AChristian

How Full Is Your Bucket continues in chapter four with a personal story from Tom Rath, the grandson of the coauthor, Donald O. Clifton.  Tom's story talks about the type of family he grew up in and the advantages he had over his friends because his family was a very positive, extremely encouraging, helpful and loving family.  His parents and relatives always focused on his strengths and constantly assisted him with anything he was interested in pursuing.  As a result, when he was diagnosed at a young age with a disease that causes tumors to grow throughout his body without  any warning, he was able to remain positive, though apprehensive, and focus on what could be done to manage his health.  This story was included in the book to show that positive emotions help to buffer against challenges encountered in life.  We are not all faced with major challenges like this, thank goodness, but I'm sure we know people that have been.  I know from my own experience that the ones that try to remain positive and take each day one day at a time and surround themselves with positive people are the ones that are able to face the hardship.  The book then continues with a list and explanations of five strategies to utilize in order to become a "bucket filler."   

This book is my favorite so far.  It has made me think about the  impact a positive approach with students can make.  We really have no idea the struggles many of our students face day in and day out.  Many of them have no positive influence or emotions in their lives and therefore they do not know how to approach others in a positive way either.  Their challenge may just be negative parents that focus on what could be improved and not on what they do well.

I really believe that if we followed the strategies outlined in this book it would have a positive impact on every aspect of our school, even our test scores.