At times this seems like an enormous task as I battle with full time work and the full time job of parenthood. Last month I was privileged to take three of my colleagues from Naracoorte South Primary School to 'Happiness and it's causes' in Melbourne. And what an exciting and motivating conference it was!
If you are looking for some daily inspiration, I strongly suggest you 'like' the page 'happiness & its causes' on Facebook. It provides great quotes to keep thoughts positive. My favourire from this week was "Choose to see the good stuff."
As you can tell, for a country girl like me, the city is an exciting place!
Most memorable was the presence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and his words of wisdom. His main message was one that aseducatores we should all take note of- 'you cannot show compassion to others if you do not first be compassionate to oneself.' I think as educators we give generously of ourselves to the students and the families in our care. But do we stop and take care of ourselves? Do we show compassion to ourselves when things don't go as planned? Do we give enough of our time to our own family? Interesting questions to ponder and I know that I can certainly improve in all of these areas. You can follow the Dalai Lama at www.dalailama.com
The conference was filled with other great presenters too. Carl Honore's presentation "In praise of slow" definitely hit a nerve with me. I often rush through things that I should take time to enjoy. Life is not a race, it's a marathon and we have plenty of time to do things- if we allow ourselves the time! Carl's books 'In praise of slow' and 'Under Pressure' on slow parenting are worth reading. You can also check out his blog at www.carlhonore.com.au/blog.
One of my favourite presenters was Father Bob McGuire. His message being:
"Nobody should be left behind! We are one society & one world. There is no more us & them, there is only we. As long as even one of us is left behind & suffers, we are all behind & our humanity suffers."
What an inspirational person he is. You can visit his website at www.fatherbobsfoundation.com.au
He talked about 'having a fox hole in his head' where he could find peace and escape from the world for a while. Thought provoking and very useful for those busy days where it all seems too much!
Carol Dweck was also a facinating speaker. Her work on fixed and growth mindset is ground breaking in education at present. The notion that if you believe you can learn-you will-is so empowering for students who may have already developed the belief that they are not capable. Her research is well worth following up. You will find her book "Mindset" and many YouTube clips of her presentations if you google 'Carol Dweck.'
And of course I must leave you with a picture of the city at night!
Hope you are having a good start to the term and remember, when all is getting too much, stop, take a deep breath and remember to be kind to yourself.
Until next time, may you have many 'happy days.'
No comments:
Post a Comment