Rejuvenation

I am excited that this chapter of Teaching Hope is full of upbeat, inspiring stories. I was not disappointed with previous chapters because I only want to hear happy stories about teaching where nothing goes wrong. I just want to hear stories told with optimism. The stories in this chapter featured situations where things didn't go right but it was not the end of the world. One teacher talked about having a class that never behaved for subs. She walked into school dreading the note she'd inevitably find about her class's terrible behavior. She also found a positive note about the thoughtfulness of her students when they invited a special ed. student to play basketball with them. Instead on focusing on the negative, she instead rewarded their kindness. I think that being positive will get anyone a lot farther in work/school life. I believe that this chapter could also be called "attitude" because each teacher demonstrates a positive attitude and a willingness to manifest this in the classroom. Teachers in this chapter encouraged, motivated, listened, cared for, tried, fund-raised, planned trips, and understood. And I think these teachers are a heck of a lot more inspirational and admirable than the teachers who wrote about classes that they could not manage and students they lost. This is negativity.