! Any scabs try to mess and we'll soak 'em!"