Today I did a kick boxing workout. Like I always do, I took a bunch of timer selfies so I could keep track of my form and hold myself accountable. I don't really care if anyone even looks at my pictures, but posting them somewhere is a mental thing that helps me stay on track.
I know that when I do a lot of punching and kicking, the pictures often manage to capture some pretty unflattering lower tummy fat. My first plan was to pick one of those unflattering photos and share it with some inspirational message about not being self conscious on instagram. That would have been great except I was immediately self conscious about those pictures : ) So much so that I actually deleted them immediately.
This is crazy because I know I'm not fat. I know there are women who would love to have me right now as their absolutely perfect goal body. This just highlights the impossibility of reaching the elusive perfect body. There will always be something you would alter slightly... This is a topic for another day, though...
This morning, after deleting all the pictures I didn't like, I chose two very different photos than I had originally intended for my daily accountability post. First, I chose a picture where I'm jumping and making a big "X" with my legs and arms. This picture was very flattering because everything was stretched out so my stomach looked flatter than usual. Then, because that was the opposite of what I had originally intended, I looked for a photo where I was folding my body near my middle causing my stomach to fold over and stick out a bit. (Please don't ask me how I determine what the right amount of visible stomach fat is and where I draw the line... I know I'm still a work in progress...) I found a fun action shot where I was doing a front kick of some sort.
I had a photo I liked, a photo I couldn't stand (and didn't have anymore either), and a photo I could tolerate. Each showed my body at a different angle. The camera wasn't in exactly the same place in all of them. My body was bent at different angles in all of them. I thought about how every picture shows the same body, but when I look at it from different angles, it changes what I see. It changes what I think about my body. It changes what I say in my mind to my body.
It is the exact same body. Meanwhile, I was sweating in every single picture. I was breathing hard in every single picture. I was burning calories in every single picture. So how can my thoughts, internal voice, and feelings of (in)adequacy be so different when presented with the exact same body?
Angles are everything. They affect our perception. They impact our thoughts which means they affect our mental health and how we interact with others. Then I started thinking about how this might be a parallel for the students in our classrooms and what angle of their personality or life we get to see on any given day.
Sometimes all it takes to create a better angle is better light. I know I look better when the light from both the ceiling fan and the lamp are reflecting off of me. I'm sure the ultimate best is when the light of Jesus is reflecting off of me. If we have a student who isn't showing us their best angle, how can we be the light of Jesus to improve their angle? We don't have to fix them. We can't, and we are already exhausted so that is a burden we cannot possibly carry. But we can shine light on them and use our words to brighten their spirits so that they can show us a better angle.
Sometimes all it takes to create a better angle is different posture. Of course my biceps look bigger if I happen to catch a picture mid curl than if I catch a picture when they're dangling at my sides. If a student is showing you an unflattering angle, what questions can you ask to change the way they sit in their chair or hold their head or slump their shoulders? I'm not saying you should yell at them to sit up straight. I'm talking about the student who is hiding in their hood with their head down and using their posture to send the message that they don't feel safe and they are in survival mode. How can we make a connection with that student? How can we make our classroom and our school feel safe for that student? Then they can change their posture and that might totally change the perspective and give us an angle on that student that is pleasant, that is hopeful, and that is a student who is able to learn.
Sometimes all it takes to create a better angle is to be doing a different move. Pictures of crunches are almost never flattering... Similarly, a student who has had nothing but sugar and negativity is probably not going to be very flattering in their attitude either. Maybe all a student needs is rest, protein, and some encouraging words. Those new moves might give them a totally new angle.
When we see a student show us an angle of themselves that highlights profanity, disrespect, immaturity, or laziness, that doesn't mean the student needs to be defined by those characteristics. I think I could benefit from remembering the various angles that a student might show just like it benefits me to remember those flattering pictures I took alongside the not so flattering photos. If someone in authority over me spent all of our interactions dissecting the photos from unflattering angles and never celebrating the flattering ones, I would be an mess. I might start to believe that I was fat. My internal voice would spend a disproportionate amount of time focusing on negatives and wiring my brain for that angle. It would be hard to see and accept other angles or perspectives.
Like the camera, the teacher has limited control. But we can move and adjust our environments and our settings to help our students show their best angle. We can remember that a photograph is just a snapshot, it doesn't always represent the entire experience or person. Think about how much you love when a photo you're in turns out great! Now try to give that feeling to your students by helping them find and show off their greatest angle!
I know that when I do a lot of punching and kicking, the pictures often manage to capture some pretty unflattering lower tummy fat. My first plan was to pick one of those unflattering photos and share it with some inspirational message about not being self conscious on instagram. That would have been great except I was immediately self conscious about those pictures : ) So much so that I actually deleted them immediately.
This is crazy because I know I'm not fat. I know there are women who would love to have me right now as their absolutely perfect goal body. This just highlights the impossibility of reaching the elusive perfect body. There will always be something you would alter slightly... This is a topic for another day, though...
This morning, after deleting all the pictures I didn't like, I chose two very different photos than I had originally intended for my daily accountability post. First, I chose a picture where I'm jumping and making a big "X" with my legs and arms. This picture was very flattering because everything was stretched out so my stomach looked flatter than usual. Then, because that was the opposite of what I had originally intended, I looked for a photo where I was folding my body near my middle causing my stomach to fold over and stick out a bit. (Please don't ask me how I determine what the right amount of visible stomach fat is and where I draw the line... I know I'm still a work in progress...) I found a fun action shot where I was doing a front kick of some sort.
I had a photo I liked, a photo I couldn't stand (and didn't have anymore either), and a photo I could tolerate. Each showed my body at a different angle. The camera wasn't in exactly the same place in all of them. My body was bent at different angles in all of them. I thought about how every picture shows the same body, but when I look at it from different angles, it changes what I see. It changes what I think about my body. It changes what I say in my mind to my body.
It is the exact same body. Meanwhile, I was sweating in every single picture. I was breathing hard in every single picture. I was burning calories in every single picture. So how can my thoughts, internal voice, and feelings of (in)adequacy be so different when presented with the exact same body?
Angles are everything. They affect our perception. They impact our thoughts which means they affect our mental health and how we interact with others. Then I started thinking about how this might be a parallel for the students in our classrooms and what angle of their personality or life we get to see on any given day.
Sometimes all it takes to create a better angle is better light. I know I look better when the light from both the ceiling fan and the lamp are reflecting off of me. I'm sure the ultimate best is when the light of Jesus is reflecting off of me. If we have a student who isn't showing us their best angle, how can we be the light of Jesus to improve their angle? We don't have to fix them. We can't, and we are already exhausted so that is a burden we cannot possibly carry. But we can shine light on them and use our words to brighten their spirits so that they can show us a better angle.
Sometimes all it takes to create a better angle is different posture. Of course my biceps look bigger if I happen to catch a picture mid curl than if I catch a picture when they're dangling at my sides. If a student is showing you an unflattering angle, what questions can you ask to change the way they sit in their chair or hold their head or slump their shoulders? I'm not saying you should yell at them to sit up straight. I'm talking about the student who is hiding in their hood with their head down and using their posture to send the message that they don't feel safe and they are in survival mode. How can we make a connection with that student? How can we make our classroom and our school feel safe for that student? Then they can change their posture and that might totally change the perspective and give us an angle on that student that is pleasant, that is hopeful, and that is a student who is able to learn.
Sometimes all it takes to create a better angle is to be doing a different move. Pictures of crunches are almost never flattering... Similarly, a student who has had nothing but sugar and negativity is probably not going to be very flattering in their attitude either. Maybe all a student needs is rest, protein, and some encouraging words. Those new moves might give them a totally new angle.
When we see a student show us an angle of themselves that highlights profanity, disrespect, immaturity, or laziness, that doesn't mean the student needs to be defined by those characteristics. I think I could benefit from remembering the various angles that a student might show just like it benefits me to remember those flattering pictures I took alongside the not so flattering photos. If someone in authority over me spent all of our interactions dissecting the photos from unflattering angles and never celebrating the flattering ones, I would be an mess. I might start to believe that I was fat. My internal voice would spend a disproportionate amount of time focusing on negatives and wiring my brain for that angle. It would be hard to see and accept other angles or perspectives.
Like the camera, the teacher has limited control. But we can move and adjust our environments and our settings to help our students show their best angle. We can remember that a photograph is just a snapshot, it doesn't always represent the entire experience or person. Think about how much you love when a photo you're in turns out great! Now try to give that feeling to your students by helping them find and show off their greatest angle!
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