One of the things I’m really putting in the effort for this year is figuring out the type of teacher I want to be. I am making efforts in classroom management and finding things that work for me. I’m not the strictest teacher, and that’s okay. But I know most of my students are doing well, and I feel like I’m reaching more of my students this year. I love seeing the progress they’re making and the way they can interact with the world.

As I was preparing for this year, I was reading through some of my classroom management materials I’ve collected from past years of teaching and from conferences I have attended in the past. I came across today’s topic from the website Conscious Discipline, and it was used in a classroom management seminar. I got a whole binder to keep, and it has proven so useful!

I decided to make this a poster in my classroom, and this has helped my mental state this year already so much. And what’s really cool is that this isn’t just for teachers! This is for anyone- adults, students, teenagers, children, and elderly. Hopefully this will help you as much as it’s already helping me. These are the Seven Powers of Self or the Seven Powers for Self-Control:

• Power of Perception- No one can make you angry without your permission. This one has been so useful for me this year! I would get so frustrated and mentally worn out last year because my students were acting up and being a lot. This year, I’m reminding myself that they don’t have permission to make me upset. I still correct them, but I don’t get as frustrated. I don’t let it bother me as much, and I’m so thankful for that.
• Power of Unity- We’re all in this together. We work together. You’re not facing challenges alone. This one is to really practice compassion and empathy for others.
• Power of Attention- You get more of what you focus on. If you focus on the bad things, you’re probably only going to see the bad things. If you focus on the good things, you’ll see more of them. However you choose to organize your mind is more of what you notice. I’m working to see and focus on the good things so that I see more of them. I’m connecting with my students who don’t speak a lot of English. The majority of my students are doing well so far. I’m excited to see where things keep going this year.
• Power of Free Will- The only person you can change is you. I can hope that I will influence and change my students. But I also recognize that my students need to want to change for me to be able to influence them. If they are closed to trying to be better, then they won’t get better. At the end of the day and as much as I want to influence my students, the responsibility (like many other things in my classroom) depends on them.
• Power of Acceptance- The moment is what it is. Bad things happen. Good things happen. Accept the moment as it is and move forward. Life happens and circumstances happen. Take things as slow as you need to, whether it’s day by day, hour by hour, or minute by minute.
  Power of Love- Choose to see the best in others. I do my best to give my students grace. They may have bad days. I may have bad days. I choose to believe that they’re capable of doing the work, and I will let their actions speak for them. If they do something to disappoint me or change my perspective, I want that to be their actions as opposed to my preconceived notions of them.
• Power of Intention- Mistakes are opportunities to learn. I’ve talked before on here that you only truly fail when you stop trying. I have made a lot of mistakes as a teacher. But I keep trying. I keep working to improve, and I hope that’s something that my students recognize as well. I know they all have the capability to do great things if they apply themselves. I had a number of students last year who believed they would fail, so they wouldn’t even try. Making mistakes is how you learn. It’s how you know what works and what doesn’t.

I really feel like I’m actively working towards my ideal version of who I want to be as a professional. Having this poster in my room serves as a good reminder for me, and I hope my students are able to use these points as well. But I think it’s so important to share knowledge, and so I never want to withhold or gatekeep knowledge from others, especially if the knowledge is beneficial.

Like many things, acknowledging these powers and being able to activate them takes time. I’m making a conscious decision to put these into place as part of my classroom management and as part of my own self-care. I think utilizing these principles makes me a better teacher and a better person. I hope you can find a way to implement these as well and be better too!

Seven Powers