“Flowers are red young man
Green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than the way they always have been seen.”
I was thirteen years old when I was lying on my mom’s bed talking to her while she folded laundry, when she said that she wanted me to listen to a certain song. I sat up and was totally captivated. She told me that she knew that all of our relatives and friends wanted me to do something very exciting in this world because I was so vibrant and dynamic, but that she had always seen the teacher in me and wondered if maybe I might head in that direction. I rarely thought about that incident until I actually began teaching and now with twenty-one years of teaching experience and as a parent of two teens, I think of it often, and, I think of teaching and parenting as being vibrant and dynamic. Those words of the great Harry Chapin, have played a huge role in my life as a teacher, as a parent and as a human being and I am thankful that my mom was my first mentor.
There were several times throughout my teaching career when I knew that if I perished the next day, I would have accomplished something great, only to carry on and think that I hope I do not perish the next day, as I have much more to accomplish. And I did...
Every area of my life is filled with reflective thought and my teaching practises were no different, neither is my parenting life. As an educator, I chose to file my plan books every year and only look to them for reflective purposes. I always liked to think about what worked and what did not. Every couple of years I would toss the plan books entirely so as not to look back. I feel that this practice helped me to internalize much of what I did, as well as what I know, as a teacher, but as a parent? I am in continual reflection, for I believe that …
“There are so many colors in the rainbow
So many colors in the morning sun
So many colors in the flower and I see every one”
...Ellyn
Harry Chapin. (1978). Flowers are Red. Living Room Suite [CD]. New York, NY: Elektra Records.
Green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than the way they always have been seen.”
I was thirteen years old when I was lying on my mom’s bed talking to her while she folded laundry, when she said that she wanted me to listen to a certain song. I sat up and was totally captivated. She told me that she knew that all of our relatives and friends wanted me to do something very exciting in this world because I was so vibrant and dynamic, but that she had always seen the teacher in me and wondered if maybe I might head in that direction. I rarely thought about that incident until I actually began teaching and now with twenty-one years of teaching experience and as a parent of two teens, I think of it often, and, I think of teaching and parenting as being vibrant and dynamic. Those words of the great Harry Chapin, have played a huge role in my life as a teacher, as a parent and as a human being and I am thankful that my mom was my first mentor.
There were several times throughout my teaching career when I knew that if I perished the next day, I would have accomplished something great, only to carry on and think that I hope I do not perish the next day, as I have much more to accomplish. And I did...
Every area of my life is filled with reflective thought and my teaching practises were no different, neither is my parenting life. As an educator, I chose to file my plan books every year and only look to them for reflective purposes. I always liked to think about what worked and what did not. Every couple of years I would toss the plan books entirely so as not to look back. I feel that this practice helped me to internalize much of what I did, as well as what I know, as a teacher, but as a parent? I am in continual reflection, for I believe that …
“There are so many colors in the rainbow
So many colors in the morning sun
So many colors in the flower and I see every one”
...Ellyn
Harry Chapin. (1978). Flowers are Red. Living Room Suite [CD]. New York, NY: Elektra Records.
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