smh... student motivation hints

This dude has one of the fullest schedules i know, and he's never stressed... how does he do it? 

think about it, everybody hates being bored... so the solution is pressure, stress, challenges!! As humans we WANT to use our brains, we CRAVE stimulation, which we get in school! Just remember that life is always a balance, always moving in waves from boredom to challenges back and forth. Can you enjoy both??

feeling very lucky to have this group of positive, hard working students showing up open and ready to go. 

beginnings are always full of excitement and enthusiasm, but obviously things will come up that will be hard, and affect this positivity. But how can we respond faster to give ourselves a fresh start whenever we feel we need it??

a podcast can be a journal, just the act of saying it out loud rewires my brain and allows me to gain control of a negative feeling. with so many people and students going through mental health issues that affect their motivation, i feel it's very important to share my personal struggles not so we can all just complain and stay stuck, but so that we can find solutions to becoming OURSELVES again....

for the first ever appreciation day, i had no idea what i was doing. I knew something was wrong and i have been feeling awful for about a week and a half and I decided to show some gratitude and recognition to the students that inspire me to be better every day. turns out, what i've been reading is really true: when you care about others and show kindness and thankfulness, it actually rewires your...

this week has been an unbelievable struggle for me, and I have used this podcast as mu journal to keep me motivated and reminded of why i do what i do, and how to do it best. compassion. I have been learning about this through books on mindfulness and podcasts on buddhism, and i really want to share it. when you truly seek to understand how and why someone is acting the way that they are, approach...

after this interview the student told me the best thing i ever told him was "instead of problems focus on solutions". Well in this interview we dig deep into the problems to understand how he came to spiral down into skipping class for weeks and filling his days with sleep and video games. and THEN how he took small steps to turn his life around and be himself again, where i now have seen him day...

When I'm stuck and procrastinating, my mind is swirling and overwhelmed, sometimes the first step is just talking about it! journaling is a version of this, an opportunity to get your ideas out of your head so you can undesrtand them, sort them out. Talking is best done with a teacher, mentor, or loved one, but it also works with dogs, cats, and mirrors. ALSO! The benefit of naming your feelings a...

a reflection on why it's so important to actually meet and talk with your peers in person!! 

somethings are hard, they require concentration and time and patience for your brain to figure it out. RELAX, not everything is easy and fast and decisive actions. if your strength is moving fast and acting, great, but you need to work on your weakness of being able to slow down and SIT down if some tougher decision or task comes in front of you. this is the process of living and learning about yo...

FREAK OUT, relax, get to work. when you get bad news or upsetting unexpected information about your grades, tests, assignments, there are many steps you take to get to the point where you feel proud of the work you've accomplished. but how many unneccessary steps do you have in your routine, and how can you minimize those?

J cole taught us this, and we know it's true. we feel so much better when we do the right things, and stop doing the wrong things. you can do BOTH at the same time, literalyl rebuilding and rewiring your brain to the right choices, away from the bad habits. you can do it today, right now. stop feeling shame, fear, and sorry for yourself. it's ok to fail in the past, now it's time to grow better.

this dude just spits wisdom and motivation for 15 straight minutes. and trust me its working, he is one of the most positive and motivated students i've ever had. 

this student inspires me. all of them do, but this one truly showed me that it's possible for a person to notice within themselves a desire to change because they want to be happier, more motivated. she chose to change her influences, and truly i can confirm is one of the most positive students i see at the start of every school day. even when she is absent she doesn't get discouraged. find out he...

amazing transformation coming from this 5th period kid whose dad is sitting him down at the kitchen to get his work done. We all need helpful reminders from friends, teachers, podcasts, and parents! avoiding work, not knowing where to start, and feeling bad about failing is all SO NORMAL. but you don't have to stay there, use the help around you and you will feel so much better once you become the...

anxiety comes from thinking to much what you need is ACTION. working is the definition of productivity, and the progress of doing something is what gets us past the stage of worrying. if you are thinking and planning, that is a version of work that can be very helpful, but just worrying and having negative stressful thoughts is a state of fear that is supposed to activate our fight or flight respo...

bad days happen, we have to expect it and not worry about them when they happen. listen to my reflections on how to make sure a bad day doesn't turn into a bad week

when you are living your best life, write it down! you want to have written and concrete reminders of your most positive, proud, motivated version of yourself to look back at for the rest of your life. you already know everything you need and should do, you are all you've wanted to become, you just need to spend more time there, be able to pull that mindset out more often

procrastinating is a useful skill you need to master if you want it to work for you.  Most humans operate better under this kind of pressure, but you have to notice whether you are avoiding work, or whether you are warming up to crank it out last minute. procrastination is NOT avoiding work or putting it off indefinitely. procrastination is NOT for everyone, but if you feel it works for you,...

the environment that you cultivate around you is grown by planting seeds that will remind you who you want to be and what you want to do. if your social media and friends, family and journals, phone and pictures and notebooks and sticky notes are all positive and motivated, they will carry you always. we all need reminders, you cannot force yourself to make the right decisions at all times, so gro...

on the last test i asked students "how would you like to feel about your grades by the end of the school year?" and as i read through the answers i got HELLA inspired: everyone wants to feel proud. by improving and working hard we end up feeling less stressed, more calm, and happier when we know we did our best. #workpride

when you are in the place, things just happen. missing school sucks and everyone knows it. i'm not telling you because i think so, i know being absent sucks because everyone complains about it, and hates catching up. So most of the battle is won by simply choosing to go to school (the way society was designed) but then what if you aren't actually HERE to HEAR what's happening in class/life? the se...

SOS HELP, we need to get the message out: help is GOOD. asking for help, seeking help, recognizing when you need help and GETTING help is the smartest thing you can do for yourself. people who isolate themselves and take on too much by themselves are almost always struggling worse, and not in a good way... you like helping other people, so why not help yourself? you like helping other people, they...

no really, what is it? I am no master of mindfulness, but i have been practicing and studying for a while and wanted to answer the question as best as i could for a curious 5th period kid. if you're curious, try it, and go looking for more answers and experiences yourself. trust me- it's the way to go