The Beginning - P for Positive Emotion

Today I spent a glorious two hours working on my Positive Ed task.  My email’s mounted, I was vague when my husband called to check in on how my day was going and I gave the Staff who visited my office quick (but efficient) responses to their questions – all far from my normal in-depth chatter!  BUT at the end of the two hours I felt that I had achieved a lot. 

Recently I have begun using the App/Program EverNote to store notes from meetings, to share information with students and staff and to keep a record of all of the cool ideas I find while surfing the net!  It therefore made sense to start an EverNote Notebook to keep a record of all of my ideas and notes while in the initial collection phase of my PERMA task.  I have found the web clipper to be a savior – one click and the information is sent to the a specified folder for later reference.

Now back to the task:

Today’s challenge was to identify exactly what Positive Emotion, the P – in PERMA was and to gather as many classroom ideas which promote Positive Emotion as possible.

Initially it was hard not to get caught up in the amazing whirl-wind of the Positive Emotion Pinterest Pages.  Here are just a few of my favourites:

Teaching: Positive Education - http://pinterest.com/kindercoaching/teaching-positive-education/

Positive Education - http://pinterest.com/scienceofhappy/positive-education/

Emotional well-being - http://pinterest.com/petersla1/emotional-wellbeing/

Before I share some of the many ideas I have discovered I feel I should start with a definition.

Positive Emotion - This element examines how people optimally experience, predict, and savour the positive feelings and emotions that are part of normal and healthy living and human functioning (e.g. peace, gratitude, inspiration, hope, curiosity etc).  Adapted from Reach Out - My Well-being, My Classroom.

So why is this important in education??  

Rather than try and paraphrase an explanation I feel that this website entitled Positive Psychology pretty much sums it up – and the bonus is it comes from Melbourne!!  

Positive emotions have an impact that goes far beyond bringing a smile to our faces. Feeling good helps us to perform better at work and study; it boosts our physical health; it strengthens our relationships; and it inspires us to be creative, take chances, and look to the future with optimism and hope. Feeling good is contagious. Seeing smiles makes us want to smile. Hearing laughter makes us feel like laughing. And when we share our good feelings with others, they appreciate and enjoy our company.

We have all experienced highs and lows in life, but we are doing ourselves harm when we dwell on the lows. If we look back on the past with pain and regret, we will become depressed. If we think of the future and worry about danger and risk, we become anxious and pessimistic. So it is incredibly important to recognise the positive emotions we feel, so that we are able to enjoy the present without worry and regret.

I could go on and on forever and fill my entire site with Positive Emotion ideas but again I will just list a few of my favourites…

Cheer up chicks –

http://sunnydaysinsecondgrade.blogspot.com.au/search/label/webkinz

The Sid Shuffle - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uMuJxd2Gpxo#!

Classroom Lottery -

http://simply2ndresources.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/project-of-day-inspired-by-pinterest.html

Classroom Cheers –

http://thefairytaleofafirstgradeteacher.blogspot.com.au/2011/01/classroom-cheers.html

The completion of this small section of my task was two fold. 

1.  I had gathered a number of classroom ideas that I think could benefit many of the teachers at my school and

2.  The personal enjoyment and satisfaction that I gained from reading other people’s positive journeys gave me a sense of purpose and a renewed enthusiasm for my school, my students and indeed the world itself!

And finally...  This one really made me smile:  http://pinterest.com/osubuckeyegirl/for-the-love-of-teaching/