Running is cheaper than therapy

On Saturday morning, a caravan of individuals made the trek to the Myakka River State Park to partake in the 1st Annual Myakka River Nature Escape, a 5K and 10K road run organized by the Manasota Track Club. It was a rainy, cool morning that turned muggy as the race continued, but it was in a state park, so the scenery was rather appealing.

I never knew how beautiful the Florida environment really is until this past year when my team taught the Florida Habitat Unit to our 7th & 8th graders. Honestly, I didn’t even know what a cypress dome or a roseate spoonbill was until last March. I couldn’t tell the difference between a red, white or black mangrove tree and I couldn’t describe how fires were actually beneficial to the survival of the scrub ecosystem. I know, I am a science teacher and I should have known this, but truth be told, I was too busy planning and teaching to actually go visit the park.

So while I was running, I wasn’t actually paying much attention to Huey Lewis and the News singing from my iPod or how my knees felt sore. I was looking at the trees, noticing the canopies we were running beneath, admiring the sunrise and the water off in the distance by the Bird Walk. It rained off and on for about 20 minutes, and normally I hate being rained upon, but on that morning, it really wasn’t that bad. I barely noticed it with my friend, Keith, running alongside me, smiling and singing to Bruce Sprinsteen.

I can't explain the way running makes me feel to those people who do not partake in a morning jaunt or an 8 mile therapy session with their dog. I love the feeling of accomplishment, the rush of endorphins and the ability to sleep the whole night through. To some, sleeping may come easy, but unfortunately, I have battled my inability to stay asleep for the past 4 years. So when I come home, exhausted and tired, sweaty and stinky, I am actually relieved to know not only that I finished my scheduled run, but that I will sleep well tonight.

So regardless that we had to each pay $1 to park outside of the entrance Saturday morning, or the fact that the race started at the North entrance (not the one off of Clark Rd), or how we arrived 10 min before the start and still had to put our shoes on, or how my knees felt after the run, I still have to admit that it was a pretty good morning. I would be hard pressed to find a better way to spend a cool Saturday morning than running with good friends in a beautiful park in Sarasota.

Running IS cheaper than therapy.

Advice for New Teachers

I was recently honored to become a SCIP (Sarasota County Induction Program) mentor for our middle school, and our homework was to compose a letter to a new teacher. This welcome letter (with some help of Bill Bryson - the opening paragraph is from his book A Short History of Nearly Everything) could have taken many shapes and many forms, but I decided to write some good advice to help a newly hired teacher feel a little more aware of what they were getting themselves into. Your first year of teaching will be forever imprinted on your brain and no matter what, you will never experience a true first year again.

Please note, I have only been in this profession for a short time, and I am by no means claiming to "know it all". I am a life-long learner and I will be the first to admit that I have a lot more learning ahead of me when it comes to being an effective teacher. And one of these days, I just might know what I am doing.

Dear New Teacher,

Welcome, and congratulations. I am delighted that you have made it here, and getting here wasn’t easy. I know. In fact, I suspect it was a little tougher than you realize.

To begin with, for you to be here now, hundreds of experiences have come together in an intricate and coincidental manner for you to have become an educator. Thousands of dollars have been spent on your education, not to mention the years that have been consumed with homework, research and soul searching to lead you to your desired place in the societal cosmos. For the next many years (we hope!) there will be plenty of more positive experiences necessary to fuel your passion and drive to continue on in this profession.

Why people choose to become a teacher has always been a cause of puzzlement for most who are not in this line of work. Why would anyone want to subject themselves to working late on the weekends, dealing with defiant and rude children all day long and fulfilling a state mandated curriculum within 180 days of school for a salary that seems to be minimal at best? The truth is, teaching is nothing compared to how others people assume it would be. It is a constantly evolving occupation that is exasperating, fulfilling, exhausting, noble, and oh-so-rewarding! I am elated that you have chosen such a valuable line of work and will begin your journey on your very first day, in your very own classroom.

With all of that being said, I want to share some words of wisdom that I have learned and received from the wise sages and fervent gurus of this worthwhile profession.

Know your students. Ask them questions, sit with them at lunch, have students fill out questionnaires or ask them to complete a personal reflection form. You have no idea how much your students “carry with them” everyday – many of your students may have parents going through a divorce, may have a parent in jail or are simply homeless. You have to be sympathetic to what is going on in your students’ lives because school may be the only safe place they have.

Choose your words carefully. Harsh words and degrading remarks can cut a child down with a slip of the tongue or raise them up to the heavens with a kind compliment and a smile. You honestly have no idea how what you say can affect a child for a lifetime. Try talking to students one-on-one when they are being rude or disruptive as opposed to raising your voice and humiliating them. If you are calm, not only will it catch your students off guard and keep you in control by managing your own emotions, but most importantly it demonstrates that you respect them. Many students have had countless negative experiences with other teachers before you, and sometimes, they may feel as if they have never been respected by an adult… ever. According to Henry Brooks Adams, "A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops."

Surround yourself with positive people. In every profession there will be individuals who will drag you down with their negative commentary on their students, the other teachers, and even the school in general. John Wooden once said, “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” Don’t allow those people to influence your attitude and remind you that you are a “young teacher” because you are a valuable asset to the school and are just as important as the teacher who has been teaching for 25 years. Choose educators who love their profession to be your guides, and ask them for advice when things just aren’t going the way you planned. Seek out the positive people in your school and they will listen while providing you with guidance you need most.

Not all children learn the same. Teachers tend to think too much about effective methods of teaching and not enough about effective methods of learning. Since each child is of a different mold, they do not all learn the same way and need to be taught with a variety of methods. If the child is not learning the way you are teaching, then you must teach in the way the child learns.

Reflect on why you are here. Think back to the 3 teachers who had the greatest impact on you as a student, regardless of the grade level in your school experience. Was it a positive or negative experience that affected you? What did they do that made you learn from them? What can you take from those personal learning experiences and apply it to your classroom? Who do you want to be remembered as?

There will be days where you feel as if you aren’t cut out for this demanding job and you question why you even thought you could become an educator. When that self doubt creeps into your mind, I beg you to remind yourself that Rome wasn’t built in a day and that there is an immense amount of opportunity for you to be successful within the education system. Never, ever give up because if this job were easy, everybody could do it! To think that you will be a proficient teacher creating valid assessments and meaningful lessons that fulfill state standards in such a short amount of time would be to insult this demanding and gratifying profession. You will have days that you will crash and burn, but you will find a way to learn from those experiences and continue on because those students need you. Just remember this: You haven’t failed until you have stopped trying.

You have been chosen, by fate or providence or whatever you wish to call it and as far as we can tell, to be employed in the best profession there is. If this letter were to have an objective, it would be that you are lucky to have an opportunity for such a large number of triumphs through teaching the future leaders, doctors, lawyers, police officers and teachers of this country. I wish you the very best of luck as you begin your journey of a thousand success stories, a thousand memories and a thousand friendships.