I’ve been meaning to start this series since 2016 called What does it mean?
If you don’t already…you’ll love this guy.
“A full-on double rainbow all the way across the sky!!” Pure glee, people.
Please tell me you’ve seen this video!
My favorite line is, “What does this mean??”
In the midst of pure ecstasy, he can’t help but wonder if there’s hidden meaning to his miraculous sighting.
My “What does this mean??” moment
My moment was during my short-lived teaching career. I taught fourth grade for two years before getting pregnant with our first son.
My first year teaching was, to date, the most challenging year of my life.
I was overwhelmed and stressed out to the point that I wondered if my life-long dream of being a teacher was all a farce.
I was handed a class of challenging kids, some who barely spoke English and some with major behavioral issues. The teacher I’d taken over for was a former member of the military and soon to retire so you can imagine her class list. It was mid October and she hadn’t even put up bulletin boards and she had no classroom management system in place. College could have never prepared me for what I dealt with.
The teacher next door was a pro. Her class of 5th graders were attentive, well-behaved and eager to learn. I marveled at how she ran her class. I was desperate to learn her secrets so I asked her.
“You just have to stay on top of them. Show them you’re the boss. Hold them to high standards.”
I’m a learner. I’m a go getter. But come Monday morning, I had no idea how to DO those things.
I asked myself, “What does this mean??”
A friend in the next hall over knew I was struggling and offered to help me. She took me shopping at the teacher supply store (I didn’t even know I had credit there). She helped me create a positive classroom management system. We worked on my bulletin boards, set up learning stations, rearranged the kids’ desks and improved my daily schedule and routines.
She got in there, got her hands dirty and turned my year around. Without her, I’m convinced I would have quit.
I know people mean well when they give you advice like the first teacher gave me. They’ve been doing things their way for so long, they probably don’t even know HOW they do it! It’s natural to them. It’s their methodology and their habits.
The second teacher SHOWED ME what it meant to be the boss, be on top of them and hold them to high standards.
And that’s what I have resolved to do as a writer, too…show you what those platitudes and cliches actually mean and how to embrace them.
They circulate around because people know they’re true. But if it’s not yet ingrained in you, you need someone to show you what it means.
Thus my “What does it mean??” series.
I’m so excited about this! Stay tuned!
***I’ll place links to the posts below as they are published***
What it means to start showing up Part One: Being in the moment
Leave a Reply