Sometimes you know you are making a positive difference and sometimes you do not ...but all you are doing matters and it is wonderful!
This conversation reminded me of the time when I was presenting at a school and was given a tour afterwards. The director proudly showed me the new nature learning area that was created behind the school. She explained that they had received a grant as a result of attending a previous presentation I had done. In the workshop I had shared the ways in which nature benefits developing brains. It was wonderful to know of the impact the information I had shared lead to many children getting this great opportunity!
The point is, as heartwarming as it was to know this, it really doesn't matter if I did. The important thing was that many children are going to benefit!
When you receive positive comments, notes, or kind feedback about all you do, I am sure it always feels very good. And it is wonderful It helps you to focus on and recall the positive influence you have.
Sometimes you know you have an impact right away. There are certain moments where you can feel it through the exchange or see the body language or expressions. But of course there are other times when we have no idea if our efforts or actions make a difference.
It is interesting to realize that our brains focus on what we pay attention to. Are you familiar with this attention experiment? Try it ... It is fun! What do you pay attention to?
Because you are so dedicate to making a positive difference, it becomes easy to think you should have done something better or handled it differently, or accomplished more during the day. But of course what is much better is to focus on what you DID do, or all that went very well. This is important because EVERY day you ARE making a positive difference. Sometimes you will know it and sometimes you will never know... But because of the experiences you provide, you are contributing to developing young brains everyday!
So, I simply want to encourage you to pay attention to ALL that you do... because the world needs more people like you ... making a positive difference!
It is my belief that when all of us who care about the healthy, happy development of young children work together... we will make a world of difference! I love connecting and promoting all that is taking place for the benefit of children and families.... so it would be great to connect with you.
Feel free to contact me in any of the following ways!
Enjoy the day making a difference!
Deborah McNelis
braininsights®
braininsights®
http://pinterest.com/braininsights/
Thanks for the validation Deborah. Sometimes we all need to hear it from someone else. Of course it goes without saying that you make a huge difference to children directly and indirectly through the positive influences you have on fellow teachers.
ReplyDelete:)
Greg,
ReplyDeleteWhat very nice comments!They are very much appreciated. Thank you.
It is wonderful to know this contributed to feeling validated. People who are influencing young developing minds every day deserve great amounts of recognition!
Deborah
Thanks for a great post, Deborah! I'm trying to make a conscious effort to pay attention to more. I'm finding that by being more attentive AND more reflective of my practice, that I am growing as a teacher, even after being in the classroom for years!
ReplyDeletePS~ I pretty much missed the gorilla! :)