Dedra Stafford's Keynote

On the Saturday, April 9th, at the Breakfast of Champions (a new addition to the NELMS Annual Conference since I last attended-- and a wonderful way to meet other attendees) Dedra Stafford gave her keynote entitled "Pep Assemblies, Red Pens, and School Lunches- Is This What It Is Really About?"

The theme running throughout her presentation was that being a positive and enthusiastic educator is difficult today--very difficult-- and that our success in the endeavor (both our individual success and our collective success in small groups and large is to take care of ourselves and find ways to reduce the stress of 21st century education. She suggested:


1) Be Positive-- Even on a rotten day, find something for which to be grateful and find ways to adopt a positive outlook. After 21 days, the positive attitude will be habit, and you and your students will enjoy that habit of your character.


2) Let It Go-- There will always be someone who will take an action or say something that is hurtful or uninformed that will dissuade you from the positive and important work you do. Develop thick skin and don't hold on to those bad experiences. 


3) Balance Baby Balance-- Learn to do what you need to do to keep healthy (physically and mentally!), and realize that a small sustained success is something that can be the foundation for future success; short term large success that are not sustained are the foundation of future failures.