Because I Had Children

I went to an all-staff meeting last week. The professional development was the importance of building relationships. It's my favorite part of my job, getting to meet students on their level and helping them succeed from that point on. It's one of the reasons I became a teacher.  We were asked to create an "elevator introduction" for when we meet people. It should include our name, our position and what we want from the person we are talking to. The owner of the company said this, "My name is Jim Lee and I have the best job in the world."  Hopefully, it causes the person to ask what his job is and from there, he can tell them about this amazing company he started to help people from different walks of life, all backgrounds and even a variety of countries to get their high school diploma.  I love my job and one of the reasons is, that from the moment I started, I have felt valued at work.  After a wonderful PD and news about ways our company continues to grow ...

Recently, my sister mentioned that her boys don't understand why reading is so important. She asked me how to explain to her boys, the importance of reading. Immediately, my mind came up with a million reasons and I needed to write them all down and then my other sister responded with even more great reasons and now I have so many reasons to share but not enough time.  And, since they hate reading, I can't make this very long. So, this is for you Jake! FIVE reasons why reading is important in no particular order. 1. Reading is a way to learn about new people, places and things.  My favorite quote about reading comes from George R.R. Martin. It was hanging in my class from the first day I became a teacher, he said,  “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies . . . The man who never reads lives only one.” I loved this article from The Curious Reader about how reading allows us to have all the feelings that our characters have even if we haven't experienced them oursel...

 There are lots of reasons I wasn't able to continue teaching at my high school and it had very little to do with any one person or the school itself. It was about me getting my life back.  When I started working, I had 5 kids still left at home. I know that I was supposed to take that job for a reason. I know I was supposed to be there for the time I was but...I'm not that same person that I was.  In the five years I was working at the high school, four of my kids got married and I had four grandbabies join our family. My priorities changed. I also didn't realize the amount of time I would spend at home with my own children would be spent grading, lesson planning, tutoring, worrying, crying and praying over all of them. I loved them all but the pressure of all that became too much to manage.  The pandemic made everything seem excruciatingly more difficult, especially when it came to the worrying and praying. I quickly became overwhelmed and I decided I couldn't be a...

It's no secret that I've struggled with my mental health for the last several years. I've narrowed it down to the fact that I get overstimulated very easily. Teaching is like being in a constant state of overstimulation and even though we get "breaks" from it, I don't think I ever spent one week not thinking about lesson plans, teaching strategies or the multitude of "things" teachers have to deal with, working in education.  When I was a teenager, I took a few days off of school about every 6 weeks. I just knew I needed to sleep. I went to school all day, even taking classes during my lunch hour and I worked 15-25 hours each week at my part time job. In the spring, I ran track. As a young mother I was fortunate to stay at home with our children. Nap times were mandatory and we did not change schedules because this mama needed some quiet from the constant stress of caring for all those kids. And those kids kept coming! After I had our 6th, I remember...

I should finish that sentence with the words, "out loud." I am more of a pray in secret kind of gal. I don't know when it started, but I was pretty young. My prayers feel too personal to share sometimes. I've also been a terrible mother about praying with my kids because of that reason. I can shrug it off when my kids say my prayers are too long, but I want them to know this, I pray really well! Ha! I had a conversation with a friend the other day about how everyone prays in their own way. It resonated with me. I might not be the best at showing my family how much I rely on prayer to get me through every single day, especially the last several years but I'm here to explain how I pray just in case you're like me. Know this: Your prayers count. One of my favorite songs is from the LDS Hymnal #144, titled "Secret Prayer" by Hans Henry Peterson. I feel validated by it.  Verse one says: There is an hour of peace and rest, Unmarred by earthly care; ’Tis wh...

A lot has happened since the last time I posted. I did not sign my contract to teach for another year at my high school. Because of that, I was also told I could not coach. That was devastating but I was so low, I didn't even argue. Ultimately, my leaving had very little to do with my school or any person there, it mostly had to do with me. The last 18 months were harder than anything I've had to do in my entire life. Every single day was a struggle.  Covid protocols that didn't make any sense to me and the amount of hypocrisy around me was on some days unbearable. Teachers didn't want to come to school and would protest one day then post pictures on their social media about being at a hotel and out to dinner the same weekend. It was hard to stomach.  Social media hit an all time low for me just before school started and the comments like "you don't understand the seriousness of this dreaded disease" and "you don't know how to do research" re...