Low Battery

Santa brought the Rosebros new phones for Christmas. I think the phone he brought them was the Iphone X.  Santa also discovered that these new phones can be wirelessly charged. So in their stocking they also received a wireless charging stand.  Even with the wireless charger and the regular charging cord, the Rosebros find themselves often with a low battery or no charge at all on their phones.

Teenagers these days use their phones. A lot.  Not only do they text, SnapChat, Instagram and Youtube, they play games. But they also use the utilities on the phone more than old people, like me use. I often see them using their phone do help with math homework. They look up information online. They also use their phone for projects, the flashlight, music, and a host of other things that I have no idea that my phone can perform.

Having a low battery is just common.

I was complaining about this low battery to one Rosebro when he, in his very charming way, said, “But, Mom, this way I can plug my phone in and then plug in with you-spending some time with you.”  He always knows how to get out of trouble. But as he was talking about “plugging in” I thought about us and spring break.

We are so much like that Iphone. We are constantly multi tasking. We are constantly performing so many duties. We are up early, we stay up late, we google, we take pictures, we research, we communicate, and the list continues on and on.

Have a low batter is just common.

We must, in order to work properly, recharge. Sometimes it is easy to just set it up and let it charge wirelessly. But sometimes we need to plug in and recharge. I hope that you do one or maybe both next week.  I hope you charge up by resting or I hope you charge up by being plugged in.  I hope you plug in with others, or a hobby, or a great book, or friends.

Whatever you do, concentrate on you and finding that charge you need to get to the end of the school year.

The end of the school year is super close, but we need so much intense energy.  Spring break is that little gift to help get us ready.

Have a great one.

Potential

These days I do a lot of reflecting. It is a tool that I’ve been practicing for many years. Some can call it paranoia, or control, or perfection, but the art of reflection has always been a tool I’ve used to help make me better.  I was reflecting or I suppose reminiscing about many of my experiences with my husband. I was tickled the other night when I remembered one of our very first fights after we were married. I unfortunately had “let him have it.” I let him know everything he had done wrong since the beginning of time. Two things I remember most about that fight was the fact that I told him if he ever talked to me the way I was talking to him that I would divorce him (um? What? How was that even fair?) and I remember my husband asking me, “Why in the world did you even marry me then?”  My quick reply to that questions was, “I think you have potential!!!”  And he really, really did meet and surpass any potential that I ever had for a life partner.   And he often forgave me for those moments when I let him have it….sadly often not deserved.

The day after I thought about that memory, I had a student in my office who had made some unfortunate choices. We were talking with her and her mom about how to start over and how to control some of those impulsive behaviors. We were making a really good plan when she said, “Why do you care anyway?”  It broke my heart. Could she not see that I care for her? Could she not see that I really, really don’t want to be her disciplinarian and that I really want to be her encourager, her cheerleader, her backbone, and her friend.  I looked at her and said, “I think you have potential.”

Often times I look at each of our students and see them as the 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, or 11 year olds that they are. But many times I look at them and see them as teenagers, as high school students, as college students, as adult citizens. I realize that many of the decisions that we make effect that teenager and that adult. I realize that I am looking at doctors in training, nurses in training, future teachers, future businesspeople future car mechanics, future policemen, and future jobs that have yet to be created.   Everything about our work as educators revolves around helping our students unlock their full potential. It seems so simple, so cliché.  Yet it really boils down to motivation.

Fostering our students towards their full potential means motivating them to push themselves, to create, to innovate, to fail, to work harder than they thought they could, to struggle, to succeed, and to explore. It is about teaching responsibility and dedication. Holding students accountable isn’t always fun. It doesn’t always win us the teacher popularity trophy. But it makes our students push themselves. Keeping our students engaged every minute of the day helps them reach their potential.  Is any of this easy? Nope.  Does this require extra time planning, executing, researching, and collaborating? You bet you, it does.

The thing about reaching potential is that it usually surpasses all understanding and our idea of their potential is shattered. They’ll become something amazing. But not without our hard work first. Are you willing to make that sacrifice?

Hashtags

I love hashtags. I know it is strange, but I find that they are like a great ribbon on a present. I enjoy exploring hashtags and linking hashtags to other people. Recently I created a new hashtag for my family. For a very long time our hashtag for #rosepartyof4. Not re-“hash” old pain, but we are no longer a party of 4 and we needed a new hashtag. I landed, with the help of a friend, on #brokenheartsbutfullofhope and this fits us just perfectly. We are broken hearted. We are hurt. We are in pain. But we have hope. We have hope that we will get through this together-with our faith and with our friends. We have hope that we will use this pain to help others one day. We hope that we can continue to build my husband’s legacy. We hope that we can continue to make him proud-he was always so very proud of me and our two boys. We hope above anything else that one day our broken hearts will be healed and we will be whole again.

One of the things that I’ve struggled with since my husband’s passing is how I can fill the void that will exists for my boys. There are so many things that we did as a family, but there are others that I avoided. One of those things is the love of Star Wars. Until recently I have never, nope not ever, seen any Star Wars movie. In one of my sleepless nights recently I watched Star Wars-A New Hope. The story takes place after the fall of Anakin Skywalker, the rise of Darth Vader and the conquering empire. It follows a boy and girl who are separated by galaxies but connected by bloodline and destiny. At some point in the movie, Princess Leia sends out a message of help. She very desperately says, “Help me Obi Wan Kinobi, you’re my only hope.”

It is an interesting statement and one of extreme desperation. You’re my only hope. While I felt for Princess Leia, I really started thinking about Obi Wan Kinobi.  It is hard to know that you’re someone’s hope. But that is what we are in this world of education. For so many of our students, we are not their “only” hope, but unfortunately we do have students where we are their only hope. Either way, we are hope for our students and it is a responsibility that we can’t take lightly.

In having hope, you need to be able to “see” the future. I was having a conference with a parent recently when I explained to the parent that while we are discussing a 7 year old, I am looking at that 7 year old as an 18 year old. I believe in the future of that student and so many others. We also must be committed to the process of learning. Achieving anything takes time and great care. The commitment to the process requires high levels of expectations and work. This can’t happen from a teacher pay teacher packet or a worksheet. It requires individualized learning and a deep relationship with a student.

In that same Star Wars movie another character states, “the hard is what makes it great!”  No written words could be more true.

There is no easy or quick way to give hope to students. But it is possible. And not only is it possible, it is our responsibility. 

Without hope, there is very little else to continue the hard work.