Day 13 #5Good2Bad

The penultimate day of the challenge for 2018 and a really busy term it has been so I decided that I'll do the daily challenge but also look back at 2018 as a whole and pick 5 great things that have happened this year. I publish that list tomorrow!

5 Good

1. Secret Santa in form time was great seeing my students open their gifts.
2. Secret Santa with the Department and I got a Whack-A-Mouse which is a silly fun game
3. Learnt a new game to play around the table this Christmas.
4. Enjoyed seeing students wrapping up on my colleague's cars!
5. Had some quality time with the kids this evening!

2 Bad

1. Had to apologise to one of my friends/ colleagues for being a bit too grumpy this last couple of weeks.
2. Unfinished business.

Day 12 #5Good2Bad

So I am now really approaching the end of my school term and I will take a break after tomorrow until the new term arrives. The past 2 weeks have been interesting and I am really ready for a break from #Teacher and really focus on being #Dad & #Husband!

5 Good

1. Pantomime with the family - Aladdin at Worthing Pavillion
2. Really good end of term lessons with classes today
3. Planned final morning for year 7 to do some origami boxes and stars
4. Finished another pile of marking
5. Finished UCAS references for another year!

2 Bad

1. Need to stop being grumpy!
2. Need to apologise to some of my colleagues for being negative!

Day 11 #5Good2Bad

Another brilliant day as #Dad.

5 Good

1. Watching Isaac's football team take the top of the table team to the cleaners 7-2
2. Finished marking papers
3. Nice afternoon with the younger 2
4. Cooked a mean dinner!
5. Started making a plan

2 Bad

1. Not finished marking everything yet
2. Can't stop thinking about work

Day 10 #5Good2Bad

Back in the land of #Dad rather than #Teacher and I can't believe how quickly the week has gone by. Funny that the speed of the week seems is similar to the speed at which a good day can turn into a bad day, however, today was another really good day.

5 Good

1. Lads and Dads football was brilliant with Cameron
2. Hattie's Gymnastics display was also brilliant just a little short!
3. More Christmas Decorations went up!
4. Chinese for Dinner
5. Spoke to my dear friend in the USA - he was just checking in!

2 Bad

1. Weather was awful
2. Can't stop thinking about work!

Day 9 #5Good2Bad

So I have a couple of more days of this challenge going before I pause it for the Christmas holidays. I am going to try and be more positive but actually, it is really easy to switch between the two!

5 Good

1. Some of my students delivered a huge bar of chocolate for me - really unexpected
2. Scored a couple of amazing goals at football
3. Christmas Jumper day is always a fun day
4. Homemade crumble and cream was left on my desk by a colleague
5. Family portrait arrived ready to make into something to put up at the cemetery for Noah.

2 Bad

1. Still not feeling 100%
2. Feeling stressed again!

Day 8 #5Good2Bad

This challenge is really having a positive influence on me and the others that are taking part in it. However, it isn't completely full proof but I was lulled into a false sense that I was better. Today wasn't the greatest day and I get sent tumbling back into an unhappy place by something that I will have to deal with in the short term

5 Good

1. A colleague picked me up a Christmas Jumper - yes I now have 6
2. Cubs Christmas party was brilliant
3. Great lessons
4. Still helping students that really need it
5. Finished another set of marking

2 Bad

1. More fragile students are coming out of the woodwork
2. I am more delicate than I really thought I was

Day 7 #5Good2Bad

Wow, a week has gone by since I kicked off this challenge and it seems to be going really well. I have a couple of students that come by and let me know how their day went and I seem to look at each day with a renewed light.

5 Good

1. Cub leaders meeting - What an amazing bunch of people!
2. My year 13s getting more complex integration
3. Realising I am helping a student in real need.
4. Tutoring a student and seeing the positive impact
5. Taking about cubs and the transformation in some of the kids that come along

2 Bad

1. Getting told off for letting my class out 5 minutes early
2. Getting home too late!

Day 6 #5Good2Bad

Another school day and a reflection that is based on school and home. This challenge has made me look at work-life balance and look for the good in both scenarios. Making me think about the positives is really powerful at changing my outlook on my day and not just focusing on a specific lesson or student that has had either a positive or negative impact!

So here are my

5 Good

1. Watched one of my favourite films
2. Had an evening nap
3. Finished marking a set of papers
4. Helping more students with this challenge
5. Making my colleagues laugh

2 Bad

1. Ridiculously tired - This term needs to end soon!
2. Not getting through to some of the most disruptive students.

Day 5 #5Good2Bad

5 Days in and I am now in a place where it is becoming harder to think about the bad. Spending so much time trying to work on good has had a real impact on me. Today's were really focusing on making me and those around me happy so far more energy is being spent on the good things during the day.

5 Good

1. Catching up with Friends unexpectedly
2. Playing cards with the kids
3. Great lessons all day
4. Got home early
5. Arranged a surprise for the lovely Mrs C

2 Bad

1. Very tired - Not sleeping long enough
2. Seeing students unhappy!

Day 4 #5Good2Bad

Another weekend day and this is a dramatic change from #Teacher mode to #Dad mode.

5 Good

1. Refereeing for my sons game really unexpectedly so I was charging around the pitch with my Christmas Jumper on!
2. Cameron's game ending in a draw after being 2 - 0 at halftime
3. Isaac's game being another goal fest winning 11-1!
4. Arranging Christmas Carpool Karaoke with some of my Colleagues
5. Being sociable with some friends and sharing some Christmas Cheer

2 Bad

1. Not spending enough individual time with all of my children
2. Not finishing the Christmas decorations

Weekends are an interesting time to reflect on as it isn't really something that I really do as the weekends are usually spent being dad's taxi taking my children to one place or another for an activity and actually by reflecting I have started to think about how to make the rest of the weekend a far better experience with my children. So yesterday evening, I put a good Christmas film on and let the kids sit in front of the TV eating pizza and watching a film. We never normally eat in front of the TV but this was a great treat for us all.

Day 3 #5Good2Bad

Being the weekend is a whole different dynamic.

Instead of being in the classroom now it is family time and this is a whole different reflective insight. I guess though this feeds into a different type of wellbeing and it all fits into our mental health. The difficulty at home is not dwelling on the times today when parenting skills have not gone the way I wanted but to focus on what was still on the most part a positive day.

To the Challenge:

5 Good

1. Lay in! Wow a full 7 hours sleep
2. Helped my eldest finish his delivery round for this month
3. Took my boys crossbow shooting
4. Helped my Dad with a couple of jobs
5. Cooked a lovely dinner 

2 Bad

1. Bedtime routine went very south
2. Got cross about my children's amount of screen time!

It is really easy to focus on the bad bits especially when it lands at the end of the day, which is really sad as for the most part of today, apart from trying to get my children off their devices, has been a really enjoyable day!

Day 2 #5Good2Bad Daily Challenge

Today was a mixed bag but I am going to stick with my plan of 5 good things and only 2 bad.

5 Good

1. Made some Cool Pompoms and taught some students how to make them
2. Found my missing puzzle piece!
3. Good teaching day with engaged students
4. All of my students were compliant today
5. Made most of my students smile today

2 Bad

1. Had a difficult conversation with a colleague
2. Got kicked in both legs playing football.

I hope that if you decide to join me and reflect on your own day you do the 5 Good things first rather than pick the 2 bad and start with them.

Let me know if you do and don't forget to tweet #5Good2Bad

Day 1 of The #5Good2Bad Daily Challenge

The last few weeks have had me in a bit of a tailspin of doom. I have felt under pressure professional and not been able to see the positives at work. This nearly stopped me coming to work but I am one of these resilient people that no matter how annoyed or grumpy I am I always feel the need to do the right thing. I also had a student also tell me about the troubles they are having so I came up with this challenge.

Rules are simple:-
5 Good things that have happened during the day and 2 bad.

My Rationale is that by being made to think about 5 good things it shows you that today was good and only having 2 bad means that there is a space to reflect on them but not take up too much space.

So Day 1 of the Challenge was yesterday.

5 Good

1. Great crafting evening with my Cubs Group
2. Helping a Student that really needs it
3. Learnt how to make pom-poms - never done it before
4. Finished Christmas Cards for Children's Ward
5. Had an amazing lesson with my year 9s

2 Bad

1. Finding out one of my students is in real need of help
2. The realisation that I can't fix everything.

I also reflected on compliments as I don't think I am as good at accepting them as I thought I was. We are not very good at accepting things at face value and instead of trying to diminish them. I have been really guilty of that but yesterday so many people paid me compliments in various forms, your a good teacher, you obviously have a caring nature, I feel that I can talk to you, have made me reflect on the good that people try and share but sometimes we don't listen straight off the bat.

If you join in this challenge then share on twitter or in the comments

#5good2bad