High Five Time: Celebrating our Team Successes
This episode of the Mindful Turtle Podcast originally aired December 29, 2024. To receive podcast updates and other nature-based early childhood education news, subscribe to Samara Early Learning’s weekly newsletter written by Dr. Rachel A. Larimore.
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In this episode of the Mindful Turtle, Rachel invites listeners to reflect and celebrate successes within our teaching teams. It's easy to get bogged down by the remaining to-do list, but there's value in taking time to notice and celebrate the collaborative achievements we've had with our co-workers.
This week’s invitation is to set a 5-minute timer, and make a list of all that went right this month with your program’s team.
In the daily whirlwind of teaching, planning, and caring for children, it's easy to get caught up in the doing without pausing to acknowledge how far we've come. We often focus on challenges or next steps, overlooking the small victories and steady progress that shape our program. Yet celebrating these successes—from trying a new outdoor location to supporting a colleague during a challenging moment—can energize our team and remind us why we do this important work.
This week, take 5 minutes to list every success you can think of from the past month. Consider each teaching team, individual colleagues, and program milestones. What impressed or inspired you? How did your team pull together? Include everything from small daily wins to major breakthroughs. Then pause to notice how this reflection changes your perspective. You might be surprised to see just how many ways your team works together to support children's growth and learning in nature.
