Wow this weeks reading has made me put on the brakes and take a good look at myself and my contributions in life. I have grown up a very competitive person and even now find myself terrified of failure due to an overwhelming drive to be successful. Zander explains that unlike success and failure, contribution has no other side.
Zander has his students do an activity where they have to write down their contributions for the week. I sat here and tried to come up with a list of contributions I have made thus far this week and embarrassingly I could not come up with many. It seems right now in life I am so caught up in getting my own stuff done and surviving life, that I have not made much of a contribution to life at all. I am so focused on accomplishing that I have lost track of contributing.
After reading this chapter I really found myself in need of switching from survival mode to growth mode. My goal this week is to work towards making more contributions. I am also going to work on creating an activity for students to focus more on how to contribute to life and make the ripples necessary for positive change.
The Rule of 6 is also an area I need a ton of work in. I find that I can really get caught up in my calculating self and definitely need to work on lightening up. We make the day what it is and if we get caught up in the measurement world we can loose focus on what is really important in life. I would like to sit here and say all of the ways I can work on incorporating these concepts into my classroom, but the truth is I need a lot of work on myself before I feel I can truly teach there concepts to my students.
Lesson learned: humor and laughter are possibly the best ways we can get over ourself!
Someone shared that if we don't believe in ourselves then it's difficult to encourage and support others. We educators cannot hide behind our subject matter or school structures. It doesn't matter anyway because our students are always learning and observing us and putting together their vision of reality and the future based on what they see in us, how we treat each other and whether we're comfortable in our own skin. So, being able to laugh at ourselves is an essential tool in our task to equip the next generation.
ReplyDeleteJodi,
ReplyDeleteYou have high expectations for yourself, as we all do. I too have found myself in survival mode, just making it through the day with 20 six year olds, their parents, my leadership committee, math committee, Child Assistance team roles, 15 month old, two teen boys and so on. It's crazy how lost in the need to survive I can be. Honestly, I tell Jeff all the time, "What are we going to do when we are finished with this program and just go back to being really busy as opposed to crazy busy?" We'll have a life again. :)
Jodi,
ReplyDeleteYou are not alone.
I too am an incredibly driven individual. And, while I've talked about my behavior and competitive nature with friends and family, I'm often at a loss as to what is driving these tendencies.
Furthermore, I too feel that I've practically "lost" an entire year to grad school. It is easy to feel caught up with your own world when a program or life event such as this can be so demanding.
In all, this has been a challenging year. I've lost touch with many of my regular friends and associates, and in many ways, feel somewhat isolated from my community. That said, I do think that a perspective that embraces contributions can help significantly. I feel blessed to be working in education, and I'm also incredibly thankful that I've had the opportunity to learn and grow with you and the rest of our EMDT cohort in such an exciting and inspiring environment.
Rest assured, you already are working towards contributing meaningfully in the lives of your students. This program is helping all of us broaden our horizons and preparing us for a rewarding and exciting career enriching young minds.
Good post, and god work.
Life is universal. We all get bogged down with one or many things. How we deal with them defines who we are. As you, I was pre-occupied with many things to complete. Taking two classes at one university, four more at a another university, preparing for a State Exam, preparing to teach 186 students Trigonometry, and taking classes through Full Sail.
ReplyDeleteI am exhausted, but I do sense room for air approaching. Full Sail will be over and my State Exams will be done. After this semester, I will have only one class to complete.
We all have to look that there is always an ending in site, but we must stay focus on what keeps us human and alive. We must still enjoy life.
Jodi,
ReplyDeleteWe are all guilty of thinking about what needs to be done in the correct manner on a daily basis. We try to leave no room for error. We want to be perfect. As I type this, I laugh because that little thing called life can make this entirely impossible. As a single parent, I plan my day. Sometimes, I get these little unwanted hurdles that make me stop and say "Every delay is for a reason".
Many times I don't know what that delay is, but I try to think on the positive and do what I can when I can. Your last quote is a prescription for survival, laughter is a must for any day to be complete.
Excellent post!
I find Jodi’s reflection about the reading of the week very interesting. Like her, I am fully convinced that certain types of readings motivate the analysis and deep reflection about our contribution to the purposes of life and a certain way about what we would contribute to the welfare of others.
ReplyDeleteIt is absolutely true that almost always we are dedicated to solving the day to day but then we forget to project our further efforts to sow seeds of our future hopes. Those who serve as teachers have the opportunity to help their students grow to values as promoted in the book; after all one of their most important commitments is to teach values.
Jodi’s reflection about the rule of 6 is also a reflection of what actually occurs with most people, at times the weight of responsibility overwhelms us and we are not able to isolate a bit in order to find that Life also has other wonderful things that we are leaving.
Jodi,
ReplyDeleteYour post is very self-realizing. It is necessary for all of us to look closely at our own practices in order to progress. Usually, we are greater critics of ourselves than others are, but the growth we can make as a result of our own inner drive can be monumental. Great work.