Everything I Needed to Know About Teaching...

College graduations are taking place across the country in these upcoming weeks.  

Bright-eyed, young adults, who are now in debt, will be making their way to the professional work place.  As a college graduate, you have spent the past four (or more) years preparing for your dream job.  For us, it was to have our own classroom.  The theory classes...learning about different learning styles...writing lesson plans with objectives, goals and standards that took up three pages...the great class we spent the past five months student teaching with definitely prepared us for what our rookie year would be like.

Turns out...we were wrong.

Yep.  All that "stuff" they taught you couldn't really prepare you for what that first day or year was like.  The theory classes and lesson planning allowed you to know your students and effectively teach to their needs, but there is nothing like "baptism by fire" to really make you a teacher.

What did they forget to teach you in college to prepare you for teaching?  I mentioned yesterday that you don't really understand April in a school until you live it.  No lecture by a college professor can adequately prepare you for the feeling inside a school during these last months...in fact, they don't even mention what it is like to be a teacher during the month of December or the last three weeks of the school year. 

Check out this teacher's insight on what she failed to learn in college to prepare her for teaching.  

She must of went to Northern State University...or even worse...the U...

http://www.weareteachers.com/blogs/post/2016/03/24/what-they-forgot-to-include-in-my-education-degree

PS:  I am glad I learned humor in college.  Humor is essential during these times to recharge ourselves and know that we are in this together.

Playing Until the End

I don't follow NBA basketball anymore.  I know players, but my view of them is different than how I viewed those from my childhood who are the greats:  Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and of course, Michael Jordan.  It has been years since these men have hit the court, but people remember their name, their talent, and some pretty awesome shots.

Today is April 13th.  Kobe Bryant will play his last game tonight after 20 years in the NBA.  He started his career as a kid.  He was 17 years old and fresh out of high school when he was drafted.  He is now 37 years old and is lacing up his shoes (and they really are his shoes...they have his name on them...Nike has made them just for him) for the last time.  In November, he wrote a piece entitled, "Dear Basketball" letting us all know that his body was telling him no more.

http://www.theplayerstribune.com/dear-basketball/

What a legacy he has left.  He has become one of the greatest.  People love him because he is so good.  People hate him because he is so good.  Like all of us, there are things in his past that are not so good, but there are lots of things that are great.  

As we prepare to watch Kobe tonight in his last game, remember about falling down and getting up.  This is the toughest stretch of school.  How do you handle adversity?  How do you handle the days when you feel like the students have checked out and you were just talking to the wall?  How do you handle situations when your body and mind says "no more", but your heart says "keep going"?  Dig deep and get to the root of your passion.  Face each day with a positive attitude and, if needed, a cup of coffee.  Live like today may be your last day to lace up your sneakers...and do what you need to do to leave a great legacy.