The 4th Quarter Is Ours
TL;DR:
- The 4th quarter is ours. In sports, players must remain ALL IN and play their hearts out until the final whistle of the game—it is the same for teachers at the end of the school year.
- Our students are watching and will remember how we finish this school year.
- Scan for the wins, strengthen relationships, and end this unique year strong!
Raise your hand if you need to muster up some much needed energy and optimism as we round the corner to the final quarter of the uniquely exhausting school year.
In this Teach Happier blog series, we have learned to view happiness as a discipline. If we want to feel happier, we have to prioritize time and space to incorporate practices that are based in positive psychology in a disciplined way.
Remember, it’s not what we do every once in a while that makes a difference; it’s our small, incremental shifts applied frequently that make an impact over time. There are some times in the school year we need to be more disciplined about our own happiness and in control of our morale. Now is one of those times. We are in the final stretch, managing state assessments, parent conferences, report cards, transition meetings, and assessing what’s left to teach before the end.
Did you know that some college football teams hold up 4 fingers at the beginning of the 4th quarter? They are signaling that “The Fourth Quarter Is Ours.” No matter the score, high or low, ahead or behind, it’s a reminder that players must remain ALL IN and play their hearts out until the final whistle of the game.
As teachers, how do we enter the 4th quarter of such a unique school year with disciplined happiness?
No matter the score, high or low, ahead or behind, it’s a reminder that players must remain ALL IN and play their hearts out until the final whistle of the game.Scan for the Good
In this last quarter, we can easily become hyper-focused on our perceived shortcomings. Look how organized her classroom still is. I can’t believe my class’s test scores aren’t as high as his class. How are they possibly on unit 10 when we just got through with 8?
Positive psychology invites us to scan for the strengths and successes when we default to our perceived weaknesses and search for the good.
What child began this school year with anxiety and can now walk into the classroom ready to learn? High five.
Which student told you in October that he’ll “never read unless my teacher tells me to” and you introduced him to a series he can’t put down? Fist bump.
And that parent that questioned your non-traditional grading practice of second chance learning who is now saying thank you? Big hugs all around.
Last year, we didn’t have much control over how our school year ended. But this year, our realm of influence is bigger and we have more of a say in how we end our year with students.
Kids don’t do as we say. They do as they see. Our students are watching and will remember how we finish this school year. Let’s scan for the wins, strengthen our relationships, and end this unique year strong…no matter the score.
We are entering quarter 4. We need to celebrate our wins and remain ALL IN, teaching our hearts out until the final bell of the school year.
The fourth quarter is ours.
Small Shifts. BIG Gifts!
Let’s enter the 4th quarter strong! Ask yourself if there are relationships that could be strengthened or successes that could be recognized and quietly celebrated in these final weeks of school.
ABOUT SUZANNE DAILEY
Suzanne Dailey is a proud member of the Teach Better Family! She is an instructional coach in the Central Bucks School District where she has the honor and joy of working with elementary teachers and students in 15 buildings. Suzanne is Nationally Board Certified, a Fellow of the National Writing Project, and has a master’s degree in Reading. She is dedicated to nurturing and developing the whole child and teacher. Suzanne lives in Doylestown, Pennsylvania with her husband and two children.
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