Happy Spring Laurel Families!
It is wonderful to feel like we are finally getting a little taste of spring weather! I think everyone seems ready for some well-deserved vitamin D but with all of the tumultuous March weather it has been difficult to continuously stay positive!
Positivity is not easy to achieve each day! As adults we all have so many different challenges that we are dealing with on a regular basis, positivity can be hard to maintain. When I can sneak out of my office, I do find positivity when I am able to be more ‘present’ with our students. Most often, these moments are the highlights my day.
I like to ask students what they did during the day or how their day is going and sometimes I get the response, “ I don’t know!” or “good”. It was interesting because I know how busy they are all day long (I hear them!) but then I realized that maybe I needed to ‘reframe’ my thinking about how children think.
I have found that reframing my thinking requires more specific language. Instead of asking close-ended questions, I would ask, “What was your favorite moment of the day?” or something like, “Tell me one thing that made you feel happy today!” Then with our older students I started to get creative and have conversations about “What would you do if you could be the principal for the day?”
These types of questions definitely inspired some of the most sweet and interesting conversations about a student’s day and experience at Laurel. I wanted to share my experience with you and reiterate how honored I am to share so many wonderful moments with your children. They are truly amazing young human beings that continuously cross my path and emulate the positivity that I strive for each day.
I hope everyone was able to enjoy time with family this weekend and we will look forward to seeing you this week!
Best Regards,
Amy Carroll
Head of School