A New School Year

Tomorrow is the first day of school....


I cannot believe how busy the last three weeks have been. I have sat through numerous workshops, training sessions, and brainstorming sessions. I have attended my first corporate summit and I shook hands with our Governor, Charlie Crist.
And I have had some major upheavals in my life lately, and through them all I have learned some valuable lessons.

The first lesson is to talk less and listen more. I got that advice a couple of weeks ago and I decided to put it into practice day one of my new job. Sitting in a room full of teachers means there are a lot of opinions, and some people just cannot resist the temptation to share every thought with the group.

I sat back and listened, and I learned a lot. I heard many good ideas and I also heard many people talk incessantly- and everyone got tired of hearing their voices.

Another piece of advice was to avoid the nay -sayers and keep my own attitude positive. There's always one (or two) in any group who loves to bring up the worst case scenario. They shoot down good ideas by pointing out all that could go wrong. I don't want to be sucked into that cesspool of negative energy.

The last lesson was to go with the flow. To let go and let things evolve. Our school was behind schedule for completion. On Friday we entered the building for the first time and encountered over 200 workers furiously finishing their work. On Saturday we were allowed to "decorate" our rooms with some restrictions. What I found when I entered my room was 30 desks crammed into a very small space, a cabinet that had been greatly abused by those who put it together, and the worst discovery for me, no desk!

I admit, it frustrated me beyond words. I had not planned to use my classroom for more than a small group session when I found out I was now going to be teaching a section of seventh grad language arts. The class roster is sitting at 30.

We do not have printers, any electronics for our classroom presentations, our rooms are still "under construction." Patience is now more than a virtue, it's a survival technique. I refuse to let myself get "fussed" over this stuff. It's going to all work out, eventually.

So I offer a prayer to all of us beginning the new school year:

Lord, I am your instrument. Use me well.
Allow me touch just one child.
Let me make a difference in their life. ~ Amen