My students always make fun of me because every activity we do in the classroom I always begin by saying, "This is my absolute favorite activity." "I just cannot wait to begin this." I said this again today and one of my students smiled and said, "Mrs. Amoscato you ALWAYS say this exact same phrase." "How can everything be your favorite?" I smiled because my husband does the exact same thing with food (perhaps this is where I have taken the phrase from.) And you know, I think as a teacher, everything has to be your favorite even if it isn't. Students can easily pick up energy or a lack thereof. 

I remember some of my favorite teachers in elementary and middle school. Though my brain is the size of a peanut, what I remember the most is the connection and the soul those teachers had with the material. If they were teaching something that "wasn't their favorite" you certainly never knew it. My level of excitement would constantly jump the minute I heard the phrase, "I absolutely love this lesson" from my teacher. There was anticipation. I knew I was in for a real ride. 

There are days when I wake up and I'm not really feeling THAT math lesson. There are days when I wake up and I think to myself, "Can I have that same energy I produced the day before?" And then there is that simple reminder that the future of the world sits in my classroom today. The future of the world is waiting for a spark of an idea, glorious anticipation and as teachers, we have to produce. There is no "bad day" because we have the power to make every day great. And if you have the mindset that every day can be great. You will start to believe it is true. 

For example, I'm one of those teachers that definitely hesitates when it comes to teaching science. The curriculum is a bit scattered and not that I am against science, but I do not always feel the energy that I should. And I have told myself that this is okay, but I still need to feel energy. We ran a series of inquiry based project regarding energy in motion, sound and heat. And I have to say. Mindset is everything. I started the lesson by telling myself "This is going to be the BEST inquiry based activity ever." You know what? It definitely was. 

Every day can be a good day. It is not cliche. Life is all about mindset. If you have a positive mindset, the others around you will, too. So if you say "This is my favorite _____ ever" go for it. I don't think saying so makes it lose meaning. If anything, everytime you say it, it reafirms the fact that you are making the best of your day. If you say it, you will start believing it. If we start acting like every day is "our favorite day ever" imagine the spark of whimsy you can create in the day of another.