My mother-in-law gave me a book for Christmas titled The Daily Book of Positive Quotations. After returning home from Michael's funeral on Saturday, I was emotionally drained. I found the book my mother-in-law gave me and opened to the January 2 page. It was titled "Things Change." Here's what it said:
"Sometimes our fate resembles a fruit tree in winter. Who would think that those branches would turn green again and blossom, but we hope it, we know it." -- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
When our lives are difficult, we feel as if things will never change. This, in turn, makes it harder for us to take the steps that might create the change we want. When we look back on our lives, we can see that we've had both good and bad times. Somehow, we survived the bad times, and things eventually got better. The passage of time helped, but we also acted in ways that moved us towards a happier place.
My day is filled with ups and downs. If today is a bad day -- or this week is a bad week -- I know it's not forever and that I will come through it.
I definitely needed to read this page on that day. And I think I will need to reread it several more times over the next few weeks. As I said in one of my previous emails to staff, so much sadness is difficult to deal with, but I know we will get through it. We need to remember that this bad time is not forever and that we will all come through it together.
When I look around me in the staff room, the hallway, the classrooms, the cafeteria, I don't just see a school. I don't just see a dedicated staff. When I look around me, I see a family. We celebrate with each other. We support each other. We sometimes disagree with each other. We laugh with each other. We cry with each other. We care about each other, and we also get on each other's nerves. We are a family. And as a family, we will help each other move past this sad time; we will help each other move towards a happier time.
For today, we need to hold on. We need to hold onto hope. Thankfully, our jobs are all about hope. Our school is full of hope. Our students are full of hope, and they share that hope with us everyday. As hard as it may be, let's hold on through this awful period of time, and let's be hopeful about the future. Let's seek out the positive in each of our students. Let's hold onto the hope that is bursting out of each and every one of them. We will certainly help each other, but our students, they will be the ones that will heal us. They will remind us of the good in life. I believe they will be the ones to turn our sadness into smiles.
A friend posted this quote and knew I had to share it with all of you:
Currently reading:
I have almost finished reading Hiding Out at the Pancake Palace. It has been an enjoyable read with some good character development. I checked out a few books on CD to listen to on my drive. The first one that I am listening to is actually a reread for me. It's a great book that is worth listening to again...Dear Mr. Henshaw.
Events this week:
Monday - Quick staff meeting @ 8:30 in the staff room
Tuesday - Dr. Rodriguez visits FloRo in the am
Wednesday - Grade 4 chorus practice @ 2:25 in the gym, Staff Meeting @ 3:30
Friday - Liz and Dianna at SLT meeting in the am, 2nd grade library trips, FloRo Staff Party after school at Irene O'Grady's house
Great things I noticed last week:
- Just a few examples of some lovely festive wear that was worn before the break. Glad to see everyone getting in the holiday spirit!
- The writers in Mrs. Wilkins's class invited me in to hear their published stories. My favorite part? The blurbs that they wrote on the back of their stories to hook their readers in...loved them!
- I happened to catch Mrs. Lanctot's class working with their book buddies, Mrs. Clark's class. They were writing holiday letters to send to soldiers who couldn't be with their families. What a great act of kindness.
- And I was pleasantly surprised to walk down the first grade hallway and hear 4th graders caroling, spreading joy throughout the building!
Check it out:
Check out this Ted Talk: What Makes Us Happy and Healthy as We Go Through Life? Interesting 75 year long study that has been taking place, all about adult development.
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