Inspiration for a Teacher: Part 1

SAT analogy of the month:

September is to teachers as April is to tax preparers.

As such, all bets should have been off when I decided to start a new creative endeavor right before school started. But I thought that the idea of blogging would give me some super human ability to focus on the task at hand (teaching) while keeping a 30,000 foot view of my journey by sitting down once in a while, taking a deep breath, gathering my thoughts, and jotting them down in a blog post… Ha!

Delusional.

Preparing to welcome, build relationships with, and teach a gaggle of brand new kindergartners takes just about every waking moment of my life in September. Non-waking moments too. (Insert your grade/subject- September is a marathon for ALL of us teachers!)

Good news though- in a blink, it's October!

Having made it through that first month back, can I say that being slightly haunted by an unwritten blog post helped? Or, was it a hindrance? Honestly, I think it helped. While there were times I was disappointed that I couldn’t even carve out an hour to work on it, I did have many ideas pop up and several ideas steeping around me like a soothing cup of tea… But, when I was thinking about these possible ideas, stealing a few moments, I wasn’t always by a computer. It was a nice break from always being on… planning the next lesson… replying to emails… organizing materials for an engaging bulletin board project… taking photos of an exciting activity... all things I love to do, but also things that can easily overwhelm. Do overwhelm.

This begs the question- is it possible to allow your vision to soar while keeping your feet on the ground? How do you choose 

what’s worth the extra mile and what’s worth the standard yard? 

It can be a very tough call. It can be the call that saves your sanity as a teacher. It can, quite possibly, be what allows you to be the absolute best you can be for your students AND for yourself.

This is my goal. I believe it is worth wrapping my head around. If, in fact, Nelson Mandela said the statement attributed to him on the cover of the notebook above, then I believe Nelson Mandela said it best. And I’m going to try to get it done! Even if my version of done means bits and pieces while on my way to the big “done”... Done doesn’t have to happen overnight, nor does it have to happen in one long connected stretch of time. Especially if it’s something that, once done, is worthwhile. Important. Valuable. Beneficial. Even more so if it is all of those things to more than you- to you AND to someone in need of inspiration. #sweetspot

So, here’s one that’s done: Blog post #2. Check.

If I can do it,

SO. CAN. YOU.