How to Improve the Quality of Your Day

One word or pleasing smile is often enough to raise up a saddened and wounded soul.

                                                                                                                   -        Therese of Lisieux

I’ve heard it said that a smile is the closest distance between two people. Besides increasing our face value, a smile can lighten up a room and endear us to others. With that in mind, here’s an experiment you can try today or tomorrow. Everyone you meet, friend or stranger, give them a smile. Then at the end of the day take stock of how your day went. It’s very likely the quality of your day will have exceeded your expectations.

Now, to add even more vigor to your life, besides giving everyone you meet a smile, make a definite plan to compliment at least three of those people. Arnold H. Glasgow said, “Praise does wonders for our sense of hearing.” Who can deny the feeling of euphoria at the sound of words of praise? Edifying remarks have the power to supercharge our self-confidence.  

It’s a natural human tendency to want to discuss things that we find interesting. Knowing that, why not launch yourself into that special group of go-getters who lead a charmed life by going out of your way to engage three other people in a conversation about themselves and their interests?  Maybe you’re already in that mode of behavior, but if not, I dare you to try it tomorrow. You’ll be amazed at the results.

Somewhat related to the above, I read an interesting quote recently by Mahatma Gandhi: “There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.” As you’re reading this, the Christmas season is quickly approaching. At this special time of year, an expression that’s often heard is - “peace on earth and goodwill to all men.” No doubt many would agree that universal peace is a difficult goal to attain. How can we ever reach that goal? As we get ready to celebrate the birth of the Christ Child, it behooves us to find ways and means to bring about peace.

Even though the efforts we make on an individual basis (i.e. smiling at, complimenting, and engaging others, for example), may not make a great difference in terms of the global community; but the difference those efforts make in our local community can serve as a point of light to encourage others to do likewise.

Blessed Mother Teresa, in reference to the work of the Missionaries of Charity, once said, “What we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But if that drop was not in the ocean, I think the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.” Who knows what difference a kind word or a smile can make? To a stranger we meet, who may be shouldering some heavy burden, it could be a ray of hope along their way.

In this regard, I’m reminded once again of the story of the elderly gentleman walking on the beach, who saw someone in the distance leaning down to pick up something and throw it in the water. As he got closer he noticed it was a young man picking up starfish one by one and throwing them gently into the water. The older man asked him, “Why are you doing that?” The younger man replied, “If I don’t throw them in, they’ll die.” When he heard this, the older man reminded the younger man that there were miles and miles of beach and starfish along every mile, so he couldn’t possibly make a difference. The young man bent down, picked up another starfish, threw it back into the ocean and said, “It made a difference for that one.”

Teaching and the 10,000 Hour Rule

The average teacher explains complexity; the gifted teacher reveals simplicity.

                                                                                                                -        Robert Brault

I’m reading an interesting book this week called Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. In the second section of his book the author talks about the 10, 000  Hour Rule. This rule basically states that in order to achieve success at a high level in any endeavor, be it music, chess, or computer programming, it takes at least 10, 000 hours of practice in the chosen field. To prove his point, Mr. Gladwell weaves in the stories of some prominent people: Mozart, Bobby Fischer (the chess grandmaster), and Bill Gates.

After I read these stories about the 10, 000 hour rule, I started thinking about the field of education. Let’s crunch the numbers. If a beginning teacher spends, on average, four hours per day teaching, that would equal 720 hours over a school year of, let’s say, 180 days. In order to get to the 10, 000 hour threshold, it would take approximately fourteen years of teaching. Wow! That’s about halfway through a thirty year teaching career. Interesting, isn’t it?

This is my twenty-seventh year as a teacher. When I think about it, the above author’s theory resonates with me. After about fifteen years in the classroom (okay, it took me a little longer!), I started to get more of a comfort level with the nuances of the craft. By that I mean I was becoming more adept at things like drawing up succinct lesson plans, composing various types of assessment that matched curriculum objectives, and understanding how the recent research (of a dozen years or so ago) around concepts like multiple intelligences and differentiated learning could help me better relate to the students in front of me. With that decade and a half of education behind me, I’ve found the last ten years of my career to be a period of heightened confidence in my abilities as an educator.

During those first 10, 000 hours as a teacher, the learning curve was great. Did I make a few mistakes? You bet. Was I grateful for the positive role models of more experienced teachers in the schools where I worked? Yes, absolutely. In those first fourteen or so years I just wanted to absorb as much as I could about how to improve my skills (not only as a teacher, but as a person) so that I could be of greater benefit to the students I taught. Karl Menninger once said: “What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches.” Over the past ten to twelve years I’ve come to a more mature understanding of the wisdom of Menninger’s words.

Today I’m more excited than ever to be involved in the teaching profession. There are so many resources available now that can shorten the learning curve for new teachers. My best recommendation for any teacher, new or not so new, would be to take advantage of the power of Twitter to help build their own personal learning network (PLN). Just imagine – as part of my professional growth plan for this year, one of my goals is to increase my PLN through Twitter.

Whenever I sit back and think about the importance of my job as a teacher, I’m humbled. That sense of humility was brought home to me recently. Recently I was in Calgary teaching a CPR course to a group of Grade 10 students who needed this component as part of their Phys.Ed. course. During a break in the four hour session, a parent of one of the students came up to me and commented on my teaching style and the course in general. His comment was such that he felt, from the way I was relating to my students, that I demonstrated a strong sense of caring for the students.

Later that same evening, when I reflected on the compliment I had received, I felt a keen sense of gratification. Yes, I was grateful to be on the receiving end of such an edifying remark, but even more than that I was grateful for the opportunities I’ve had to be mentored by great teachers that I’ve met in person or through some powerful books I’ve read.

The Bhagavad-Gita states: “You have control over your work alone, never the fruit.” As a teacher you can never be sure of the results of the work you do with your students. The fruits of your labor may not be visible until years later. But one of the inherent joys of the craft is to be able to stay in the mode of a learner yourself, so that your value in the classroom can become of inestimable worth.