Choose+Your+Attitude!

**--The Bear, fishmonger **

 * [[image:fish.jpg]] You walk into work and it's just another day. Maybe you feel unappreciated. Maybe you just wish that something exciting would happen, anything at all, that would change the energy in your classroom, school, your life. You're just not feeling the excitement about your career that you used to feel. Stephen C. Lundin of the Fish philosophy feels that, "There is always a choice about the way you do your work, even if there is not a choice about the work itself." If you bring a bad mood with you to work, it will affect you and everything and everyone around you. You choose the attitude that you bring to work each day. The attitude that you encounter at your work may, in part, be affected by you and therefore any change in that attitude will also be affected by you. **

Fish food for thought:
"Have you ever considered the fact that any work can be boring to the person who has to do it?" In this quote from the book, how do you agree or disagree with this statement? How has this been true in your work life?

Dana Lott: I absolutely agree with this statement. Not just our work, but our lives can be boring after a while...unless we choose to have a good attitude about it. I have learned this with having a young toddler around. :) Staying at home (this summer) can be boring at times, but I have to choose to make it fun. :) In my school setting, one specific teacher comes to mind. She almost always has negative things to say about her students. She sets high standards for them and they DO achieve, but out of fear sometimes. That's not good. I have worked with her two years now and have built up a little rapport with her. All of my encounters with her have been professional and productive. So, if the opportunity arises this year, I plan to tactfully ask her what she likes about teaching and see if I can help her find a way to show that outwardly to others in the building. Because of her negative encounters with others, there are few in the building that will willfully work with her. I am hoping that having a new principal can be a segway for creating a more positive tone and culture for our building too.

Jeanette Causey: I really believe this and even included a similar quote in my portfolio. I work in a stressful environment with some very unprofessional professionals but I really try to make sure I always have positive and energetic attitude. It lifts me up and I have found that it repells the really negative people so I do not even have to deal with them and it pulls a few people who could be borderline up! I always tell my students that they need to choose their attitude. I grew up with lots of siblings and a stressed out mother. If you wanted to put her over the edge all you needed to do was say "I am bored" and she would say "Boring people get bored." I am never bored even when doing some rather mundane tasks and I am hyper-aware that I can choose to do something and be miserable about it or do the same thing with a smile on my face.


 * "Any job can be performed with energy and enthusiasm?" What are your thoughts about this?**


 * Lynne McDowell: I agree with this thought but I think it is difficult to maintain energy and enthusiasm. It helps me to have a "partner in crime". It's much easier to have enthusiasm when the people around me have enthusiasm. Somedays it takes more than just a reminder to have a positive attitude although I think we have to be purposeful in creating that attitude and atmosphere as much as possible not only for ourselves, but for the people we interact with on a daily basis. Iron sharpens iron. There was a man in the Air Force who came into the office each day with a huge smile on his face and a greeting like, "Gee Sgt McDowell, it sure is great to see you today!". It made me look forward to being there each day. Being purposeful about maintaining energy and enthusiasm is at best contagious and at the least, uplifting to at least one person. It's win-win. **


 * Regina Hoskins: The first thing I thought of when I read that any job can be performed with enthusiasm, I thought of the corner of the major intersection by my house. There are a couple of people who stand all day long on those corners holding signs to get people into the businesses close by. One particular man stands out in my mind, because even though his job appears to be REALLY boring and really hot standing there all day, he chooses to make it fun. He wears headphones and dances to music. My kids love seeing him as he puts on quite a show. But the point is that he makes it fun and is enthusiastic about it instead of just standing there sweating all day long. I also agree with what Lynne said about the enthusiasm of the people around me. I am much more enthusiastic and energetic when the people working with me are. I work with a great Language Arts department and we are all good friends. I "feed" (pun intended) off of their energy and get excited about my job. The same is true with working with middle schoolers. Everyone cringes when I tell them I teach middle school. I love it because they are fun. **


 * Sue Lord: I have noticed this to be true. I try to go in with enthusiasm, but if I am feeling low in energy, I do something goofy like playing Motown music. Everyone who sings or dances to it gets to check out an extra book. It is amazing how the excitement spreads, even though I'm just checking out books. This seems to be true for many people, the cafeteria lady who teases the kids, the custodian who dances while he mops, I guess we do get to choose our attitude for the most part. **


 * Jared: I tend to bring //more// energy and enthusiasm to the environment when there is little, and back off a little when the room is already brimming with it. It's not that my attitude changes drastically based on this factor alone, but I naturally look for the needs of a team and try to fill in the gaps. **

How can you make a choice about the way you work? How might this apply in the classroom, the library, or your school? The Fish people went so far as to choose to be "World Famous." In what ways can you choose to be world famous at what you do?

Lisa Coyle: I've told my own children that "weird" is not the same as "bad" so why not be a little "weird"? It's difficult for kids to allow themselves to embrace the unusual, but I find that I can get away with certain "quirks" that kids find funny or memorable. For example, I wear bright, odd nail polishes all school year. It's not a huge fashion statement, but the kids notice that my nails are orange and black all October or red and green in the weeks leading up to Winter Break. When I read aloud to the students, I always use different voices for the characters, whether I'm reading to kindergarteners or sixth graders. They think I'm nuts, but they listen and they stay quiet. The kids at Kendallvue who've seen me there when I was a Paraprofessional or a sub know that I'm as likely to say "Good morning" to them in German or French as I am to say it in English. A little "weird" works for me! And it makes me happy, too!

Actions to consider:

 * As you start your day, write down the attitude you want and put it somewhere you can see it throughout the day...for example on the library circulation desk.


 * Make a list of all the things you have and the people in your life you are grateful for. Don't forget your library aides or paras!


 * Carry a reminder of the attitude you'd like to exhibit. For example, if being in nature helps you be calm and patient, carry a smooth river rock. Each time you feel it, you'll bring yourself back to being calm and patient.