Some Teaching Mantras:

Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.


Nobody has every said that life is fair, but it seems that in teaching, many people lose their way lamenting this fact. We are the lucky ones. We work in meaningful ways. We get automatic and lovely feedback on our efforts. We sing songs, paint pictures and enjoy a good fable now and then. True: we may have too many papers to grade, too many students to teach, and a heater that isn't working properly or a window that won't open. But it is all good!


When in doubt, just take the next small step.


Yesterday I was talking to a veteran teacher who was "tired" and unwilling to try out the latest math program. In fact, she was paralyzed by self doubt. Not understanding it, she decided not to try it. We need to embrace our doubts. Name them. Give life to them in order to see them for what they really are. Then we need to work with them. Taking the next "small step" is a way to respect our doubts and still move forward beyond them.


Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.


I need this mantra: daily. Education is not about "life or death". My students can fail an exam and the sky won't fall. The quadratic formula is not life changing, even for me, who loves it. Homework not completed does not mean the student is destined for failure in life. Lighten up. Play a game. Forgive an assignment. Go outside on a sunny day. Don't do this every day (you'd shortchange education by that), but do on occasions.


Over-prepare, then go with the flow.


This allows the above to happen. Nothing is worse to always be "catching up".


However good or bad a situation is, it will change.


This is a lesson for professional longevity. We never arrive. We are always journeying. Our teaching companions move on. Our best students graduate. Our most favorite teaching unit becomes obsolete. We need to see this as an intrinsic "good". No fight the current. No lamenting the situation. And above all, if all seems good, remember that it won't always be so. That makes the inevitable change palatable. You will be a far stronger teacher in adversity.


If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.


Remember that. Daily.


The best is yet to come.


If we always live in the past, we miss the beauty. We shrivel up and fade away. Refuse to do this. It is good now and will be better later. Make it better.


No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.


No more "manic Mondays". Each day is a gift. Dress your best! Even if you aren't sure, answer "Great!" when asked how your weekend went. Be excited outwardly and the excitement will seep inward. Complaining only leads to more complaining.




Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.


Bottom line : others should be so lucky to be teaching such wonderful kids in such wonderfully inventive times. It isn't always easy, but it is always interesting and meaningful. It is all a gift. Remember that.

I will be good...

Tonight was the last night of review of belt stripes in my karate class.

I missed a little more than three weeks of class this summer due to being out of town. I did not practice nearly enough on my own, hence, I have not quite "mastered" my belt. My 9 year old son, on the other hand, came back from the same vacations as me and rather easily passed onto green belt. I am still purple, but trying.

This week I have been putting a little more practice into my belt routines with the hope that I might be able to complete the test and move into my green belt curriculum. But this evening, I overheard the professor talking with his assistants about who was left to test, naming 4 other students. One of the assistants mentioned my name and I heard the professor say "oh, but he is in his own place".

I wonder what he meant by that. In fact, I have not been to class as consistently as others and also, it is very true that I struggle more with some of the karate moves than others. On the other hand, I have been proactive in trying to catch up and was somewhat eager to show them that I indeed know the purple belt curriculum.

Luckily for me, I am a confident, adult learner without many stakes in whether I "pass" or not into the other belt on some predetermined time line. I continue to love my class, love the art, and love the instructors, to the point, in fact, that I sometimes feel I let them down.

I never did ask the professor what he meant by his statement. Perhaps I should take it literally: I am a little behind in terms of class attendance. Or perhaps I should take it that I am not always the best learner I can be in this class.

I ponder this as I start my new year teaching my 7th and 8th graders.

Why I am a TEACHER

Here's a GREAT teacher quote: 

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,

nothing is going to get better, it's not.

Lorax (dr. seuss)

Why I am a TEACHER

Teaching is the profession that teaches all the other professions.  

-Author Unknown

Why I am a TEACHER

"Find a job you love and you'll never work a day in your life." 

- Confucius