Bouncing Back from the Bottom: Learning from Failure

What is Failure?

At some point in life, everyone experiences failure. Yes, failure and hitting the bottom is a part of life. While looking up from the bottom, I’ve learned a few lessons. However, failure means different things to different people.  According to Dictionary.com definitions include:

  • Lack of success or proving unsuccessful
  • Non-performance of something due, required or expected
  • A person or thing that proves unsuccessful

As an educator, what does failure mean to you? Does it mean not meeting a goal? Or does hitting the bottom mean your students not meeting expectations on the state assessments? For me, failure really took me for a loop when was fired from a job that was very important to me. I was totally blindsided and defeated by the loss. I didn’t see it coming and couldn’t understand how or why it happened. After, all I gave the district and students years of loyalty, hard work, and dedicated service. Was this the reward I received for being a good employee? I was devasted! The opportunity to say goodbye to my students, parents, and staff was lost. I needed closure. Then I hit the bottom. In my eyes, I was a failure.

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Calm Yourself Down! Five Easy Tips to De-Stress

Time to Calm Down

Stress showed up early! It’s one of those days. You need to calm yourself down. Getting out of the house was a hard sale. Your own kids didn’t want to get out of bed this morning.  Traffic was jammed pack and a thirty-minute drive turned into an hour. Stepping into the school, you hear the office secretary call you over the intercom system. Walking to the office to see what’s going on, you’re stopped by a coworker. He wants to know if he can borrow some books from your classroom library. Sure, it’s not a problem and you continue to the office. You feel your shoulders tense up and your head hurts.

Finally, you arrive in the office. The principal and a parent wait to meet with you. The parent is upset about her child’s grade on a test and wants an explanation of your grading process.  The students arrive in ten minutes! You are cramped for time. During the meeting, you look at your watch several times.  The parent is irate and you can’t seem to appease her. The meeting ends on a negative note. Now, you’re feeling flushed. Your students are coming in the door. Somehow, you need to calm down!  Continue reading →

Don’t Be Ashamed of Your Knowledge

Recently, a relative told me that I am always in teacher mode and need to shut it off sometimes. It took me aback for a moment because I try hard not to talk about work during off hours. Sometimes, I try hard to keep my mouth closed even though I know the latest research or current events on a variety of topics. I just sit, listen and observe the conversation or interactions.

I admit that I’m somewhat of a nerd and enjoy searching for the latest news and trends in education, current events, politics and more. Also, I enjoy politely conversing about many topics with friends, family, and colleagues. When this happens, no one in the conversation is trying to show off how much he or she knows but trying to engage socially with like minds. Engaging socially is healthy for one’s mind, body and spirit. So, why is it so difficult to get a healthy dose of conversation and show how much knowledge and wisdom one possesses. Continue reading →