It occurred to me that my best days teaching are often my happiest days. And the cause and effect there is important – it’s not my best day that caused me to be happy, it’s that fact that I’m the happy, which caused me to have my best day. Classroom management can often hinge on how energized and happy we are. So as far as preparation goes, Tolle’s The Power of Now becomes just as important to read as Marzano’s Classroom Management That Works.
This post thus far might make it sound like I’m bipolar, coming to school depressed some days, happy others. But what I’m really talking about here is the difference between being in a good mood, and being in a great mood. The difference between having disruptive students leave you frustrated, and having them not affect you negativiely. The difference between going through the motions, and pausing to appreciate the moments. This corner of classroom management takes us deep into self-reflection, but it is a place we need to go into if we are to be the teacher we want to be.
I have written about some of the things I do to stay positive and energized here and here.