Nov. 30: Practice an act of kindness this week and blog about your experience Today I practiced a great act of kindness. To myself. I sat on my couch with my dog cuddled in my lap and read a book for several uninterrupted minutes. Several blissful minutes. I'm on a Jojo Moyes kick, and now it is Me Before You. Oh, she can weave a story, and of course I want to be best friends with her characters. (I can already tell that the end will involve an ugly cry of some sort.) If you're a working mom at the end of a Thanksgiving break where you cooked your first turkey, served several meals to your immediate family, kept up with laundry, traveled to another extended family gathering, and unpacked several more boxes in your new home, then you get it. Sometimes you need to be kind to yourself. And I've made it. 30 days of blogging without ceasing. 30 days of new thinking and reflecting and connecting with other educators. I'm grateful for the teaching friends I've made, for the push to respond to prompts, for the sheer number of my words. So thanks.
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Nov. 29: We all know someone who inspires us to be better. Share that person.
Well, today I will break the rules and pick two. (I guess I'm on a personal kick.) I am inspired by my sons, Getnet Jude and Endale Isaiah. They inspire me to be a better mother -- a patient mother who owns up to her mistakes and tries to do better next time. They inspire me to be a better teacher. (My current students might be their future world leaders.) They inspire me to be a better wife. I want them to see the mutual respect and love (and embarrassing kissing) that come with a healthy marriage. They inspire me to be a better human. These two resilient souls have endured more in their short lives than many of us can fathom. Still they get up each day, face new challenges, and push forward. And parenting obviously requires heaps of grace and patience, so I'm grateful for that as well. Nov. 28: Talk about 1 opportunity that you are grateful in hindsight for having passed you by. For most of these blog challenges prompts, I've focused on my teaching life. After all, my blog is a teaching blog, and this challenge concentrates on the qualities of a reflective teacher. For several days I've tried to think of a professional opportunity that I am grateful for missing, but I really can't come up with one. In Missouri when I was wrapping up my first year of teaching and they needed a Journalism teacher, I said yes. And for two years I worked with some incredible young people and learned invaluable information about the publication world. A year later when the dual credit English position was available, I said yes to starting my masters and got involved with the Ozarks Writing Project. After we moved to Iowa and I got the job here, they needed an individual speech coach. For three seasons I spent long hours at school with some of the best speech kids in the state, an opportunity I will never regret. So for today, this will be a personal blog. A personal blog about love. Prior to meeting my husband, there was the Boy I Loved in High School and the Boy I Loved in College. Still to this today I think of my high school boyfriend when I hear "I Can't Be With You" by the Cranberries, and the sight of a two liter of Diet Coke or a certain bridge over the Cedar River will always make me think of my college boyfriend. But the timing wasn't right with either of them, and we went our separate ways. Then I met Chris on a fateful day in late December. We dated long distance for several months before getting engaged. Then with incredibly terrible timing, after our engagement both the Boy I Loved in High School and the Boy I Loved in College contacted me in an effort to reconcile. This sounds made up, but it isn't. In difficult conversations I had to explain that while I had loved them at one time, I was now with Chris, embracing this new opportunity that life had presented to me. And here's the thing. I don't believe that there is The One for any of us. Marriage is hard, hard work. But life's chapters were unfolding in the way that was best for me, with only a brief prologue of previous love. The pages turn now with the man who loves me well still so many years later, who was willing to go on a crazy adventure across the ocean to grow our family. Chris proposed with poetry, is an excellent sous chef, and cries during Big Fish every time. (Don't tell him I shared that.) So there were other opportunities, other loves along the way. But today I will shout from the mountaintops that I am so very grateful that I let those chances slip through my fingers. Nov. 27: If you could bottle up the perfect day, what would it look like?
Waking up slowly Late enough to feel rested But still a sunrise Coffee with creamer Poised at my round oak table A journal and words A drive through mountains Sun cuts through majestic clouds A winding road chorus A hike with my sons Composing verse with giggles Leaves crunch: perfection Back home with family Injera, berbere, wine Preparing a feast Late night talk with Chris Warm, safe under the covers Nowhere else to be Nov. 26: Write about any 3 small pleasures in your life/day. 1. Each morning I look forward to a few moments of silence before the day begins. The rest of my family doesn't get up until 7, so I have the quiet house to myself. Those moments are usually spent with Rooney, our sweet (and naughty) Cavachon. He offers perfect early morning snuggles and unconditional love. 2. Each evening my sons' bedtime routine involves reading together from a chapter book. We've FINALLY (my youngest gets scared easily) started Harry Potter, and I couldn't be happier at their engaged reaction and immediate love for Hagrid. We've read dozens, including some of the Beverly Cleary classics, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Whipping Boy, The Indian in the Cupboard, Sounder, Shiloh, and several children's chapter books that feature black protagonists. (I highly recommend the Clubhouse Mystery series as well as any of the sports-themed books by Tiki and Ronde Barber.) That time together as a family is probably the most cherished part of my day.
3. Each night after my boys are in bed, my husband and I spend some time together watching a favorite show from the DVR (The Blacklist is our current #1) or just talking and maybe having a cup of tea or a glass of wine. I try to avoid work and social media and unwind. Nov. 25: What would you like to let go of?
Today I write a list in no particular order: my current traditional grading system the white walls in my classroom my reliance on social media my broken classroom blinds the cumbersome tables that make rearranging impossible some of the traditional essays I teach in College Comp my Speech textbook from 1987 the random piles of whatsit on my desk my antiquated, unreliable filing system the illusion of control in my life the crap in the gray metal closet a personal hardness towards the Hard Person in my life But that list is pretty long, So today I'll cling to my "Good Enough." Maybe I'll start tackling that list tomorrow. Nov. 24: What are your dreams for education in the future? "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one..." -John Lennon Imagine a school without grades, where standardized tests are just antiquated methods read about in history books alongside Dick and Jane. Imagine a district with one team, where teachers and admins and board members sit with parents and students, working together. Imagine a system that isn't one-size-fits-all, that caters learning for individual students who then become world-changers. Imagine a curriculum that empowers through reading and writing that can get dirty and open doors and captivate. Imagine a world where equality isn't a mythical creature and your education isn't predetermined by your race or socioeconomic background. Imagine a country that celebrates rather than condemns schools and teachers' time and expertise is valued and the impetus for reform comes from the trenches. Imagine a teacher sitting at her desk, drafting a poem and realizing that she may be part of the problem as well as the solution. Imagine. Nov. 23: How did your Attitude of Gratitude work out - tell us about it.
Update : Well, on a personal level, I failed at sending more postcards. I was more successful, however, at getting my students to express gratitude. Update 2: On Veterans Day my English 2 students shared journals of gratitude, and I was overwhelmed by their thoughtfulness. I shared several of their writings on this earlier blog post. Update 3: My College Comp students are currently working on gratitude blogs. Some of them have posted already, so I'll share some of their links here. This morning at church our pastor was lamenting the fact that he didn't think we say "thank you" as much as we used to, and while he may be right, I hate that teenagers get the erroneous reputation of being ungrateful. Because they really can be. I'll share some links here, and as the rest add their blogs, they can be found at our class Symbaloo. Cory's Corner: "It seems silly to be thankful for something so simple, but I'm extremely thankful for the times I spend laughing with my friends and family. Sometimes it's easy to take for granted the moments where you laugh until your stomach hurts." A Blog of Unfortunate Events: "i am thankful for my high school and all my teachers and classes i am glad i feel well prepared for college" Solicitor's Weekly: "With Thanksgiving up and coming, I'll be awfully busy relaxing and spending time with family. SPEAKING OF THANKSGIVING, I'd like to take this time and digital space to make up a list of the first fifty things I'm grateful for that come to my mind.
Jake the Snake: "My grandpa is constantly helping me with little things I like doing. He lets me use his shop, even when he has a project in there he is working on. We do things together, I help him, and he helps me." Nov. 22: What are your family traditions you are most grateful for?
Nov. 21: List a book you are thankful to have read and how it have inspired you to be better at what you do.
Several years ago I picked up Markus Zusak's I Am the Messenger at a chain bookstore. It transformed the way I view young adult literature. Prior to this I had read several YA novels, but this book moved me in a way I cannot fully articulate. I grew so attached to Ed and his friends. I cried and laughed out loud. In a way the concept reminded me a bit of Amelie, one of my favorite films. Honestly, the book made me itchy to impact the life of the heavily-pierced checkout girl at SummerFresh, to spread some random joy to the Spanish-speaking janitor who washed my board each day, to climb into the skin of my most angst-filled students. Over the span of several weeks, my worn copy became a read-aloud for my 10th grade English students. They, too, were eager to start a new chapter each day, to find out whom Ed would help next. They, too, were enchanted by the working-class voice of these characters whose lives, in many ways, mirrored their own. Like me, they melted when Ed and Audrey shared their dance. This book sparked a fire for reading in many of my most reluctant readers who didn't know that a book like that even existed. I Am the Messenger made us a reading community. When we finished, we sent Mr. Zusak an email letting him know just how much we loved the book, how we thought it would be perfect for a movie version. Their pulsing excitement when he kindly replied to our email was palpable. The flame for reading grew, for them and for me. And I learned the powerful lesson that the right book in the right hands can change the world. |
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