Ringing Like a Bell

"I hated it when my teachers did that! It was so unfair," I hear that statement or similar ones pretty frequently in social situations. Sometimes it's awkward. Someone will say, "I hated it when my teachers punished the whole class for what one person did." How am I supposed to respond to that? I'm guilty of the thing this other person just declared that he hates. What's worse is that I used to be just like him and think the same thing -- until I became a teacher. Now I know. Things aren't always what they seem to be. People are particularly nasty when it comes to talking about tests or as we call them now "assessments." Nobody likes being tested; it's a lot of pressure. You are judged, graded, and evaluated. Most of the time the results are less than favorable. I have heard, more than once, teachers say things to students along these lines, "I wish we didn't have to have tests, that we could just learn, but that's n...

Each Thursday after school a group of students meets in my room. There aren't many of them, but that's okay. Each week a different one of them offers a brief devotional, and they pray. They pray for all sorts of things, but, most importantly they pray . I'm not able to participate in the group with them because of school guidelines about staff and religious activities, but I can offer them a place to meet and my supervision. Interestingly, I think my being just an observer is a good thing. First of all, the students bear the responsibility for the group. The decisions are theirs -- not mine. Second, watching them has been such a gift. Let me explain.  I know most of them outside school from church or the community. I teach in a small town, so I get to know my students in their actual lives -- not just as bodies in a classroom. The Bible Buddies, as they call themselves, have encouraged me so much. Each of them takes leadership and discipleship seriously. They are commit...

I decided today to write a little update about my dessert fast. If you'll recall, I explained it all four months ago in my post called Confessions of a Sugar Addict . So that means I haven't had any cake, ice cream, or candy for a while now. At first it was really hard. In fact, I dreamed about it -- a lot. Every dream went something like this -- I'd be in a store walking around shopping. Then I'd look down at a package of candy in my hand, usually chocolate, and I would start eating it. About the time I was really enjoying it, taste and all, I would remember that I was supposed to be doing this dessert fast. I'd spit the candy out and feel terribly guilty for forgetting about God and the commitment I've made. I had that dream several times for the first two months. Now, I haven't had a dream like that in a several weeks, thankfully. I don't feel like the longing for sugar is constantly nagging at the back of my mind anymore. I've also managed ...

One Christmas when I was in high school the adult ladies Bible class at my church, The Hamilton Church of Christ , decided to host a special dinner for the teen girls in our congregation. Each of us was paired up with a lady from the class as our 'buddy' for the evening. My buddy was Ms. Fayrene. When she came to pick me up, I gave her the Christmas pot holder set I'd picked out for her a few days before. She acted like I'd just given her a check for a million dollars, and right away she started talking about how much she loved the Christmas season, exclaiming that the gift was perfect. I'd always known her in a general way, but until I sat down in the front seat of her car, we'd never really talked one on one. She was wonderful. She asked me about my life and listened intently to what I had to say. The twenty minute ride to nearby Winfield was over in the blink of an eye. At The Boar's Butt (yes, it had a drive through), we stepped into a fabulously d...

I end up focusing on a quote or motto every year. I don't plan it. It happens organically. Like many other people who work serving others, it takes a lot to keep me going. I don't do my job for money or fame, so my motivation has to come from somewhere else. It's the same for other teachers, nurses, customer service representatives, or anybody else that spends lots of time helping other people. The first year I taught, it was Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me," for obvious reasons. Yep, that year was quite a challenge, but whatdaya know -- Christ did strengthen me, and I made it through. A few years later, it ended up being a quote by this lady named Lorie Keene, " Whether we are biological mothers or not, each of us has been given a special gift as a woman that   can be used to love, cherish, encourage, and nurture the children God places in our circle of influence ." I've already written about that yea...

It's a lot like playing Whack-a-mole. I wake up in the morning and think, "Okay, today I'm going to work on my pride." Off I go focusing on being humble, and the next thing you know I'm complaining. I focus on kindness and I start being lazy. I focus on having more faith and begin wasting money on stupid stuff. It drives me crazy because I'm a perfectionist. I want to get it all right all the time. The thing is that people have been trying to be perfect for a long time. Take Benjamin Franklin for example -- he developed this system for himself that, frankly, sounds exhausting. He called it " the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection ." He explains the whole thing in his autobiography.   He literally kept track of thirteen virtues every day. When he began keeping his charts as a young man, he figured out some hard truths. He says, "I was surprised to find myself so much fuller of faults than I had imagined." In th...

Everyone I've talked to has said, "They're an investment." I haven't met a single person with a pair of Dansko shoes who doesn't love them. I'm sure there's somebody out there, but it isn't anyone I know. Other teachers, nurses, friends, even my school's principal have all said the same thing. All I did was mention that I was thinking about getting a better pair of teacher shoes. That little opening did it. I heard all about how I would buy a pair and never go back. Lately my feet and lower legs have been just a little bit tired and achy. My shoe philosophy since I started teaching has been to buy shoes that are decent but not too pricey. I also have to admit a weakness for shoes that match a particular dress or look lovely, so I've suffered for fashion sometimes. I started to google 'teacher shoes' and ask around. The result? Like I already said, everybody is crazy about Dansko. Not the best looking shoes in the world, but und...

"Do you know where my mama's at?" Apparently this is the quote I was known for when I was just barely old enough to talk, for good reason. I have had this lifelong anxiety about being separated from my family. I've always felt completely confident to go anywhere or do anything as long as there's a family member with me. I'll bet there's a 'phobia' just for this. I'm googling it right now. *Cue annoying elevator music.* Wow. Okay, here's a direct quote from childrenshospital.org: "Many kids struggle with a specific fear of being physically separated from their parents or other family members. This is known as separation anxiety disorder (SAD) ." That's it! That's exactly how I've always felt. I don't really know why. I've thought about it a lot.  Maybe it's because I'm essentially a shy person, an introvert. I know some of you are snorting with laughter right now because you're thinking the...

I nearly made that "Redneck-ognize," but I thought that might be one Honey Boo Boo reference too many. I hear my students say this phrase sometimes, usually when they are upset with someone else or at least pretending to be. Funny word, recognize . I've been thinking about it a lot lately. Have you ever embarrassed yourself when you think you see someone you know? You know me. I've totally done it: One day I was walking across the campus at UNA, and I seriously thought I saw my friend Angie coming toward me. She was in a completely different town going to a completely different school at the time, so it made no sense for her to be at my university, but the more I looked, the more convinced I was that it was her. The girl I saw walked like her, had hair like her, and even dressed like her. It was probably some sort of psychological illusion because I really love my friend. She's like a walking party, and I was probably having a bad day or something -- wishful...

"MAMA! He did it again!"  When we were little, my brother had a fascination with ant hills. He couldn't stay away from them. He crouched down, watching the activity around the mound; he was fascinated. Then he would stomp on the mound. The only problem is that he didn't run away -- he would just stand there until the ants swarmed all over his feet and started biting him. Our mom would swoop outside when she heard him crying, start tearing his clothes and shoes off, and turn on the water hose. Since he did it all the time, she had to figure out the fastest way to get the ants off, so she would literally hose him down. We tried to make him stop. Our parents spanked him. I tried to keep an eye on him while we were playing, but by the time I realized what he was doing, it was usually too late. I  always understood why he did it. Ants mesmerized me too. Instead of adventurously tramping through the yard getting up close and personal with the little insects, I dream...

Do you remember this music video? If you went to high school in  the late nineties, you probably do. Every afternoon we rushed home from class to see what songs made it onto the day's episode of TRL ( Total Request Live in case you didn't know) hosted by Carson Daly on MTV. I'd love to tell you how many times I've seen the music video for "Tearin' Up My Heart," but I can't. I didn't count. Let's just say a lot, a whole lot. My friend discovered them first. NSYNC aired a special concert on the Disney channel, and she met me at the door when I came over to spend the night. She said,"You've got to see this." At first I wasn't quite as enthusiastic as she was, but then it was like I'd been stricken with a virus. We were NSYNC crazy! Looking back now it was a case of teenage girl mania; I'd never had so much fun in my life. We video taped every TV appearance (yes, with an old-school VCR) , listened to the songs rep...

I have this sign on the wall in my classroom at the front just above my desk. As you might imagine I deal with excuses non-stop in my public high school classroom Come on! I teach writing for crying out loud. In every class there are always students that flatly refuse to write. I'd say, subjectively, about 10 out of 100 of my students has this mysterious problem putting pen to paper. I keep having conversations that look like this: Me: I see you haven't written anything yet. Is something wrong? Student: I don't know what to write. Me: Well, I've asked you to write about ___________, so try to start by just writing out the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of __________. The student shifts in her seat and nods. I continue to walk around the room and come back in about five to seven minutes to check on any progress made. The page is still blank. Me: I see you still haven't written anything. (The student sighs beginning to become more d...