9/20/2023

The Power of a Positive Educator

Regardless of your profession, we can all be positive educators and help inspire the young minds in our lives.

When I think about the teachers who made a difference in my life, I realize they were all positive. Mrs. Liota smiled every day and made me feel loved. Coach Caiazza believed in me, while Mr. Ehmann and Ivan Goldfarb encouraged me to do my best. Years later, as I think about the impact these teachers had on my life, it’s clear being a positive educator not only makes you better – it makes everyone around you better.  

Positive educators have the power to transform lives and inspire young minds to believe they can and will change the world. In this spirit, here are seven ways we can all be positive educators! 

1. Be positively contagious. Research shows that emotions are contagious. Sincere smiles, kind words, encouragement, and positive energy infect people in a positive way. On the flip side, your students are just as likely to catch your bad mood as the flu. So, each day you come to school, you have to make a choice. You can be a germ or a big dose of vitamin C. When you choose to be positively contagious, your positive energy has a positive impact on your students, your colleagues, and, ultimately, your school culture. Your students will remember very little of what you said, but they’ll remember 100% of how you made them feel. I remember Mrs. Liota and her smile and love, and it made all the difference.  
2. Take a daily thank you walk. It’s simple, powerful, and a great way to feed yourself positivity. How does it work? Simple: take a walk. Outside, in a mall, at your school, on a treadmill, or anywhere else you can think of, and think about all the things – big and small – you’re grateful for. Research shows you can’t be stressed and thankful at the same time, so when you combine gratitude with physical exercise, you give yourself a double boost of positive energy. You flood your brain and body with positive emotions and natural antidepressants that uplift you rather than stress hormones that drain your energy and slowly kill you. By the time you get to school, you’re ready for a great day.  
3. Celebrate success. One of the simplest, most powerful things you can do for yourself is to celebrate your daily successes. Instead of thinking about all the things that went wrong at school each day, focus on the one thing that went right. Try this: Each night before bed, think about one great thing from your day. If you do this, you’ll look forward to creating more success tomorrow. Have your students do this as well. Each night, they’ll go to bed feeling like a success and wake up with more confidence to take on the day.  
4. Expect to make a difference. When positive educators walk into their classrooms, they expect to make a difference in their students’ lives. In fact, making a difference is the very reason that they became a teacher in the first place. This purpose continues to fuel them and their teaching. They come to school each day thinking of ways they can make a difference and expecting their actions and lessons will lead to positive outcomes for their students. They win in their mind first, and then they win in the hearts and minds of their students.  
5. Believe in your students more than they believe in themselves. I tried to quit lacrosse during my freshman year of high school, but Coach Caiazza wouldn’t let me. He told me I was going to play in college one day. He had a vision for me that I couldn’t even fathom. He believed in me more than I believed in myself. I ended up going to Cornell University, and the experience of playing lacrosse there changed my life forever. The difference between success and failure is belief, and so often this belief is instilled in us by someone else. Coach Caiazza was that person for me, and it changed my life. You can be that person for one of your students if you believe in them and see their potential rather than their limitations.  
6. Develop positive relationships. Author Andy Stanley once said, “Rules without relationship leads to rebellion.” Far too many principals share rules with their teachers, but they don’t have a relationship with their students. So, what happens? Teachers and students disengage from the mission of the school. I’ve had many educators approach me and tell me that my books helped them realize they needed to focus less on rules and invest more in their relationships. The result was a dramatic increase in teacher and student performance, morale, and engagement. To develop positive relationships, you need to enhance communication, build trust, listen to them, make time for them, recognize them, show them you can through your actions, and mentor them. Take the time to give them your best – and they’ll give you their best.  
7. Show you care. It’s a simple fact: The best educators stand out by showing their students and colleagues that they care about them. Standardized test scores rise when teachers make time to really know their students. Teacher performance improves when principals create engaged relationships with their teachers. Teamwork is enhanced when educators know and care about one another. Parents are more supportive when educators communicate with their student’s parents. The most powerful form of positive energy is love, and this love transforms students, people, and schools when it’s put into action. Create your own unique way to show your students and colleagues you care about them, and you’ll not only feel more positive about yourself, but you’ll develop positive kids who create a more positive world.