Be Positive - I see the good in things. - I believe in me! “Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you'll start having positive results. “ - Willie Nelson

Going…Going…Gone! Going…Going…Gone! Be Positive An elderly woman woke up one morning and looked in her mirror as she brushed her teeth. She noticed that she only had three strands of hair remaining on her head, the rest of her hair must have fallen out during the night. She studied the three remaining hairs and said, “I think I’ll braid my hair today.” So she braided her hair and went on to have a wonderful day. A few days later, the elderly lady looked in the mirror while brushing her teeth and she saw that she had only two strands of hair remaining on her head. She had lost one during the night. Thinking for a moment, she said, “I think I’ll part my hair today.” She properly parted her final two hairs and as usual, she had quite a nice day. A week or so later, she saw that she had just one hair left on her head. “Just one hair left…,” she thought for a minute and then said, “I know a pony-tail will be perfect.” And again she had a great day. The next morning she looked in the mirror. This time she was completely bald. “Finally, all of my hair is gone. I’m as bald as a pumpkin.” she said to herself. Then she exclaimed, “How wonderful! I won’t have to waste time doing my hair anymore!” We may face many different kinds of incidences during our lives. It’s up to us on how we look at them. Do we focus on we what don’t have, or are we thankful for what we do possess? Being positive is seeing the good in situations, even when it is difficult to do.

A BAD ATTITUDE IS A LOSING ATTITUDE. A negative attitude has never won a game with a “come from behind” victory. A negative attitude has never won a game with a “come from behind” victory. If you think you can or think you can’t….YOU’RE RIGHT! Our attitude plays a big part in how we do in life and school.

A BAD ATTITUDE IS A LOSING ATTITUDE. Nobody likes to be with someone who is always saying how horrible everything is! A bad attitude prevents you from seeing opportunities. You miss out on a lot of great things because you are so focused on what is wrong with life.

A BAD ATTITUDE IS A LOSING ATTITUDE. A bad attitude prevents you from seeing opportunities. You miss out on a lot of great things because you are so focused on what is wrong with life. Sometimes when we are sad or feeling bad, we hang our heads down. It’s important to look up, even in difficult situations, because you may miss some pretty amazing opportunities.

Think of someone you know who consistently has a good attitude Think of someone you know who consistently has a good attitude. Why do they? Think of someone you know who consistently has a bad attitude. What things in their life do they allow to give them a bad attitude? Discussion Time Think of someone you know who consistently has a good attitude. Why do they? Think of someone you know who consistently has a bad attitude. What things in their life do they allow to give them a bad attitude? Talk about empathy and how we don’t always understand what other people are going through.

How can you have a good attitude, even when things aren’t going your way? People with good attitudes enjoy life more than people with bad attitudes. Why? If a friend has a bad attitude about everything, what are three things you can do to help them change their attitude? How can you have a good attitude, even when things aren’t going your way? People with good attitudes enjoy life more than people with bad attitudes. Why? If a friend has a bad attitude about everything, what are three things you can do to help them change their attitude?

Positive Negative Communication encouragement complaining praise Click to move word into either the positive column or the negative communication column. Order of words: encouragement, complaining, praise, put downs, laughing at people, compliments, honesty, sympathy, name calling. Click to turn all of the negative words RED. Have the discussion of what types of communication do the kids mostly hear on the playground. More than likely, the negative ones will come up more. Discuss how sad that is and what can we do to change it. Positive: praise, encouragement, compliments, honesty, humor, sympathy . Negative: put downs, name calling, laughing at people, complaining. encouragement complaining praise compliments put downs laughing at people honesty sympathy name calling

Do you believe in me? Weblink to teachertube: http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=282758 Click Do you believe in me? To go to video. The keynote speaker for Dallas teachers comes from Dalton Sherman, a fifth grader at Charles Rice Learning Center. Here’s a a teachertube video of the presentation for about 20,000 educators.

Directions: 1. Use a blank piece of white chart paper or a whiteboard.   2. Make a black spot on the paper or whiteboard with a marker. 3. Ask some students what they see. Just about every student will reply, “A black spot.” After you’ve asked a portion of your class, explain that yes there is a little black spot, but none of you mentioned the big sheet of white paper. What do you see? We miss the how much of the screen is in perfect condition to use. We do that in life a lot….we have a tendency to focus on the one problem and forget about the hundreds of good things happening in our lives. What do you see? Give kids a few seconds to study the screen. Take responses. Most likely, a majority of the responses will be about the black dot on the screen….the one little blemish. We miss the how much of the screen is in perfect condition to use. We do that in life a lot….we have a tendency to focus on the one problem and forget about the hundreds of good things happening in our lives.

The lesson: You have a choice The lesson: You have a choice. You can keep staring at the black dot and telling others about all the things that are wrong in your life, or you can be positive and appreciate your many blessings. Sounds like a pretty easy choice to make, doesn’t it? There was a huge sheet of white paper, but many of you failed to see it because your attention was on the small spot. We tend to do that with our lives; we focus on the bad and forget about the enormous amount of good. We may have problems at home or at school, but the point of this activity is to not forget about the things that are going well. And while your relationship with your parents may not be great, at least you've got a roof over your head.    Let’s not minimize those spots on the big sheet of paper that represent our hardships. Some of them really hurt, but there's still a big white sheet there. Often we get so wrapped up with the bad things that are happening that we forget about the good.  This week, every time we start getting depressed about those things that are going wrong, let's try to shift our thoughts about the several things that are going right. Discussion Questions 1) Who would you rather spend time with, those who constantly complain about the bad things in life, or those who mainly talk about the good things that happen?  2) What are some things that you can name that are positives in your life? 3) This week, let's try to think more of the good things that are happening than the bad things.