Last week, I faced one of the most stressful weeks of my career. I had several things scheduled and I wasn't quite sure how I was going to keep up the juggling act. On Sunday evening I was preparing for my final principal preparation evaluation, an interview for an assistant principal opening at my home campus, and a "Peek In The Classroom" session. These were all in addition to my normal duties of lesson plans, grades, homework for graduate school, principal preparation assignments, instructional specialist duties, full time mom and full time wife. I knew the week would be stressful to say the least. As the week progressed, I was faced with a very tragic situation. One of our 7th grade teachers suffered an aneurysm at school on Thursday. My final principal preparation evaluation was set for Thursday after school and was cancelled. On Thursday evening, we received news of an emergency faculty meeting Friday morning. In the faculty meeting we learned that our dear friend and co-worker was terminal. We were then tasked with delivering limited information to the students. We only let them know that she was hospitalized. My interview and "peek in the classroom" session were both scheduled for later that day. Fortunately the interviews were rescheduled, but my students and I still had to perform for an outside group of 150+ administrators and education service center staff. I wanted to cancel the event, but I knew how excited my students were and I could not let them down. The show went on without fail. We were impressive. We showcased our integration of technology and left a lasting impression on those "peeking" in on us. I could not have done any of this without a little inspiration and encouragement. I remembered watching a video on YouTube of tweep @davidtedu, who had applied and was accepted to the Chicago Google Certified Teacher Academy. I searched for David Theriault's video and watched it over and over. I knew in that moment that it did not matter who was "peeking" in that day. I needed to be their (my students) champion. They needed me to allow them to showcase our district and classroom to that authentic audience. I had my inspiration and my students were showcasing their integration of technology in my classroom......all of which led to a lasting impression!
This week has been tough as well. Students and staff are dealing with the loss of a great teacher and friend. She will be missed by all of us. My students have been my motivation each day and God has provided me with strength. I love my job and my Forte family!
Today I tweeted "Our lives are defined by moments. Don't miss the opportunity to capture those moments!" This was inspired by our guest speaker, Dr. Eric Cupp,at convocation. He is a very dynamic and effective speaker. I was already pumped about school starting because I was inspired by a group of "pirates" over the summer, but not all of my colleagues were as excited as I was. Dr. Cupp left several of these teachers with some goose bumps today. He told a story about how he was set to go to Savannah, Georgia to deliver a keynote and his wife was getting to travel with him, but due to unfortunate circumstances, she was not able to make the trip. This was where the story actually started. It was all about how he was in a place where he had not intended to be and by God's grace he was placed there to make sure one young girl's moment was not passed up. He had several of these stories and it really hit home. As teachers, we have the most "moments" presented to us. We often call them "teachable moments." I definitely had a "moment" this summer. Somehow, I was afforded the opportunity via twitter to attend professional development. My tweep, Hal Roberts, graciously invited me to his staffs' professional development to see the keynote speaker, Dave Burgess. I read Dave's book, Teach Like A Pirate over the summer and had been participating in a twitter chat called #tlap. I was faced with several scheduling dilemmas like an principal preparation class and jur, but I am convinced now more that ever that I was meant to be right there! I am entering this school year with several challenges, but one thing will remain at the top of the list and that is my students. I have set a goal to make sure that I don't miss any of these "moments" no matter how busy my schedule may get. I want my students to be able to see that each of them is a genius and will be successful. What they will be successful in is up to them. I will not hold them back from what they are most passionate about, no matter how many standards I have to teach in a certain time frame. There is one thing you can NEVER get back and that is time. I want them to make the most of their time in my class. I want them to discover what makes them tick. I want them to find their passions and build relationships that will last a lifetime. I want them to know that "I CARE" because I do. There are several jobs that I could do that would make me whole lot more money than teaching, but nothing can fulfill the completeness that I feel when I turn a kid into a lover of learning! My principal reminded us today that our year will be great as long as we love what we do. She followed that up with this, "If you do not love what you do, then I suggest you find something else." She is absolutely right. The kids deserve it!