Welcome Back!

Our spirits are in desperate need of rest and encouragement. I truly hope you were able to refresh and renew over spring break.
It's easy to groan and drag ourselves out of bed as we head back into work. But I hope you come back to your classroom with a spring in your step and remembering that your fellow teachers are feeling a similar longing for the pace of their vacations and the comfort of their homes.

It doesn't matter where you teach, you can address these needs of your fellow teachers. You can be the welcome mat that makes work feel more like home. Remember birthdays, pay attention to what is going on in their home lives, and visit their classrooms once in awhile and comment on something positive they do with their students. Focus on one another's strengths. Appreciate one another's talents. And finally, show compassion to those who may not be the best that they can be just yet.

The soul of a teacher is intimately connected to the school in which it operates. We all desire connectedness. Reach out to one another in love. Remember the saying "If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." Consider this then - if the teacher ain't (isn't) happy, ain't no student happy." We may receive the initial benefit of encouragement but its impact reaches out to our students. The welcome mat can set the tone for the entire home, the entire classroom, the entire school, perhaps the entire community.

Spring Break

Take time this week to refresh, renew, recharge. You deserve it. No matter where you are, this week is a gift. Not all of us can afford to head south to the tropics or an ocean view, but we can allow a new fresh horizon to appear in our souls. Relish the time with family and time to rest. Don't waste it by trying to rush through getting everything done that's been piling up. Slow down and allow yourself the gift of time. Again, you deserve it!

Mine, Mine, Mine!

There are two characteristics common among teachers that get in the way of helping one another. First, teachers are territorial. These are my kids. This is my classroom. We defend that territory primarily by standing guard at the gate and growling at anyone who dares to enter. We don't handle criticism very well. We don't share well. If someone asks for supplies because they've run out, our first reaction may not be to offer them our own. The very value of sharing we seek to teach our students is somehow lost in the shuffle from the classroom to the lounge.

Second, teachers isolate themselves. We are very comfortable closing our classroom doors. It is not uncommon to walk through a hallway and see every door closed, with construction paper covering a window that might happen to exist in the door. If we struggle with teaching, we tend to keep it to ourselves. In this age of accountability, showing weakness is discouraged. So we may sit in our misery or confusion alone for a very long time.

We can encourage one another. Who better knows what your life is like than another teacher? Offer another teacher food for thought. Is someone on your faculty working towards their master's degree? Is there a way you can help? Is someone struggling with staying organized and it is your strength? Offer practical tips without sounding high and mighty about it. Does a teacher wrestle with a student that you taught the year before? Partner with him or her to come up with strategies to reach that student. There is not only safety in numbers, but joy!

Food for Thought

As educators we spend a lot of time assessing and discovering how we can motivate and encourage students to learn. We are aware of those with special learning needs and differing learning styles. We make sure they are fed with free breakfast and lunch programs. We offer after school care. But the most important key to a child's learning is the teacher.


Teachers have needs that if left unmet affect how well they teach. Low teacher morale is a problem at epidemic proportions. If you don't feel good about what you do, chances are you won't do it very well. The soul of a teacher is just as important, if not more important, as her credentials. We can wait for society to wake up and appreciate and encourage us, but better still we can appreciate and encourage one another. Feed the soul of other teachers through mind, body and spirit.

Pendulum

If you haven't read "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voskamp, I highly recommend it for your upcoming Spring Break reading. Even if you aren't skipping off to Florida, it will provide the vacation you need!

Everyday, we are faced with many challenges as teachers and plenty to complain about...and we often vent to our fellow teachers in our need to release the toxins of frustration before we head back to class. But there are studies that show that you can actually train your mind to be grateful. What if we can swing the pendulum from complaint to gratitude? Would we discover a hidden joy we didn't see was there all along? Ann Voskamp made a list of 1000 things she was thankful for, and it changed her life. I challenge all of us this week to write down just a few of our "gifts" per day. Here are some of mine...

1. the kids
2. those hidden smiles from under the "I'm too cool for school" looks
3. friendships with other teachers (sometimes just the silent looks of I don't know what to do with them either . . .)
4. the total unpredictability of day to day life of a teacher (at least it's not a conveyor belt at a factory!)
5. holding on to the dream of bringing our the best in each student
6. that "I can't believe I really just did that- I didn't think I could do that" look.
7. summer break, spring break, winter break, prep period, time to refresh and renew
8. creative ideas for lessons that trick our students into learning
9. an opportunity to show love and encouragement in a world that tells kids they're just future screw ups
10. the lessons I learn from THEIR stories


“Gratitude for the seemingly insignificant—a seed—this plants the giant miracle.”
― Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

More than A Number

A great reminder from the point of view of a high school student:

I am more than a number.
I am someone’s child, will be someone’s parent.
I am Someone’s creation.
I came into this world chasing knowledge, ready to try anything.
I stacked blocks and counted to ten, but fall asleep in your math class.
I lived for trips to the zoo, but failed Biology last semester.
I sang my ABC’s to smiling faces, but my essays are covered in red.

I am more than a filled desk.
I have fears, questions, memories.
I have a Creator.
I came into this world with innocent dreams, innocent needs.
I said I would be an Astronaut, but will be lucky to get a diploma.
I couldn’t wait to show my Batman lunch box, but hate my levis when Abercrombie’s walk by.
I have a dad who rocked me to sleep, but he kicked me out again last night.

I am more than a label.
I have hidden talents, a future career.
I have a divine purpose to be here.
I came into this world with my fingerprints.
I kicked a ball at recess, now I am a dumb jock.
I wrote the wrong letter on the board, now I’m a slow learner.
I got quiet after the divorce, now I’m just another "goth" in all black.

I am more than an absence.
I am somewhere, may not be coming back.
I am “God knows where.”
I came into this world with a family who anticipated for months, years.
I had a decorated nursery four months before I arrived, but your classroom looks like a jail cell.
I saw happy tears when coming back from camp, but they sigh when I ask for make-up work.
I had thirty neighbors searching when I toddled down the street one day, but now it’s just “unexcused.”

I am more than a statistic.
I listen to you, have someone I want to be.
I have a calling.
I came into this world by myself.
I have a mom from Venezuela, but I’m just another Hispanic male.
I live in a small house that was always big enough for me, but my “economic status” made me “at-risk.”
I didn’t have a dad growing up, but now I’m just another pregnant girl with no self-control.

I am more than another student.
I have a past, a future.
I was placed in your class by two kinds of Counselors.
I used to be “a delightful child”, now I “show no apparent interest in learning.”
I used to get my sandwich sliced sideways with no crust, now I am a bar code.
I used to be mom’s “precious little angel”, now I’m an ID number, a class rank,
and one of thirty empty faces.

You failed me.
Oh, yeah . . .
I got an F, too.

"In any large corporation, rank-and-file workers who put forward truly new ideas have the deck stacked against them right from the beginning. Most companies are peppered with people who are very quick to say 'no.' Most newly-hatched ideas are shot down before they even have time to grow feathers, let alone wings...One 'yes' in a sea of 'no's' can make the difference." Gordon McKenzie, Orbiting the Giant Hairball

Perception AND Reality

Just a little note this week to say "Me too." Hang in there! You can thrive not just survive today and this week! Keep up the good work!

"The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called truth." -- Dan Rather

"Who dares to teach must never cease to learn." --John Cotton Dana