What Did You Do Right?

I started doing my third quarter observations this week. The rubric doesn't exactly fit the way school works right now, so I have been learning how to give a little more latitude on some of the elements that I used to be very specific on. Usually, when an administrator gives you feedback on an observation, you're happy to hear what went well and anxious to see if there's something they did not like or a suggestion for improvement they may have. It's human nature to focus on the negative or to take it more to heart. I had that in my mind this week and stumbled across an article that suggests that focusing on our weaknesses might be detrimental to your future decisions as well. If you're one of those people that gets anxious at the bad news or the negative feedback, it can be even worse for you. 

We started this school year knowing what didn't work from virtual learning last Spring. We went on to center our professional development at fixing courses, improving communication, and trying to fix everything that was wrong. And if you are normal, at some point that work put you in a bad mood. I know I'm certainly guilty of that. With all of the focus on what's been wrong, I thought it might be time to start focusing on what is going well and where we have made progress. Some of you are already doing this and I hadn't really noticed until I stopped this week to focus on it myself. Here are a few successes that came to mind this week:

• The OCS classes are setting up an occupational lab in the school to teach work skills since they can't travel to work sites.
• Five beginning teachers decided to take on an extra professional development with Mrs. Garcia and she's so excited about working with them.
• Mrs. Head holds a voluntary live Zoom each morning to teach Math 1 to any teacher's students and they are attending without having to or receiving any other incentive. 
• Mr. Gnau got back to coaching men's soccer this week with a large majority of players eligible to play despite the academic challenges of the Fall semester.
• Mrs. Mattocks has been initiating our freshmen to the library as a part of her world history classes and it's great to see the space being used by students again.

There are many more, and certainly, some that I have left off that you've shared with me this week. And I think we need to start taking a little time to focus on what we did right. Look for some opportunities to share your successes throughout this semester, big or small. Your ideas and ability to overcome challenges can unlock inspiration in others, and focusing on your successes keeps you in a positive mindset to make better decisions in the future.