I'm running late

If I believe in my students enough to know that they want to be better at __________ or that they simply want to be better human beings, I will trust them enough to overlook their mistakes, and I will see in them a great potential and future--NOT because I believe in them or I believe that they can be better, but because they believe in themselves and they want to be better.

The way we talk to one another, the way we approach each other, the way we encourage one another, and work with and for one another would change. And the change would be positive.

My students' learning is not dependent upon me, or the work that I do with and for them. My view, my approach, my perspective of my students and their learning will change me, but it could in turn affect them and their learning. When students believe in themselves, and want to be better, their behavior will be directed positively toward change. Students don't need me to do the believing or the wanting so that their behavior will change. That won't change anything.

slow

Lots of things going through my mind.

• My growing love and appreciation of rap music.
• My desire to create engaging, worthwhile lessons for my students.
• My attempt to bring podcasting to my Holocaust studies class.
• How is soccer going to work out, with all the other conflicts? And how many pissed off girls am I going to have when I tell them they can't do volleyball or track and soccer?
• What would it be like to teach a high school class without computers but with an accessible computer lab?
• Can I really paint my house and put things together so that I am proud of it, or am I going to need to hire painters to come in to do the work?
• Can I paint the house, and teach, and work with the OWP, and coach soccer, and lead a Life Group, and stay sane?
• Should I take a sick day sometime this week so that I can recover and get myself healthy and together?
• Am I able to build a website for the OWP that is respectable, and up to standards, and useful all at the same time?
• Can I manage the volume and diversity of emails I am now receiving with the OWP, and keep things organized by program and activity and my own responsibility?

All of these things are possible, but not all of these things are beneficial, to put my own spin on 1 Corinthians 10:23. This is basically what I'm thinking about. How do I make the tough decisions that will benefit me? How will I navigate these waters? I guess this is where my character and my true self are revealed, even in some little things.

It's been nice to reflect, and at least get some questions down on paper. My biggest question right now: how will I say to my mind that stays going and going and going that I need to go to sleep?

In other big news: THE SAINTS ARE GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL! I really would like to have my house nice for that, and have people over, but I know it won't be done. I'll still hopefully have a few people over anyway.

watching soccer on Sunday

It’s Sunday afternoon, but it still seems like morning for me. I didn’t get out of bed until 12:00. I woke up at 11:00, but just stayed in bed and thought and prayed. Tomorrow, thankfully, we’re back to the old grind. It will be much better for me to be on a schedule; schedules are good for me. When I was thinking this morning I couldn’t get past some people that are on my mind, and the fact that I want to be a voice for change. There’s no use just existing, day in and day out, and there’s no use being satisfied with friends and coworkers who are dissatisfied or unhappy with the way things are. Maybe I’m not an “agent of change” but I can at least be a voice for it. I think I would enjoy that.

I’m supposed to be getting a treadmill today from Charlie. I’m pretty excited about it, but I’m not sure how I’m going to get it in the house. I have a feeling this will be another one of those scenarios where I look like a complete moron; I’m going to have a treadmill hanging out of the back of my Jeep, with ropes attempting to hold things down and keep it safe, but basically only a show. I am confident that everything will work out, but it will be very ugly. Stay tuned for pictures.