Follow Your Dreams

8 weeks.

To an eager expectant mom, the first 8 weeks of a pregnancy can seem to glide by. To a teacher in the happy chaotic last days of the school year, 8 weeks can seem to drag on. For me, as a teacher, it seemed to be somewhere in the middle. There were many topics I wanted to cover in more depth and more projects I wanted to do, but end-of-year testing, traditional sports tournaments, year end activities and assemblies kept our schedule pretty booked. 

Along the way, I hoped to share some valuable Life Skills as they journey through life in the midst of finding the volume of an object, Civil War, and opinion writing. I told them several times each day,"I want you to be successful." When they showed me their work and asked if it was good enough, I looked right back at them. "Is it YOUR best? What do YOU think?" They should be their best judges of their capabilities.

A few other Life Skills I hope they will take with them included:
1. Make good choices. Every act is their choice, followed by their consequence. If you have to make a choice, make it a good choice.

2. Quality Work. If I charged $5 for every No Name paper, ohhhhh, I'd be rich!

3. Focus. First Things First. I always listed what we were doing on the board, then, as needed, numbered by priority. All I had to do while walking around checking on wayward chatterboxes was ask,"So....what are we supposed to be doing?" They couldn't get away with saying they didn't know. Nope. Not in my class :)

4. What do YOU think? I asked that alot, especially in history. Tell us your stance, then why you believe that.

5. Follow your dreams. I touched on this a few times. I read a few stories from a Chicken Soup for the Soul book to start off a journal entry, teacher-read-aloud, or go along with something we were studying.

I left a well paying job just over a year ago; it was a dream I'd had - to have a good paying manager job, to make processes more efficient and organized, to help others become better and somehow achieve their dreams along the way. I was great at my job, however, a few things started happening and I knew deep down my talents were capable of much more. I left that behind for a better dream: Time with my children. Time to fill my days with purpose and worthwhile, meaningful achievements. Time to do what I wanted. Time to, perhaps, make a positive ripple in someone else's life along the way, whether it was at my home or in another's home. My dream changed for the better.

After I got this note today from one of my sweet students, I did a few happy cartwheels on the inside. And shook mental pom-poms doing a dance. Go figure!

8 weeks. If she remembers anything I taught, and mostly, to follow her dreams...it will be all worth it.