Sunday, May 3, 2015

Let it be written, let it be done

Feeling the sun's warmthI walked outside today, felt the warmth of the sun on my face, looked up and said, "Thank you for this moment. It's nice to see you again. It's been a long time since I've felt your light."

Here in Southeastern Michigan we've had a couple warm days since Spring began, but on those days I've either been dealing with weather/pressure related headaches or I've been stuck inside doing school work.Today was the first warm day I could actually go out and enjoy.

I found out earlier this week that the proposal I wrote for the NCTE convention in November with Kevin English, Amy Watkins, Lindsay Grady, and Dave Stuart was accepted. Our session is called Doing More Isn't Doing Better: How to be an English Teacher and Have a Life. Truth be told, I had an inkling of an idea for this session a few years ago but I was really hoping someone else would come up with this idea and present about this topic because I wanted some answers. Turns out, if you want something done you've gotta do it yourself. So just like Kevin and I took a stance this year that Students CAN Write and learned as we went, so too will we learn as we go about How to be an English Teacher and Have a Life.

I'm starting today. By sitting in the sun, feeling its warmth, and not feeling guilty about all those writing assignments I need to grade and lessons I need to plan right now. I'm choosing to have a life and to be present in this moment rather than worrying about everything that is unfinished. There is ALWAYS something that is unfinished when you're a teacher. And so, my mantra for the 2015-2016 school year and the rest of this school year will be: doing more isn't doing better.

Let it be written, let it be done.

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