Being Appreciative and #teachsmall

This past week was an absolute doozy. Everything that could have gone sideways at work I think did. I really couldn't wait for our district's 1 (yes sadly 1) staff development day to just be over so I could refocus on the bigger issues I needed to deal with. And then came staff development day. It too wasn't good. We had a major flop of a beginning of the day with passwords not working, no coffee (gasp!) and people not showing up when they're supposed to.

But I started my session and put the nonsense in the back of my mind and began (after moving rooms). And it went AMAZINGLY well! The teachers were so actively engaged and learning. I gave them time to interact with each other and we discussed lesson ideas.

The afternoon session was even better! The group was small but they started to lean on each other both in the session and even today, two days later! Now here is where it gets good...

Last night I emailed my afternoon group asking for them the share the pic we took with the webcam (see it was a FUN group) and I got emails back from almost all of them. Thanking me for giving them the support they needed in the session. For giving them time to work. For giving them confidence to begin implementing NGSS standards using technology. Wow. These emails truly turned my week around. I think even as teachers we forget that a simple act of kindness such as saying thank you. Or expressing how my time spent with you changed your perspective can make one of the toughest weeks of my work career in to one of the best.

These small acts are the things we need to remember every day when we work with kids. We need to remember to #teachsmall because we never know what kind of day, or week or month someone is having. And I realized by meeting these teachers where they were at I too was part of the #teachsmall movement. So let's all continue to #teachsmall and make a big difference in everyone's lives.