The beautiful woman in the black and white photo is my maternal Grandmother; NaNa – Dorthy Marie. NaNa left this physical earth almost 30 years ago, while she may not be a part of my physical life she is defiantly a part of my social-emotional and spiritual life! However, I also realize as I continue to age I physically resemble this lady I love so much – right down to the crooked grin. NaNa is my inspiration for my thoughts today and part of my #oneword2018 RESTORE.
I read a blog post by Chuck Poole What’s In Your Teacher Cary-On? This post got me thinking once again about packing respect and success in my teacher carry-on when working with students and teachers.
For me, respect is just naturally given and also earned. Being from the south I was raised to respect others. My grandmother played a huge role in shaping my value of respect. Due to the early death of my grandfather, my grandmother moved in with us when I was eight years old. Over the years my grandmother taught me her principles and thoughts around respect. While she didn’t always get along with or agree with individuals she always showed and gave them respect. Ideas and thoughts don’t always have to be agreed upon, yet individuals need to respect each other and be willing to listen to and discuss ideas and thinking. Through those interactions I learned from NaNa about respect I work to live my life in the same way; giving respect even if I don’t always get along with or agree with the individual.
Success is a value I view in the aspect that I believe every individual, no matter the age, wants to learn and do well. As a child success did not come easy for me. Over the years I had many great teachers who influenced my life and supported my learning in order for me to become successful, yet one teacher stands out from the rest, Mrs. Devlin. Mrs. Devlin was my high school English teacher my freshman and senior years. My freshman year I am sure she saw me as this little “ditzy” blonde who was just happily bouncing her way through life. I was not the strongest student and reading was a challenge for me. My freshman year I had minimal success. School continued to be one of those pieces in my life that I just needed to get through. My senior year was when I finally experienced the success I needed to continue to move forward and really understand the value.
In school, I tried hard with little effect. Mrs. Devlin changed that for me with the acknowledgment that I did not understand vowel sounds. While I realize that sounds a bit archaic, it was that simple. I knew enough about reading to get through the reading and had strategies to support myself and get the basic understanding of what was going on, but there was still a piece missing. One day she shared a simple scrap piece of paper in which she wrote the vowel and then a simple drawing to help me remember the sound the letter makes (a = apple, e = egg, i = Indian, o = octopus, and u = umbrella). Thirty-one years later I can still see that scrap piece of paper. Those sound representations supported my learning for many years.
As a special education teacher, I completely empathize with my students. Which makes celebrating my student’s success, no matter the size, that much sweeter! I have had the pleasure of witnessing many successes from many students over the years. Success is there for everyone!
As I continue my journey this year to RESTORE what is strong and needed in my life I will also keep my teacher carry-on of respect and success in the forethought of my mind. Everyone deserves and needs respect and success!
Timothy 4:7 was the main message from the sermon at church a few weekends back. With my #oneword2018 of RESTORE, this all fits in so well. I am working this year to create a clean heart and restore the joy of God’s salvation along with regaining or keeping possession of what is good.