Silver Linings Journal
The supplies are rolling in your door. Class lists are printed and you are writing those names that are assigned to you over and over and over. You are trying to picture each face, their friends, their strengths, what makes them tick. The desks are straight. The boards are clean. Your space FEELS inspiring.
For teachers, the days before school are packed full of meetings, organizing, labeling, and getting prepared for the pack. When the bell rings on that first day, “Hello! Welcome!” It’s an adrenaline jolt for everyone.
…and then “things” start to happen. Student interactions, phone calls, more meetings, grading, making copies, emails, and it can feel heavy at times, completely overwhelming. You feel like you missed the point you wanted to make on a lesson. The newsletter you sent out and scanned FOUR TIMES had a typo in the first line. Yet, you know in your heart of hearts why you are there. The Silver Linings.
When I was a teacher, I found a little silver journal and placed it in my desk drawer. I placed notes from students in there. “Mrs. Curtis, I know I was a thorn in your side ALL YEAR LONG, but thank you for believing in me and pushing me to realize that I AM smart. ~ Christa” I wrote down special moments: “Catherine came in to work on her project after school…ON HER OWN!” “Robert came by the classroom because he felt like he was about to punch someone and needed a place to calm down.” “Patrick got 100% on his bird identification test! Holy cow!”
Many of the notes wouldn’t mean much to most eyes that scanned the journal’s pages, but to me, they were teaching milestones. When the tough days came, I would pull out my silver linings journal and leaf through the pages. It was inspiration enough to get me through those tough times.
Now, as a parent, I capture photos of my kids during our Silver Lining moments. It’s what my Instagram feed is all about…silver linings. When I am having a tough kid day, I reach for my Instagram feed and scroll.
We all need to find ways to remember our victories. The ick is out there, but if you take the time to acknowledge the great things that are happening, you might be surprised how quickly they pile up!
We can’t be bright suns every day, but even our dark clouds have their silver linings.
What was your silver lining this week?
Share in the comments below.
Buy a silver linings journal for your favorite teacher, a friend or yourself…
Silver Linings Notebook (affiliate link)
If you need more gift ideas for that fantastic, new teacher, click HERE.
ABOUT VAL: As the Editor-in-chief of BonBon Break, Val loves finding and creating content to share with their readers.
A former middle school science/math/tech teacher, she put her career on hold to be at home with her son and daughter on an island in the Pacific Northwest.
When Val breaks away from her keyboard, she enjoys gardening, cooking, hiking, camping, photography, tidepooling, sailing and potlucks. She gets a kick out of combing the web for recipes and making them gluten free so she can share meals with her husband, family and friends. She is a tech-gadget geek who is poked fun at, but it doesn’t bother her a bit. Combining her love of photography, tech and graphics to create new, fun content for her sites quenches her “thirst” for integrated technology. Read more from Val on BonBon Break.
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This post was written by Val Curtis exclusively for BonBon Break Media, LLC
