Slice of Life is sponsored every Tuesday by Stacey and Ruth from Two Writing Teachers. For the month of March we are challenging ourselves to write a slice every day.
Those who know me, know that I love chocolate. I learned a few years ago to keep my chocolate in my friends' classrooms. I have some stashed in Karen's room and Linda's room, my neighbors to the left and right. They replenish "our'' supply sometimes, but the lion's share is consumed by yours truly. Keeping my chocolate in a friend's classroom makes me less likely to eat it mindlessly, plus I get a moment to touch base with a friend when I reach for chocolate. Friends and chocolate, a perfect combination. When you add the words from Dove Chocolates, you're nourished in three ways. I save my favorite Dove quotes and post them along the top and bottom of my bulletin board. It's always fun when a student notices them and comments, "Hey, Mrs. B., I save those too." I could probably write slices from my favorite Dove quotes for the rest of the month.
While I frequently find the same quotes (do I really eat that many chocolates?), I unwrapped a chocolate this past week to find a new quote and the perfect words to nourish me at that particular moment. We had just finished an afternoon of district directed work with time to reflect on our growth and set goals for the remainder of the year. Our district directed time this year has focused on total engagement strategies. When a new strategy is presented to us, I'm excited to try it out. But then life intervenes, deadlines loom, all the minutia of our profession steps forward, and before you know it, another week has passed with little implementation on my part. I find myself getting discouraged as I realize how very difficult it is to change and implement new practices in my classroom. So I opened my Dove chocolate that afternoon and found these validating words: "You are exactly where you need to be right now." And so I'll continue taking small steps toward change and remember the words from a piece of chocolate to know that my efforts are moving me forward, one baby step at a time.
Those who know me, know that I love chocolate. I learned a few years ago to keep my chocolate in my friends' classrooms. I have some stashed in Karen's room and Linda's room, my neighbors to the left and right. They replenish "our'' supply sometimes, but the lion's share is consumed by yours truly. Keeping my chocolate in a friend's classroom makes me less likely to eat it mindlessly, plus I get a moment to touch base with a friend when I reach for chocolate. Friends and chocolate, a perfect combination. When you add the words from Dove Chocolates, you're nourished in three ways. I save my favorite Dove quotes and post them along the top and bottom of my bulletin board. It's always fun when a student notices them and comments, "Hey, Mrs. B., I save those too." I could probably write slices from my favorite Dove quotes for the rest of the month.
Only a baby likes change are the words I have to remind myself when I work with teachers. We learn great strategies, but it takes work to fit them in, so we tend to fall back on those that we have used in the past. You are right to think baby steps, slowly incorporate something new and eventually it becomes a practice. Wouldn't it be fun to have that job of thinking of phrases to put into the candies? That person will never know how he/she impacted the thinking in someone's life.
ReplyDeleteYou have a wonderful teaching community, it sounds like. We need these tokens of encouragement and support - to use one of your words, they "nourish" us.
ReplyDeleteI knew there was a reason those Dove chocolates were my favorite! How fun that when you were reaching for a little sweet treat and you also got some needed encouragement. It is so festive the way that you save those saying and share them with your students.
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