Dear Teachers

Week 16 of  Dear Teachers  finds us right before Christmas. I knew it was a risk to add springtime pictures during this time of the year, but I’m glad I did. There’s a joy in the air- if we can remember it and push it into 2018, we’ll benefit. I’m not talking about a fake cheerfulness. I’m talking honest joy. The Shakespeare quote I used from Romeo and Juliet embodies this. I’m talking about the full fire that is the Sun in our Hearts.  I found this Mae West quote on Twitter this week, and I think it’s another powerful reminder of this idea. If we live once and do it well, it should be enough. I love the skiing graphic, as well. We’re all flying down a hill. Are we at least trying to cut the edges of our skis into the snow, or are we gracelessly sliding down the slope on our butts, in silent terror? What do we want to embrace today and into tomorrow? Are our days leading us to that picture or not? Are we feeling some concerns or regrets? The only t...

Just because things are quiet, doesn’t mean all is well. Outwardly, we may project an image that says all is right in our world. Sometimes, we feel the need to do this as a way to get through difficult times. When it becomes our standard, we fall farther and farther away from our truth selves. Our family, friends and coworkers can think we’re fine, but there’s conflict roiling on the inside, threatening to tear us apart. We will break if we lose hope and a sense of controlling our fate. That will negatively affect us and all whose lives we touch. The Jane Austen quote I used this week speaks of a defiant quiet. The character, Fanny Price, sees and understands her reality and is not happy with the situation. That’s a different quiet. When we let go of the outside stuff, we can feel our centers. It’s just us. What is that? Who is that? Are our days filled with our passions or just filled? We can look at it all with a bit of objectivity. That’s the quiet depicted in...

We’re now in the last month of the year and onto a new focus! We’ve covered important ground so far. The importance of the people in our lives, both ourselves and all the coworkers, family, friends, students, parents and overall communities we live in. We’ve touched on the nature of struggles in our days: feelings of darkness, loneliness, and things that chill our bodies, minds and spirits. December is all about remembering life’s positive foundations. Week 14 is a reminder that things can be tough, but with hope things can change and faith that they will, we can thrive. Marlene captured the water droplets from melting ice falling and plopping into a running river. There’s a shelf of hard ice hanging on but one gets the sense that its time is limited: the flow and sun’s rays will soon see its demise. The water’s rippling surface reminds us that life is always moving. Everything’s dancing. If we can remember that and believe, we can see the sun again even if today it’s beh...

I received an email from NPR Ed on Thanksgiving with a title that made me pause: Hey, New Teachers, It's OK To Cry In Your Car Yikes. It’s OK to cry in your car. Really? The article goes on to say that 10% of all new teachers will quit within that first year, and October and November are a special crumbling zone. This information supports the layout I prepared in Dear Teachers. I started by highlighting points about yourself (September), your people (October), and now the struggles here in November. We all need preparation. Hitting a wall after 6 weeks of school is similar to the walls you hit after you set up New Year’s Resolutions. Grandiose plans hit the repeated speed-bumps of reality, and we can start to feel hopeless and helpless. A few people can plug on while most others fall off to varying degrees. The more we’ve prepared for the bumps, the farther we’ll go. The more tricks and tools we have, the more likely we’ll reach some serious successes we can build...

Gray wool skies. Sleet. Wind. A few shriveled leaves clinging sadly to craggy branches. Misunderstandings. Looming deadlines. Absences. An unexpected call late in the day. Both of these lists are things that can be considered the “cold and dark” of life. These are things that can make us feel depressed, oppressed, sad or even angry. Week 11 of Dear Teachers starts with this quote from Francis Bacon: “In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present.” Take a look at Marlene’s photo. It’s a prime example of this. The sun creates gorgeous shadows. The shadows give the light its richness. Deepest dark defines both the foreground and the horizon, alternating with warm sky and its reflection. The water’s calm depth is what allows the light to sparkle on its surface through the shimmering cattail shadows. It’s been a year since I began the journey of writing Dear Teachers. It was a dark time for me mentally and physically but the writing process wa...

I participated in a Twitter chat this morning which revolved around the time change we just underwent. Folks on #Peopleskills gave some great responses to questions about what falling back means, the difference between falling back and learning from our past, and how falling back can be a good thing or a destructive thing and why. It segues well into Week 9 of Dear Teachers . Marlene’s picture is a bleak and craggy one, in my opinion. There’s a patch of green, but for the most part, the scene is bare with terrain that looks extremely difficult to traverse. I imagined trying to cross that stream and saw myself slipping on the rough cobble which is tumbled everywhere. Sometimes, we have to fall back. Allowing it to happen can be a gift: to adjust our plans to match the true situation we find ourselves in and to achieve genuine success. As Tom Reid @_TomGReid posted, “The earlier a space probe makes a trajectory adjustment, the less fuel (easier) it is. Unless you period...

It’s hard to believe that October’s amber-toned days are almost gone. Well, at least in some ways, perhaps. Hopefully, we’re keeping an eye on ourselves and restocking our reserves as we make our way through the year’s business. Otherwise, we could be eyeing the calendar skeptically instead of surprisingly. October’s Dear Teachers essays celebrated our people- everyone who helps us along the way. November’s focus? One of the key reasons why we need those people: our inevitable struggles. This beautiful image of Marlene’s really spoke to me. She captured both power and clean balance. As I was sitting with this photo, I happened to watch a show where the main characters were swimmers- their practices were integral to the show’s message. The cool underwater camera angles mirrored this shot to such an extent, I had to write about it. I saw a message for us all. Yes, we can’t eliminate drag completely. However, some of our struggles are self-induced and these can be well withi...