Countdown to the End: Day 20

Dr. Will Keim spoke at the State FFA Convention, and he said that to live a full life you have 25,000 days. Since I’m 29 years old I only have approximately 14,000 days left. I used 2,920 days teaching, and I used 5,840 days being a student myself. I would say that I’ve given my days to education. I’m happy about that, and I don’t ever want to stop learning. Most students really hate school, and therefore, as adults they hate school and learning of any kind. This makes me sad because it means that society isn’t moving forward, it’s staying the same or in some cases moving backward. My goal has always been to make students learn. Many teachers say that you can lead the horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. This is how they refer to students. I disagree with this statement completely, but I’m in an elective area with many options for instruction. I can stand in front of the room and do a dog and pony show, but if they don’t like it or get it I need to move onto the next dog and pony show. I’m not saying entertain students, but I am saying make them learn without them knowing it. Teaching is hard enough without the dog and pony show, but if students don’t get it the first time you better have plan B ready, and then plan C, and then plan D. I’m lucky because I have so many options in which to teach kids. I have a greenhouse, a shop, a field, a lab, and a classroom. If I can learn everyday, so can my students.

Greenhouse full of
spring bedding plants

Today during my dog and pony show my phone started buzzing. I would normally ignore it and go on with the show; however, today I looked at it, saw it was my husband, and went into the hall to answer it. He said he was going to the emergency room because he had terrible pain around his kidney area. I wanted to leave class right away, but he told me to stay and finish teaching and pick up our kids from daycare. I finished teaching at the middle school and traveled back to the high school, where my two senior girls were frantically trying to finish things up for the banquet on Sunday night. I called my husband every half hour with updates of what was going on. After school we still didn’t have everything done for the banquet, but I had to go to the Nature Center, which is where the banquet will be held, to get the keys and take the tour of the place. From there I drove 15 minutes away to another town to pick up our kids from daycare. By then my husband was discharged from the hospital with kidney stones. When we all arrived home my husband was sick from the pain medication, and my sons were excited to see Daddy. Once my husband was tucked in bed, and my sons were clean, full, and in pjs I was content to think about my to do list for the banquet on Sunday night.

I know I made the right decision because I can rush to the emergency room with my kids in tow at a moments notice.