In Memory of Persistence (revisit)

Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

In Memory of Persistence —

My best friend from high school passed away 3 years ago. He was pretty amazing. He was the kid in school that always had to do everything differently. It drove his teachers crazy. It was fun for us to watch. After he graduated he had many different jobs and adventures. He taught English in Japan for a year and when he came back he opened a clothing store with his own designs. He painted and drew art that he tried to sell and eventually took a job in the graphics arts field. He worked for a couple different newspapers and marketing companies while starting his own marketing company. He decided he wanted to help others so he became a life coach while still painting, using his graphic arts skills, and keeping up with his marketing company. All this while he raised his small family. He was a pretty amazing guy. The one big thing I learned from him was persistence. No matter what happened, how bad it got, or the roadblocks that showed up in his path, he went on to the next thing and made it work. Shaun had persistence. What I saw was that he did not get stuck if something went wrong, he pushed through it and found something that worked.

So how do we teach persistence with our students? Have high expectations and relate them to the students. Push them, but know when to stop. Persistence needs to be worked on like anything else. It takes practice. How can they push through problems if they only see problems that take a couple seconds to answer? Introduce problems that take time and might have more than one step are needed. Teach what to do when the going gets tough. Model what to do and have them practice it. Teach students to be positive and to tell themselves they can do it. Being negative teaches students they cannot do something that is hard. They can get that negative talk anywhere. We need positivity. Convince them they can do it. Students need to know there is a future that they control. Some cannot see past next week, or even the next few days, but we can expand their view with education. Show them where they can go. Give them a road map and take them on the trip. When they persist and succeed, point it out. When they persist and don’t succeed, praise the persistence and show them the map of where they are going. Give them the confidence that they can do anything with education. That builds persistence. Thank you Shaun for the road map you showed me. You were truly my life coach.

Quote I’m pondering —

“We don't see things as they are; we see them as we are ”

-Anaïs Nin

What’s Happening —

This Coming Week	In Two Weeks
Mon. Jan 13 - Pie with the Principal 9:30am Mon. Jan 13 - PTA Meeting 12pm Tue. Jan 14 - STEM, Music Char. Ed start up Wed. Jan 15 - Acadience Testing All Day (see schedule on your email) Wed. Jan 15 - Chinese PD 1-3 All day Thu. Jan 16 - Chinese PD 4-5 All day	Mon. Jan 20 - MLK, Jr. Day No School Wed. Jan 22 - Acadience Testing at Santa Clara (aides gone morning) Thu. Jan 23 - Acadience Testing at Santa Clara (aides gone morning)

Favorite Article This Week —

What’s the Real Origin of “OK”?

The precursor word of LOL, OMG, and WTSH. I love words and their origins.

A Big Thank You —

Thank you teachers for all the love and kindness and competition. It is so much fun to be a part of a staff that is all in when it comes to activities, lunches, and games. Thank you for all the fun you bring to school each day. I love being a part of such a wonderful school. Keep doing what you are doing. Thank you for all you do. Thank you. 

I appreciate all of you and your hard work.