I have always believed it is important to have a positive attitude. Being positive is infectious; others will follow a positive leaders example. Every day, I stand at my door and greet my students. I try to make a positive interaction with every student. I ask about their nights, what they have going on for the week, or about their family. Students enjoy telling me stories, but I have learned to limit the number of things they tell me as they're walking in the door. I feel that because of this small positive interaction, I have a great classroom community.
I had conferences before Thanksgiving break and I had a very positive interaction with one parent. Her son has been diagnosed with a learning disability and always had a negative attitude toward school. She was telling me about her sons school pictures and how she was very happy with what they looked like. I was having a hard time remembering what they looked like, so she described the picture to me. She said every year that school pictures would come home and her son did not smile, had slumped over shoulders, and did not look happy to be at school. This year, he had a big smile on his face, he sat up straight, and you could definitely tell he enjoyed going to school. His tie was on crooked and his hair was messy, but she didn't care. She framed his picture and it is displayed for everyone in the house to see. She proceeded to tell me about how he comes home every day with something fun that happened at school and how he enjoys being in my classroom. This was one of the biggest compliments that I have every received. It made me feel that all of my hard work is paying off.
