Staff Meeting
September 18, 2013
AGENDA
I. Meaningful Work
- Overview of the Program
- Google Doc to Generate Ideas (2 Per Team)
II. Teacher Climate Survey Results
- Comparison between Fall 2012 & Fall 2013
III. The Miracle of Smiling
- 10 Minute Inservice
Meaningful Work
Teacher Climate Survey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FzN0IMs1IE
Miracle of a Smile
Quick Thoughts...
Why smile?
- Students at HMS like their teachers - non-debatable fact
- Teachers at HMS enjoy working here - 100% agreed in latest poll
- Being happy is a strength, so let's enhance this strength...
- Best advice I ever received...
- It runs in my family...
Why smile?
- There is research on this, you just have to trust me.
- 37 muscles to frown, 22 to smile (maybe less)
- Makes the Mona Lisa the Mona Lisa
- Reduces stress
- Women tend to smile more than men
Anyway, what impact can it have on our students?
- When you smile, even if your smile is feigned, your brain releases stress fighters called endorphins. These are our natural painkillers. This release of endorphins makes us feel happier.
- Again, even if the smile is not genuine, the endorphins still get released. You become happier even if you don’t want to!
- Smiles are contagious. It is almost impossible for a student to misbehave when you are smiling at him. If you don’t believe this, try it.
- Students respond more favorably to positive teachers than they do to negative teachers.
- Because we want our students to respond favorably to us, one of the easiest ways to accomplish this is to smile more often.
- Smiling at someone sends a message that you care about her. When a student believes that you care, she is much more likely to learn from you and to behave well in your presence.
- Smiles are free, but their results are priceless.
The Challenge....
- Focus on smiling more this week
- Record if you feel this has any impact on anything you are doing - i.e. the way you feel, the way students respond, productivity, the way others react to you
- Principal will ask for some results so don't forget to think about it the rest of the week!