Time For A Self-Edit

For about the fifth time I have been revising and editing my book "Teaching In The Spirit". Funny how the things you wrote that you thought were so spot on, don't always have the same impact the next time around. As I have been doing the re-write something else struck me. I was reading my own words as I would any other self-help or spiritually related book. In effect, I was teaching myself. As I looked at those words I began to question how much of my own advice I was following. I guess the answer varied from page to page. It made me wonder how many of us as teachers abide by our own guidance. Are we telling our kids to do something and then doing the exact opposite? Are we living our own suggestions? Most importantly, are we being the person that our kids can look to as role models? As you move along in this year, please keep these thoughts in your head at all times and try to make sure your own words are those of truth. If not, it's probably time to start editing and revising your own actions.

Gratitude

Thanksgiving is a great idea. Too bad it doesn't really work. In general it's become another holiday where we run around like crazy trying to make things perfect for that one special day. Often it involves having a bunch of people around that we will probably complain about at work on Tuesday. Cynical? Perhaps a bit, but I say it to make a point. Thanksgiving is not just for one weekend. Gratitude is not just for the big stuff. Thankfullness is a full time occupation. You're alive, that's a miracle in itself. Every breath is a gift. This isn't just Mary Poppins stuff, this is real. And if you doubt it, think about the alternatives. Sure your life has a lot of speed bumps, and some of them are huge, but something in you knows it really doesn't matter in the long run. Now, what can you do with this information? Pass it on. Help your kids to live their lives in gratitude. Every day have them find just one thing they have to be grateful for. Put it in a gratitude diary. Post it on the walls. Gratitude is not just saying a prayer or holding a holiday, it's changing the way you look at life, 360 degrees. It's dropping the victim role and riding in the saddle, and you do your kids a favour by taking them along for the ride. Even those kids with the roughest of lives have something they are grateful for, they just don't know it yet. If it's not their home life, then your job is to make sure it's at school! By the way, Happy Thanksgiving!

Best To Forget

I trust it's been a wonderful summer and that you are all going back rested and with some degree of rejuvenation. As you head back to your classroom, there are many things that you need to remember, from various passwords to school supplies. Even routines often need refreshing. However, it is not the things you need to remember to bring back to school which will change the way you teach. It is the things that you can forget that will do that. Can you forget to bring you ego into the classroom, for just one day? Then maybe the next? Are you able to leave all of your personal stories and assumptions behind on the counter at home where they cannot damage anyone? Can you drop your need to be right and express your opinions to everyone, and leave them on the road on your way to work? And if you feel that these are important to you and they will be missed, how about replacing them with a fresh, open and expansive view of the world, unburdened by all of your judgements and biases. Let's see how that works for you and everyone around you.

Reflecting

Teachers all know that the end of the year is not December 31st, but the last school day in June. The only difference is we don't have one night before New Year's, we have nine or ten weeks. That should be more than enough time to take a look back and do some reflecting. Don't get too heavy duty about it, this is not an exam. Simply take a few moments while you are lying in the sun, hoisting a drink, whatever gives you the best mood for ruminating and try to see yourself during the best and worst times of the year. How did you handle yourself? Were you guided by your love of kids and teaching or were you just trying to hang on for dear life? How well did you listen, see? When everything seemed to be overwhelming, what did you practice to help centre yourself and come back to what you really are?

When you have had time to consider some of these questions start to contemplate where you went off the rails and more important, how you were able to bring out the best in yourself and pass that on to the kids in your charge. Having done that, open yourself to everything that releases these qualities and let them be your guide today. This isn't something that waits until September, because it already lives in all you are. So if you can just get out of your own way and let it live in all you do, then you are definitely on the right path and there will be no need for New Year's resolutions in the fall. Have a wonderful summer!

Stop Being A Teacher For Awhile

People tend to confuse who they are with what they do. We often identify ourselves with our job or role in life. When asked what we do we will more than likely reply, "I am a doctor, lawyer, accountant, waiter etc." As a quick reply this is fine. However, what happens in many cases is we equate our job or position with who we are. Once we start doing this there is the danger that we will try to become what we think our role is, rather than just being what we are. I am a lawyer so I should act like one, and have all the things a lawyer has. Or at least be the things that the general population perceives in a lawyer. Teachers often fall into this trap. The idea that they are a teacher starts to colour all of their dealings with kids. Separation is created. Once that happens we lose much of our ability to relate to our children and guide them in a meaningful way. Yes, we are the teacher, but that is only our function. We are there to help lead, direct, give our experience, everything a teacher should be doing. The trick is to avoid falling into the illusion of duality. Teacher and student have their distinct function and purpose, but we are still human beings, equal and yet different. Once we identify with our role, we create the idea of superior and inferior. We gain self-importance and lose effectiveness. Try for just one day losing your identification with your role and start concentrating on your purpose. Then let it become a habit.

Let It Go

Letting go is difficult sometimes. Letting go of those we care about can be a huge challenge. Yet as teachers, it is something we do all the time, perhaps without even thinking about it. What other life choice entails meeting a group of young people with all sorts of diverse personalities, getting to know them, becoming completely involved in their lives, more than likely growing very attached and then after ten months having to let them go? Sometimes you may stay connected if they are in the same school, but frequently, aside from a couple of visits in September, they walk out of your life forever once the school year ends. I ask you, how many folks do you know, other than teachers who can do that? And the amazing thing is that each year we do the same thing. Somewhere, somehow, we develop the capacity to be so close to these kids and yet when the time comes, we can set them off with a minimum of clinging and pain. Pretty amazing! Now if you can do that, just think how much easier it is to let go of petty
issues and grudges you may be tempted to hold onto in your days at school, whether they involve students or staff. Please think about it.

Spring Cleaning

It's April and it's been a long year. No matter how uplifting you find your career, the stress that piles on each day starts we wear you down somewhat by this time of the year. The thought of all of the testing, marking, evaluating and reporting, while juggling all the clubs and activities that you all do can take their toll on your spirits. Remember, at this time in particular, to take time away from it all. Perhaps this is the time to take a couple of me/you days and just do the things you love to do; read, bike ride, hang out in nature or just hide away at home. Whatever you do, always be mindful that any feelings of hopelessness, being taken for granted or being overwhelmed are simply that. They are feelings, they come and they go. In the end they have nothing to do with our why we teach and they cannot affect our love for the kids we work with, unless we give them power. Step back and see that it's totally okay to be frustrated and tired. Then take some time for yourself, to rejuvenate, and then damn it, get back in there and enjoy those last couple of months of the year.