Our principal, Paul Clemens, ends the morning announcements each day with his words of wisdom. At the end of these words, comes some of the most important words of all: “Make it a great day or not: the choice is yours!” I was thinking about these words a lot today.
This morning we woke up to snow. A lot of snow! The Weather Network said that the snow was going to get worse during the day, and even at 5:00 am, private schools and various school boards were making their decisions to close (or remain open) for today. This is an incredibly tough decision, and I don’t envy those people that have to make it! There are lots of considerations about student and staff safety, and as someone that is actively involved in social media, I know that these decisions often bring comments (both positive and negative) regardless of the call. While I usually leave my house around 6:00 for school, I decided to wait to hear the decision before driving in (I’ve been at school numerous times before, and then had to drive home because of cancellations :)). At just after 6:30, our Board announced that, “schools were open and buses were running,” so off I went.
I’ll admit that I was a bit flustered. I’m usually at school by 6:30, so I was thinking about what I needed to get done, and where I was going to start. Thankfully my step-dad offered to drive me into school, so I had some thinking time on the way in to get myself mentally organized. (I am definitely the organized type! :)) By the time school started today, I was ready (and excited)! As always, I greeted students at the door with good mornings, and then we continued with our day from there. I told the students that it was going to be an awesome day, and it was!
Did students want to have a Snow Day? Yes, many did.
Did staff want to have a Snow Day? Yes, probably so, as there is something exciting about the “special snow day gift.” 🙂 (And the prospects of bad roads can be worrisome…)
Were people concerned about the weather and how things would look come the end of the day? Yes, probably so.
But did we smile, stay positive, and work together to create a wonderful day today? Absolutely yes! (I believe that the Storify Story below proves it!)
I think that our vice principal, Kristi Keery-Bishop’s, tweet sums things up best of all.
You see, attitude matters and positivity does make all the difference! How do you turn a day around? How do you make every day, the best day ever? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!
Aviva (Still Smiling! :-))
A great post Aviva! I agree that those inspirational messages make a school day that much better. Pat Rocco always use to say “Have yourselves a super day!” when I was at Orchard Park. It was uniquely his and it really did add a certain something to the day and we all looked forward to it. Positivity thinking is where it’s at. Great photos of your day by the way. Get those students thinking about how classrooms could look in the new schools and post up to the Director’s Forum Student Voice Blog!
Thanks for the comment, Aaron! And thanks for the reminder about the Director’s Student Voice Blog. I keep on thinking about it, and then forget to mention it to my students. I need to remember! (Please do remind me again if it appears that I’ve forgotten!)
There is something wonderful about positivity! It really is quite infectious. I love Pat’s message as well … anything that can get students and staff looking at the day in a positive light! 🙂
Aviva
I am a big fan of Paul’s words of wisdom too. We may not always have a say in some of the conditions or events of our day (like today’s troublesome weather), but we do get to decide how we meet them. I strongly believe that educators in Canada are among the most fortunate people in the world – we are privileged to be educated ourselves, live in a safe and prosperous country, and we get paid to teach the next generation. How could you not face that with a positive attitude? Allowing students to see how successful one can be when facing challenges with a smile and a willing attitude is some pretty good modelling too. I choose to make it a great day…even with 24 cm of snow. It is the only choice that really makes sense, isn’t it?
It is indeed, Kristi … and life really is so much better with a smile and a positive attitude! It felt great today to be surrounded by other positive people — all making the most out of 24 centimetres of snow! 🙂
Thanks for the comment!
Aviva