Today, I am grateful for trees and the shade they provide. Today was students' last day using specific class time to be out of the classroom to be able to record their podcast episodes. It has been interesting and infuriating to experience trying to find spaces where students are allowed on campus without being accused of doing something wrong. I believe our students need time to be away in order to process and think about what they are learning and wanting to say. I believe in creating experiences for students to create something from what they learned helps students think about their thinking in a different way. 99% of the students said they had never created a podcast before and the 1% was in my class last semester when we did a project of creating a podcast. Today was freaking hot and the trees were great for keeping somewhat cool.
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Today, I am grateful to be able to a mental health day and spend the day with good people. I met Otto this year and this year has been one of my most enjoyable years in the last few years of teaching. I owe much of that to him and our two class periods that we co-teach. I met Madine this year and his retirement is both dope and sad because I was only able to be his colleague for one year. I met Mowery this day and he is a retired Tempe High Math teacher. Teaching is a cool profession because you have the opportunity to meet people. I know I am not everyone's cup of tea but being accepted in and invited to events is cup-filling. I am a firm believer of mixing ages of people together to be able to have conversations that range in topics and open up the opportunities to learn and think about things in a possibly different perspective. Today, I am grateful for my experience at Arizona Education Associations Delegate Assembly! I love getting together with like-minded individuals who have a passion for education and just, equitable schools for all students. I was able to listen to Governor Hobbs talk about how the State Budget is a step in the right direction for Public Education and Educators but there is still a lot of work to do. This was a great way to kick off the event because her words celebrated the huge victory of having a pro-public education governor but also acknowledging the difficulties of getting things done when there is a majority in the state legislature that does not support public education and wants to expand vouchers. Public Education is a common good that when fully funded and educators are respected and treated as professionals. I love the work the direction of NEA, AEA and what we are doing as TSEA and what it means for our collective power! Today, I am grateful to be able to attend my sons end of year concert. He is getting so big and has come a long way from turning his back to the crowd for the whole performance. I cannot believe he is going to be in 2nd grade next year! Today, I am grateful for being a teacher. Here are the reasons I am a teacher:
I can't believe I am almost done with my 10th year of teaching. Wild. Today, I am grateful that people are waking up to the fact that we all have to play a part in ending our unique american problem of gun violence. Gun violence at schools. Gun violence at places of worship. Gun violence at parks. Gun violence at music festivals. Gun violence at grocery stores. Gun violence at clubs. Gun violence at movie theaters. All of it needs to end and we all need to advocate and pressure our elected politicians to do what they should be doing. This is not a problem in a vast majority of the world. This is america. It is tragic. I want my kids to live, grow and thrive in a safer place than I am currently living in. We have a lot of work to do! Today, I am grateful for going through this process of identify areas in my life that I am grateful for. This year has been interesting. I have really enjoyed the people that I am working with. I have been able to wear my mask to hide the hurt that I have been having in my personal life. I am reminded by the article (click on the image) about the scientific results of expressing or thinking about gratitude. 1. Gratitude unshackles us from toxic emotions 2. Gratitude helps even if you don’t share it 3. Gratitude’s benefits take time 4. Gratitude has lasting effects on the brainDay 50 is wild! This paragraph represents the science around what is happening in our brain when we go through expressing gratitude, Most interestingly, when we compared those who wrote the gratitude letters with those who didn’t, the gratitude letter writers showed greater activation in the medial prefrontal cortex when they experienced gratitude in the fMRI scanner. This is striking as this effect was found three months after the letter writing began. This indicates that simply expressing gratitude may have lasting effects on the brain. While not conclusive, this finding suggests that practicing gratitude may help train the brain to be more sensitive to the experience of gratitude down the line, and this could contribute to improved mental health over time. " This is something that I am going to continue to do with my students so that they can have this positive experience.
Today, I am grateful for being able to spend time with my son doing something we both enjoy, golfing. Being able to be outside and hitting golf balls is awesome! Yesterday, we went to Arizona Grand. It was my first time playing the course and it seemed like every shot the ball was either above or below my feet, never flat. When it is not flat, every shot is harder! I love seeing my little boy running around and talking about how awesome his shot was because it went far. My buddies are fun to be around and joke about how we are playing. What a great day yesterday was! Can't wait to do it again! Today, I am grateful for being able spend time with my son and have good food. My son beat me in Garbage and was so excited. I made up a rule that if we both "go out" than you cannot win so we went to 4OTs. Even making up a rule, I could not get the victory. My boy was so happy. I did nothing to deserve the joy that my son brings me. I love him with all my heart. |
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Header (above) - Black Hills, SD, 2013 Portrait (below) - Me! Compadre High School, 2021 Dylan WinceI am not a writer. Archives
May 2024
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