I don't "look ahead". I don't make new year's resolutions, either, at least not as an adult. I can vaguely remember making a list of resolutions as a kid, but I have not made resolution one since growing up. This is not to say there is anything wrong with making resolutions, they just don't work for me. Like most teachers, I reflect constantly and am always thinking about how I can be better (at my career - reflecting on my personal life is pretty much a lost cause).
With that in mind, I had no clue what I was going to write about in this promised "looking ahead" post. Then, last night, I read something that had what will no doubt prove to be a lasting impact in my life. Two of the hobbies I enjoy in what little free time I have are sports and reading. One of the people I follow on Twitter is Richard Deitsch, who covers sports writing and media. He always has remarkable insight into how sports are covered. He also occasionally sends out interesting non-sports tweets, like he did last night.
I always want my first tweet of a new year to have meaning. Take it away, Kurt Vonnegut: http://t.co/lI8theZoRI
— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) January 1, 2014
Kurt Vonnegut is one of my favorite authors, I could write a whole post about Slaughterhouse Five alone. So, I had to read this letter by Vonnegut to a group of high school students. I suggest you read it as well. In case you don't have time to read the whole letter, allow me to share the one line that inspired me: "What I had to say to you, moreover, would not take long, to wit: Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what's inside you, to make your soul grow."
While I enjoy music and writing, the one art I have chosen is teaching - and it is the one thing that truly makes my soul grow. Yet, sometimes I find myself looking at it as just my job. It easy to do - you get lost in the motions of day to day life as a teacher. There are meetings that I struggle to survive. Managing the curriculum can be overwhelming at times. Deadlines seem to loom over every horizon. These things, among others, make you feel like you are just a cog in the wheel - punching the clock in and out every twelve hours or so. I needed that letter from Kurt Vonnegut.
If I don't take care of the small things or the boring things, I can't practice my art to its full extent. I am reminded today that the little details that seem so tedious are part of a greater purpose. That purpose is to pass on to my students the idea of becoming - of finding something about which they are passionate, be it math, reading, writing, science, music, film-making, investigating, or whatever. My job, my art, is to help them find their art. To inspire them to "find out what's inside". If I am going to reach that purpose I must model this concept of becoming. It won't be easy, but in the coming semester I am making a goal to live in the moment, to make each moment spent practicing the art of teaching memorable. I owe it to my class, but I also owe it to myself.
I guess, if I had to make a resolution it would be this: to "experience becoming" every day, whether I am doing what I truly love (working with students), or having to take care of the tedious items that make those fun days possible.
