9 Positive Interactions for Every Negative One

School starts next week. We start super early in this area; I'm still getting used to it. I'm thinking about how this year is going to go. I feel more prepared then I did last year, but I'm worried that might make me over-confident. I don't want to feel so put together that I make major mistakes. I'm also worried that all the research I've done will go right out of my brain when I need it most. How am I going to remember it all.

I got the idea for this project while I was reading The Happiness Project. I picked it up at an airport and while parts of it were slightly guilt-inducing, I enjoyed the concept. One idea stuck out to me as I read it. The book mentioned that people are more likely to remember negative interactions than positive ones, and that it takes 9 positive interactions to counteract one negative interaction. I want my students to look on our interactions as positive. So that is my goal; to have the positive interactions outweigh the negative. I know I will have bad moments with my students. It is inevitable: I will get mad, they'll have an off day, I'll do something they don't like or agree with, etc. But I want those moments to be outnumbered by positive ones. So even if I can't think of the right technique, if I can remember that, I might be okay.