Keep Calm and Shoot Straight

A Blog for Teachers
by Mary Jean Powers

Photo by Feliphe Schiarolli on Unsplash

The month of May marks the end of the school year in many places around the world. Classrooms which were … just moments ago … filled with learning and laughter, head-scratching and furrowed brows, questions and answers and songs, are suddenly still. Another year, gone. The silence screams as you slowly bend to pick up a broken pencil from the floor, straighten a desk, re-pin a crooked chart to the wall, and stare at an abandoned water bottle. Fatigue is already settling in.

Rather than asking yourself the hard questions (which often have no answers) as you wander about your classroom …

• Did I do enough for him?
• Should I have had one more conversation with her parents?
• Where did that lesson go wrong?
• Why, oh why, did I never have breakthrough with her?

… let’s reflect on the year-gone-by through a different filter by asking questions such as these:

• What gift did each of my students give me, simply by being who they are?
• How did I grow because of them?
• How did each one challenge me to be a better teacher, a better person?
• What positive qualities did this class draw from me?
• How did I shine this year?
• What did I learn from and appreciate about each student?

If you had one more minute alone with each of your students, how would you finish this sentence:

“I feel privileged to have been your teacher this year, ___________, because you gave me the gift of …”

Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”  How has being an educator this year changed YOU and YOUR WORLD for the better?

About Keep Calm and Shoot Straight

I am a teacher. You, too? I hope you love the profession as much as I do! I was 16 when I got my first teaching gigs – I had 20 private piano students and a Sunday School class of 4 and 5-year olds! At that point in my “career,” my definition of teacher was very limited. But now – after 45+ years of experience – I have come to realize that teacher can mean many different things. I’d like to share some of those insights with you! My posts will range from quotes to prayers, from cartoons to words of wisdom. Much of my teaching experience has been international, so you'll get to watch some video stories from around the globe. Jesus is the best Teacher I know, so I will be including Him in this blog, as well. I hope my thoughts and my story will encourage, provoke, and inspire you to become the teacher you’ve been created to be!

For comments, email maryjean@getthewordout.cc
 

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