Friday Two Cents: The Big 50

‘Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.’ Benjamin Franklin

Since the beginning of my teaching career, I have kept track of how many different schools and classrooms I have been in.  Partly to help me with taking additional qualification course requirements.  But mostly because several teachers asked me, “How many different classes I have taught in.”  My response was, ‘I was not sure.’  

Since then I have kept track of all the different classes I taught.  I classify a different or new class as a group of students I have not taught that school year.  In some cases I have been in 10 – 18 different classes in a single school.  I even have had the good fortune to supply in several French immersion classes. 

This past week I hit a tremendous milestone.  For this school year 2023-24, I worked in 50 different classes.  You may think, no big deal. However, in a single school year with 194 teaching days, 50 different classes is a big deal.  

My previous record was 42 different classes in a school year.  Reaching this  milestone mark is like a hockey player scoring 50 goals, or a baseball player hitting 50 homers in one season.  Something to be proud of. 

Additionally, when you add up the total number of different classes I taught over my seven years as a supply teacher, they total 240 classes in over 30 different schools.  Just saying it out loud makes me think about what I have seen and experienced in all those schools and classes.  Things like, learning new ways of doing lessons.  Thinking of different ways of organizing your daily routine, or learning what strategies work and what failed miserably, is of immense value to me.  

Yet the one thing I have observed are the students themselves.  They are a host of different personalities and insights. I have learned new ways of communicating with them or more importantly, how to listen to them.  Each has their own unique perspective on the world, and it is glorious when they learn something new and wonderful to add to that uniqueness.  

With about a month and a half left to go in the school year, I am booked on an almost daily basis.  During these last few weeks I know that I will probably get a few more opportunities to increase my totals past the 50 mark.  But  there is one thing I do know for certain; that no matter what new classroom I go into, the experience and knowledge I learn from those new classes, will only enhance my abilities to become a better teacher.   

Friday Two Cents: Versions

‘Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.’ Albert Einstein

‘The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.’

Albert Einstein

Growing up I enjoyed reading comic books. I cannot tell you how many times I had teachers and adults tell me that I was not really reading, and that my brain would rot away with that garbage.  Yet I thought they were the ones whose minds were rotting by not opening their minds to new and imaginative possibilities.  

Many did not think I would amount to anything, but they were wrong.  I became a teacher and now I meet many different people and students on a daily bases.  On one occasion while I was teaching a group of students, the subject matter went towards comics and the movies based on them.  

One such movie was about the possibility of different dimensions or universes; they called it the Multiverse.  The theory goes that there are an infinite number of universes and in each one, a different version of You.  Yet in each universe the You would be slightly different than who You are, or maybe even a totally different version of You.  

As I reflected on this notion, it occurred to me that there may be different versions of Me that exist in other peoples minds.  A different universe than the one I am familiar with.  To some, many may know Me as the quiet person that doesn’t talk much. Some may know Me as the annoying person that won’t stop talking.  Some may see Me as cold and mean.  Others find Me kind and caring.  

At the heart of it, the person I think of as Myself, exists only for Me and even I don’t know who that really is from time to time.  Everyone person I meet, have a relationship with, or make eye contact on the street with, creates a version of Me in their heads.  I’m not the same person to My mom, My dad, My sibling, My family members then I am to My co-workers, My neighbours or My friends.  There are a thousand different versions of Me out there in people’s minds, and I exist in each version, just like the Multiverse.  

Yet I, Myself, isn’t really a someone at all to them.  I’m not responsible for the version of Me that exists in other people’s minds. There are versions of Me that only exist because other people give them life, and I am not obliged to keep those other versions alive to make other people happy.  Good or bad.

The only true version of Me will be the one I choose to be.  

Just like the people who thought I would not amount to anything, I ignored them and became a person I can be proud of.  I need to ignore the versions of Me that others create.  Choosing only the one that I connect with. My real self.  

It has been a long journey but I had to first find happiness within, before I could seek it in the outside world.  I didn’t and won’t let outside versions of Me define who My true self is inside.  Because I AM Me.  

Friday Two Cents: Grateful Message

‘Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.’ Marcus Tullius Cicero

This week I saw a message on one of the social media platforms with such a profound message, it made me stop and think.  It was about being grateful for the blessings we have in this life. Instead of telling you about the article, I thought it best to let you read it for yourselves.  

Grateful message

1. If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your body, a roof over your head & a place to sleep, then you are richer than 75% of the entire world.  
2. If your have money in your wallet to spend as you wished, to go anywhere you want, you are among the top 18% of the world’s wealthy people.  
3. If you are alive today with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million people who will not survive this week and die. 
4. If you can actually read this message and understand it, you are more fortunate than the 3 billion people in the world who cannot see, cannot read, or are mentally disabled. 

Life is not for complaining about pain and sorrows, it’s about prioritizing a thousand other reasons to be grateful and happy.    

I was not too happy before I read this passage.  I was thinking about an interview for a job I wanted but did not get.  I was feeling down in the dumps.  However, after reading the post, it truly made me reflect upon my life and the hardships I have faced.   Within seconds it made me realize my situation is not that bad.  I’m still working and enjoying what I do.  If another job comes up, I’ll try for it.  If I get it great if not, I still enjoy what I do and move on.  Life is truly too short to worry about what has been or what might come.   I’ll live in the present, that’s why it’s called a gift.   

Life is Journey of endless possibilities.

Friday Two Cents: Dark Truth Quotes

Ah September, the start of a new school year, full of new opportunities and experiences for students, parents and teachers alike.  Always around this time of year I like to send out a few inspirational quotes to help people do their best and motivate them for the year.  However, my positive spin on things is sometimes met with sarcasm or a dismissive glance.  Therefore I decided to provide some unique truths mixed with a little of my own dark humour on the side.  

To all the teachers, parents and students out there or whomever needs a dose of cold water dumped on them, here are a few dark truths offered to you from me with a wink and a devilish smile.  The first one is my favourite and I use it on regular basis.