Teaching and Discovery

As a teacher, by trade and by calling, I find this quote not only accurate, but also comforting. In an age where 'accountability' is being doled out like candy to every classroom teacher, there appears to be a strong tendency to forget that, although impressionable and somewhat malleable, children and youth have their own intelligence, will and self-determination. They have to be interested in the discovery.

As a teacher, I am also a perpetual learner ~ what is referred to as a 'lifelong learner.' My natural curiosity and desire to discover and do new things keeps me alive to the further discovery of myself. I have an understanding of the learning process as Galileo describes it. The discovery within myself is the passion and interest I have for a subject ~ some are more deeply embedded than others. Although I have a fair knowledge of and capacity for mathematics, that's not my passion nor my first choice interest. My passion lies more in writing, philosophy and other similar areas.

What strikes your passion? How do you learn best? What was the essential quality of your favorite teacher? How is that quality reflected in your life?

Drawn by Love

One of the best ways to take care of yourself is to find out what it is you truly love. Not who you love, but what you love. Really.

I've been reaching for what I love for awhile. Nothing big or important ~~ Ha! It's what brings my heart to life.

What draws me? Writing. I love to sit down with pen and paper or with my fingers on a keyboard and write. Sometimes I'm better at expressing what I want to say, but I love to simply get thoughts, ideas, dreams, notions down in some form.

What else draws me? Teaching. When an idea I have presented lights up a student's face it's one of the most satisfying feelings in the world. I want to expand my teaching environment from the public schools, where I've been lucky to teach for a bunch of years, to .... I'm not quite sure what yet. Part time? Private school? A totally different venue? We'll see where it draws me.

What about you? What draws your heart? What have you found that you love? Are you pursuing that path?

Go With the Wild

Rose is a Rose comic for 01/01/14:

When this comic caught my eye, it really hit home. I've been wavering between impulsively shifting from my current job to ... well, something else ... and something with not as stable an income or staying with the current structure. Internally, it's been a focus of the past several months. There are many reasons for the wavering. I've had the structure of my job for many years. Not the specific job, but the role of being a teacher within a public school structure. It's one of the most stable positions around. And yet ... there are many questions about the direction of public education. Questions of outcomes; questions of accountability; questions of the basic stability of the system itself. More than that, I sense that the time has come for the younger educators to really take charge. I want to write, to work in other realms of education, to share other facets of my learning and knowledge in other ways.

So, as Rose ponders her choices, I continue to ponder my own.

What in your life could benefit from living impulsively? What needs structure and stability? Is there a way to balance the two?