"I keep my sunny side up"

Ever think to yourself "Wow, today has been such a good day! Everything is going so smoothly!" But then wonder "ok, it's too good to be true. Something is BOUND to happen!"

MINDSET

Mindset is everything. Today went so smoothly with our full virtual learning from home. My students, along with their parents and siblings, seem to really be enjoying listening to our classroom playlist as they wait for the Google Meet to start! Not only did the MUSIC lift me up this morning, but seeing the students and their family members smiling, bobbing their heads, and even dancing around made my heart smile! I was on cloud nine! The whole day went so smoothly with this brand new schedule. Shout out to my rock star parents who are going with the flow and easing into this routine with me!

Of course there were some of the usual hiccups that go hand in hand with virtual learning, such as Google Meet glitches, televisions on in the background and children being distracted by it and watching it instead of me. And we can't leave out that face that I feel like a "broken record" repeating "PLEASE mute yourself!" about 50 times. But other than that, it was great!

I'm training my brain to keep focusing on the positive. I'm breaking myself of the habit of thinking "yea, but it's too good to be true...I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop." Why is this so important to not fall down that slippery slope?

We create the energy around us. 

If we think positively, we will attract positive things into our lives. If we have negative thoughts, we will attract negative things into our lives. Now, don't go thinking "I'm going to win the lottery tonight!" and then expect that to happen, then get all upset with me if you don't win! Trust me, if I won the lottery every time I thought positively about it, I would be retired by now at an early age and probably living someplace warm!

Just start changing your mindset. Change the negative thoughts into positive thoughts. It isn't easy. But the first step is to be able to recognize when you have negative thoughts. Be more aware of your thinking. No one is perfect. A negative thought usually will sneak its way into my mind every day. But when it DOES happen, we need to address it and turn it into something positive.

I'm sure you all have said "UGH I'm so tired this morning! I want to stay in bed and not go to work! Why isn't it the weekend yet..."

Change your mindset and think "I'm grateful for the sleep that I got last night. I'm blessed that I have a job, and soon enough I will have a day off to sleep in and spend time with my family."

So right now, I'm very grateful for the day that I had with my students virtually. I'm focusing on that and being positive that the rest of my day will just like that, or even BETTER! I have my energy shield up and activated, blocking all of those negative thoughts that try to come my way.

I know, I know...this all seems like such a big shift to make in your thinking. But trust me, creating this shift will open you up to a more positive day to day life for you and those around you.

I want my students to start becoming more aware of their mindset as well. I think tomorrow I'll introduce them to this song and add it to our Classroom Playlist:

Surfaces - "Sunny Side Up"

🎵"I keep my sunny side up

So they can see me from above

I keep my sunny side up, oh

No more running from the love

Ooh, I keep my sunny side up

You keep your sunny side up

We keep our sunny sides up"🎵

Songwriters - Forrest Frank/Colin Padalecki

"Every day can be a better day, despite the challenge"

Today started of fantastic! I sent some tweets out on my Twitter account to help get my blogging out. I also posted on my Facebook page, asking my followers what their go-to songs are that get them up and going in the morning. Some shared some fun songs that I listened to and pumped me up even more. I needed it for our last day of virtual school before Thanksgiving break!

Yesterday I reached out to the parents and asked them to share with me their child's and their own go-to songs to lift up their moods and make them happy. I plan on adding these songs to my Classroom Playlist that I keep on my Amazon Music account. I stream the songs for the students as they arrive in our Google Meet and wait for others to join. I was happy to see that one parent shared with me a song that their child loves. There is no foul language in the song, which is great. But there are a couple lyrics that may deem  "inappropriate."

I played the song when the child arrived in the Google Meet and his face lit up! I tried to end the song early enough before any lyrics that may be questionable. All of the students were bobbing their heads along to the music...it was adorable! I told the class that their one classmate (we will refer to him as "R") requested the song. So many of them said that they knew the song and loved it! I reminded them to have their parents send me a song that makes them happy so we can start off the day happy and upbeat. Mindset is everything when starting the day. If we are in the wrong mindset first thing in the morning, it will end up being a struggle for the rest of the day for ALL of us.

"R's" Requested Song: Post Malone & Swae Lee - "Sunflower (Spider-man - Into the Spider-verse)"

After enjoying "R's" song, I told them that I wanted to introduce them to a song that always makes me feel good. This song reminds me of summer and warms me up!

New Classroom Playlist Track: 

Surfaces - "Sunday Best"
Album: Surfaces - "Where The Light Is"

🎵"Every day can be a better day, despite the challenge
All you gotta do is leave it better than you found it

It's gonna get difficult to stand, but hold your balance

I just say whatever 'cause there is no way around it"🎵

-Songwriters Forrest Frank and Colin Padalecki 

I told them to REALLY listen to the lyrics. I would like for all of you reading this to do the same. It has an incredible message. Surfaces' music always has a positive message. They never sing about anything negative. They use their music and their voices to lift you up. Their words are a good reminder to all of us to emit positivity and love with everything we do. No matter what life throws at us, we will get through it. We will all have our struggles, but it is part of life.

I connected this with everything that is going on in education during this pandemic. We are in school live, then we are virtual. Then some of us are back live on certain days of the week. Then we are all virtual again and we are trying to figure out our schedules. I'm trying to figure out how to meet with all of my students and meet all of their needs, but at the same time, not overwhelm them with too much screen time and work. I'm also trying to make sure I'm not overwhelming the parents.

The one thing that we all need to remember: Balance

Balance is important in everyone's lives right now. It's easy to forget to balance all aspects of your your life. Blogging has actually given me a better sense of balance. Before I started blogging, I would be doing school work until 9:00 at night. My life was completely unbalanced. It was all work. Sure, I'm a teacher. That's my job. But that is not ALL of me. That is not the ONLY thing that makes me who I am.

Who Am I?

Again, I am a teacher...but that is only one part of me. This picture shows how I ended my virtual learning today. But this is NOT all of me. I will not be sitting in front of my laptops all Thanksgiving break doing school work. It would be very easy to do. But being a teacher is not the only thing that makes me ME.

"Who am I?" This is a very important question to ask yourself in order to "rebalance" yourself. You are NOT just one thing. So many things make you "YOU." You should really take the time to think about it. Think deeply...down to the core of who you are. Only YOU have the ability to figure it out. Feel free to comment to this blog or on one of my social media pages where I share this blog post and tell us all about your journey in finding out who you are.

What I plan to do for the rest of the afternoon before heading to my parent's for Thanksgiving break is meditate and try to answer that question myself. I also think I'll stream the rest of that Surfaces album as well to keep this good mood and positive energy going.

Stay positive friends! Lots of love your way...