Message to principals: Help students focus on one positive experience a day

Speakers at the National Conference on School Leadership highlighted the need to embrace positive mindsets and lean on sources of support.

NASHVILLE — When students leave the school building at the end of the day, they should be asked to recall one positive experience they had. That simple activity can help move students from a negative to a positive mindset, leadership speaker and author Jon Gordon told the 4,200 attendees at the National Conference on School Leadership on Monday.

Gordon urged school administrators to also dismiss their anxieties, fears and doubts, and to harness gratitude through positive connections and communication. “Don’t listen to your negative voices,” Gordon said. “We need leaders who are leading with love, bringing unity and a message of hope.”