A small moment of gratitude

Dear colleagues:

It's November which traditionally is the month of giving thanks and being grateful. All sorts of people have been posting on social media and blogging about what they're thankful for. To no one's surprise, I'm also going to blog about what I'm grateful for. This year, what I'm grateful for is being able to change my mindset, whether it's dealing with my classroom, education, my relationships, or what's going on at that moment.

An excellent example of this was last Friday. I know how long it takes to get to work. I've been driving the same route for six years since we moved into our house. I give myself 15 minutes to get to work every day, and this day was no exception. What I did not anticipate was the incredibly thick fog. Whenever the weather is crazy, drivers either drive fifteen miles per hour over the speed limit or under. There is no in between. So I was dealing with stressful traffic, managed to hit ALL seven red lights on the way, and almost got into an accident. Another car and I were both (admittedly) "bombing" down a hill to try to make a green light. This other car was in the far right lane, and I was in the far left lane. The light turned yellow, and we both sped up when this other car switched over two lanes and cut me off. I had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting them and ended up missing the light.

While I'm sitting at the red light, I check the clock and realize I'm now late to morning duty. All of that made me start to cry. On a FRIDAY. At a red light. When I finally got to school, I walk in, and a colleague is in there waiting for me. She joins me on Fridays only to help with breakfast duty. We started talking about the weather and traffic because her commute was not great that morning either. She asked me where I lived and then asked when we bought the house. Right now the housing market along the Front Range of Colorado is HOT. People are buying homes, sight unseen, for well over the market price. The last five people that I know of that sold their houses all sold within 48 hours or less, at asking price or more.

She asked if we bought before the housing market exploded and I told her that not only did we purchase in 2011, we used a federal program to get our house! Good Neighbor Next Door is a HUD program that provides housing assistance to public servants. It is a lottery for select homes in older or struggling neighborhoods. The person who "wins" the house in the lottery has two mortgages on the house, each at half the price of the home. The person can also do renovations which are wrapped up in the cost of the home. After three years, one of the mortgages goes away. The idea is that the person can not only afford the house but also revitalize it! This, in turn, helps the neighborhood.

So during breakfast duty, I'm explaining all of this to my colleague and she is blown away. She's never heard about this program and can't believe how lucky we were. Telling her this story made me realize how #blessed I really am. Even though I had a bad morning, she helped me change my mindset instead to how grateful and lucky I am. I thanked her for helping me have a better morning and she, in a surprised tone, told me "You're welcome."

The whole point of this blog is to not only be grateful for what you have and thankful for the people around you, but be sure to help support a colleague see the positive in their lives. Make this week, before Thanksgiving Break, a good one! Take a moment to see, and help others recognize, small moments of gratitude.

Thanks for reading. I'll see you next week :)

- Rachel

@historicalipad

My Teacherspayteachers website

"In these trying times..."

Good morning colleagues! I am sitting on my parents' couch, back in Iowa, drinking a cup of coffee on a terribly foggy morning. I am in town for my nephew's graduation from high school... my nephew who was born when I was a little freshman in high school. I'm just getting all the feels!



My nephew attended a local public high school (of course, rival to my high school - Go J-Hawks!) that went through some notable public turmoil over the last two years. As a teacher, I was blown away by what happened. As a former resident, I didn't know the principal or the entire situation, but I knew enough to know that his forced resignation was devastating to the students. He was someone that built relationships with EVERY SINGLE STUDENT in the building of 1600 kids.. The class of 2017 made a decision about their graduation celebration - they did not want to hear a speech from the superintendent, but instead wanted to hear from the people they loved and admired. The students led the graduation, had the interim principal and counselors speak, and they voted on a keynote speaker. The class of 2017 chose Stacey Walker, Washington alum, and the current Linn County District 2 Supervisor.

This is Stacey Walker. Unfortunately, I had to steal this image from Twitter because there is NOT a creative commons sourced image of him! This is not at all surprising as he is from Iowa. *begin sarcasm font* Nobody famous is from Idawahio, right? *end sarcasm font* As I am sitting in the LONGEST graduation I have ever sat through to support my nephew (and I'm silently making fun of the teachers sitting next to the graduates), this man gets up to speak. My niece and I look at his speech and immediately roll our eyes. It is two pages long, single spaced, with what looks like 10 point font.

But when he opened his mouth, my niece said, "He sounds like Barack Obama!" And that he did. I was instantly engaged, impressed, and inspired! What blew me away, even more, was that he graduated from high school in 2006 FOUR YEARS after me.

Even though I have one day left of just teacher check-out, I wanted to inspire the rest of you through your remaining school year. I want this speech to remind you WHY you teach and HOW you influence and motivate your students every day.

This opportunity has caused me to revisit my formative years. Not just those glorious four years I spent in high school, but the time leading up to it as well. I was born to a single mother who raised me and my younger sister on the southeast side of Cedar Rapids... These were the places others referred to as the ghetto. We relied on food stamps and food drives, and other welfare programs just to get by... When (my mother) left that day, I would never see her again... After learning of her death, my sister and I went to live with our grandmother... I stand here today because she lived. 

It is important that I share my story with you this afternoon - the stories of the people whom I hold dear - because I hope you'll do it too one day. I hope that you will pay homage to those in your life - parents, teachers, mentors, coaches, and friends - who helped to get you to this point. No one can do it alone. We all had a little help getting here, and we all will need a whole lot more going forward. 

When you go from place to place, you will be encouraged by friends and caring adults to pursue noble careers... However, I implore you: seek the path that sets your soul on fire. Pursue your truth and your passions, and do good by others in the process, and surely, your life will be one of purpose and satisfaction... (w)e should recommend career paths that align with our values and our passions...

How do we make this happen... The answer is you. All 278 graduating seniors are here today and your peers across the country will soon have the opportunity to put your smarts and your energy to good use and make an impact on your community... Your partisan affiliation will never matter as much as the content of your character. What matters most is what's in your heart.

In these trying times, you are the greatest hope for a better future... We will rely on your curiosity and idealism which will lead to great discovery... This work is difficult. But no one here is asking for a break. That's not what Warriors do. We don't pray for easier lives. We pray to be made stronger women and men. We don't seek easy answers or cliched wisdom. Instead, we seek the challenge of the impossible...  

There is more work to be done in this imperfect world, and we're all relying on you. Let your thoughts - the chief glory of man - and your heart - the vital organ of morality - light your path, forever. 

Go forth, dream big, work hard, and change this world for the better.

"Be the change." I'll see you next week :)

- Rachel

@historicalipad

My Teacherspayteachers website

#satchat gratitude

Happy Saturday everyone! Hopefully, everyone is ready for a restful and relaxing week... as long as you have the week off, right?!

Last night at yoga, we were challenged, when stressed, to think of ways to demonstrate gratitude. As it is Thanksgiving week, I figured it would be apropos to blog about gratitude. It's been a stressful and trying year, so I should be grateful for many, many things.

My husband: Not only do we share love and companionship but we also both teachers. Even though our lives are incredibly taxing and we argue about school, we respect each other enough to be sounding boards. Sometimes we need to bounce ideas off of one another and other times we just need to vent. I can't imagine spending my teaching career with anyone else - no one else quite understands the trials and tribulations of this occupation. I can't imagine being with anyone else as we just understand each other, and have a shared ridiculous amount of love for our furry babies.

My friends: I have many friends that love and support me. Even though we are all stressed out, we can be there for each other when we need it. Sometimes it's for happy hour or a yoga class, or supporting my obsession with the Cubs during the World Series. They are my people and they are my family away from "home."

My family: I miss them dearly every day while I'm out in the Mountain West. It makes me happy to know that they are only a day's drive away if I need to visit. I am glad that I have been able to travel multiple times in the past year to see them. I am lucky that we have a good long distance relationship so that we can celebrate across the phone or internet. I am fortunate to have such good people in my life!

My Twitter family: Even though most are completely random strangers, they've impacted my professional career more than they know. In a time of, usually, awful PD, they've given me new ideas for my classroom and refreshed my excitement for my career. I am so grateful that any time I am down on my job, I go to Twitter for some renewing.

My job: Every job is frustrating and infuriating, not only my own. Sometimes I need to keep that in perspective. Especially considering that I work with some awesome people, have a supportive admin, have the flexibility to make my classroom my own, and have 1:1 devices that spur my creativity. We had a staff meeting this past week with the CEO of D49, and it reminded me how lucky I am to work in a fantastic district. I have a sweet schedule and set-up - I would not be as lucky elsewhere.

I could keep going on and on, but I will leave you with a list of "little" things for which I'm also grateful: Canon EOS 80Ds, espresso machines, Spotify, yoga, Younger, Kindle Paperwhites, avocados, and pickle popcorn.

Thanks for reading! Have a Happy Thanksgiving, and I'll see you in two weeks!

- Rachel
@historicalipad
My Teacherspayteachers website