Emotions/Feeling
Emotions/Feelings
By Dr. Marcia Davis-Dawkins
Please Read My Poem on Emotions! Sadness and Happiness
Brave Fabulous Talented
Lonely
and more …
Serve With Gladness
Serve With Gladness
By Dr. Marcia Davis-Dawkins
“Sweep streets so well that all hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, “Here lived a great sweeper who did his job well,” articulated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This encourages us to work diligently in whatever fields we are called, to do it well as if our lives depended on it and it’s the best job ever.
I recently wrote a tribute about my friend who passed away and one of the things that I vividly remember about her was her work ethic. I had the privilege to work with her as we volunteered on various church committees and board. Even when I sat, watched and waited as she worked on numerous occasions, she would be so gracious and earnest. She would organize her work so neatly. For the most part, I was simply admiring her work ethic and her beautiful penmanship.
Like my friend, we should serve diligently and faithfully in what we do – a stalwart. We should strive to be a person who never wants human recognition, works day after day, year after year in service. Those people have value, virtue and honor. They sacrifice their time, energy and sometimes, tears. While serving others is rarely convenient, it brings nourishment to the souls of the receivers, as well as the giver. I consider serving a part of me, as I love to give back to my community and to others. I have decided to make a concerted effort to give books to children who have none to inspire their literary journeys. Through imagination, reading can help to take them places they wouldn’t otherwise realize.
As educators
As educators, no matter what capacity we serve, we should serve with diligence so that we can be mentors to our students. We serve with a smile, even when the road seems rough.Don’t fall prey to the notion that only great tasks done should be accounted as accomplishments. There are small acts of service that are admirable and can make a world of difference. When you bring in a snack for the students because you know they need it and some grumble because they think it is not enough or they don’t like that particular snack – it should still rouse us to serve with a smile. We are encouraged even when we realize that our paycheck does not match the work we put in, to serve anyway. The idea is to touch lives by serving with love. As we serve, we are putting the needs and interests of others beyond ours. Most of all, we teach our students to give of themselves – because we are role models. Let the students see that you care and that they matter. As teachers we can encourage our students to visit nursing homes and read to the residents or simply just to visit them. The students will not only learn more about the residents, but they will appreciate their grandparents and other elderly whom they encounter. Overall, whatever we do to serve, we should make the best of it and not do it for recognition, but with compassion. Serving should become natural and inherent, and not viewed as a chore. We rise by lifting others, and our actions prove to our students that while they can’t help everyone, everyone can help someone.
Rise Above
Rise Above
By Marcia Davis-Dawkins
The space around us can sometimes be so cold and cruel. It seems that most times, we tend to want to sit and wallow in self-pity and crawl into a space and hope that we are not noticed. Many of us need to reach for positivity and happiness so we can dig out of the holes in which we find ourselves. Some people might think that this is a call for therapy, while others might believe that we only need positive affirmation to walk us through some of our pain. It can be overwhelming to hear sadness and negativity.
Why Positive Affirmation?
Everyone needs to feel good about himself/herself. In a world where it seems as if we are hearing so many negatives, it seems only fair that we hear positives as well. What better way to start the positives than with us? Positive affirmation sends that message. It gives us encouragement that things can be rewarding and empowering. All we need to do is reassure ourselves that we believe in ourselves. How do we do this? Each week we should chose a positive statement that sends a positive message to ourselves. For example, “I am amazing” – we say the statement throughout the day, for a week. The statement should be repeated several times during the day (for a week). We should find time to look in the mirror at least once per day to say the statement. This affirmation should also be said the last thing at night. With constant repetition, the words will be grounded in you. It will uplift and begin renewing your mind. Each affirmation should be supported (reinforced) with a Bible verse.
Through positive affirmation, there is love of one’s self and confirmation that you are okay. They also help us confirm that life is not always dreary and dark, but we can see things in a different way which can affect our mood.
As educators, we are responsible for the mood of our students and as they enter our classroom environment, we can set the tone of their day and possibly, their year. We can start by hanging positive sayings around the classroom so that the more they see them, the more they resonate in their brains. Eventually they will start to believe those new views and be on a permanent mood boost because they will turn into concrete beliefs. I think it is fitting and appropriate to affirm what Shawn Achor said, “Optimism is a daily spiritual practice. And when we do it, we can transform this world. What a better place to start than in the classroom?
The Teacher, the Leader
The Teacher, the Leader
By Dr. Marcia Davis-Dawkins
Teachers’ Appreciation Week is celebrated in many parts of the world. In the United States, National Teacher Appreciation Month takes place for the entire month of May each year, but the majority of the festivities center around the first week of May, which has officially been dubbed “Teacher Appreciation Week.”
As a teacher, there are many hats that are worn, one of which is a leader. The leader in the classroom motivates students. Bo Bennet once said, “Enthusiasm is excitement with inspiration, motivation, and a pinch of creativity.” This quote exemplifies what teachers do daily.
The teacher establishes a learning environment
The teacher establishes a learning environment in which each student feels like a key person in a group and where the teacher-student interactions validate and support self-esteem. He/she takes care of routine details and has a clear set of logical standards and systematically follows it and wants others to also do so. As a teacher with rules and expectations, he/she will be more flexible and provide an environment so to be more effective in the classroom.
The teacher in the classroom has many interpersonal relationships with students so much so that the teacher can influence the students. For example, a teacher guides a student to want to do a particular subject or assignment based on that teacher’s passion about the subject area. The teacher is seen as a change agent for students because the leader/teacher helps to improve the students’ learning and behavior development. The teacher guides the students through the curriculum so that they learn what is required for a particular grade level. Because of this guidance from the teacher, the students are somehow transformed academically or at time behaviorally.
Interestingly enough, the teacher who is a leader in the classroom, could also help to develop the students to be leaders in the classroom and eventually in whatever they decide to undertake in their adult lives. There are many critics who might think that teachers are not leaders, but they do have much power, control and influence. If used effectively these assets can make a difference in the classroom, district and community.
Teachers have genuine care and concern for their students and are usually very passionate about their jobs, and these are strong elements of being a good leader.
As a teacher and leader…
As a teacher and leader one has to communicate effectively with all the stakeholders in the school system, the administrator, the parents, faculty members, and members of the community. The teacher also has to build and maintain trust, and manage conflict in the classroom. The teacher as a leader has to ensure that there is cohesiveness in the classroom.
There are teachers who, without a doubt, use their leadership positions negatively and they don’t realize that this position requires responsibility and demands flexibility to deal with students with various behavior challenges. It takes a special person to be a teacher who is a leader, who is faithful, available and also teachable!!!
Promise, Possibility and Potential
Promise, Possibility and Potential
By Dr. Marcia Davis-Dawkins
Recently, I had the opportunity to read to students at a rural elementary school in Jamaica. These students are unprivileged by conventional standards, in that they have very little in terms of food, clothing, electricity, internet, books, cars, exotic toys, or roads, among other hindrances. Meeting them was a privilege and it bouyed my spirit since the reason for my trip there was necessitated by the loss of a beloved friend. My sadness was soon transformed to happiness when I realized that my visit brought excitement and pleasure to the students.
As I read to these children, I thought about how eager they were to please. They immediately stood and simultaneously greeted me with an amazingly bright and thunderous “Good morning, Ms. Dawkins!” To top it off, they blew kisses to show their spirit. The sadness I had entered the room with was replaced by joy. I wanted to spend the whole day there. I felt there was so much possibility, promise and potential in that room. The goodness within them was permeating through me. Even though they had very little, they could achieve whatever they wanted in life. Nothing seemed to be able to paralyze them with doubt.
I thought about how the teachers are given the opportunity to help them build their confidence and their capabilities. Of course, there will be days when those students or teachers are down, based on their physical situation. Sometimes it just seems easier to live in the world you’re given than expend the energy and resolve necessary to explore the power one has to change. However, the teachers are there to encourage and motivate each other. They are there to remind each other that their leadership can unlock people’s potential. As teachers, we realize that leaving potential untapped is the difference between where a person is now and where he or she can ultimately be.
I thought about how some of us take things for granted and yet these students work with so little and still seem to excel because they are driven internally and want to get better. Some of us are more fortunate than others and yet others simply need encouragement. Light bulbs went on after I read to these students and realized how much they wanted help and craved knowledge. I wanted to be a part of their growth, I wanted to help them shine and read more to them. I wanted to bring out their potential, to awake their passion because I saw the promises and the possibilities. Many may say that what I saw on my visit was insignificant, but I beg to differ. It really struck a chord in my music of life. I fervently want to do more, show them love, provide them with simple material things, and bring out more “good” in them. I figure that the more love they have, the more they will grow, learn and build. What touched me is what so often happens: the students become the teachers. I learned from my visit. They “schooled” me with their voracious spirits and zealous appetites for education. I know that I will no doubt learn more from them and I won’t have to worry about my accomplishments, whether big or small. I am convinced that their potential is not limited to their physical location or their lack of material things.I know because I started off in that same location and over the years I became more confident and progressive. With me helping, my confidence will grow more, even when I am not aware of the growth. Part of my motto has always been, if I can help one person/student in life, then my life is meaningful. I want every student to discover his or her passion and invite it forth. I resolve that my journey of a thousand steps will be to elicit the promise, possibility and potential in these students!!!!
