What I'm Thankful For

I thought about writing this post yesterday, but after playing my Wii for a good chunk of the day, I put if off until today.
Let's see, what I'm thankful for... my new Wii. Okay, well that's true. My Wii is really cool and I definitely got lucky getting it purely by accident during the one minute it was available on Amazon. But, on to the serious stuff...

I have had a very stressful school year so far. I remember when I was still just a candidate for the job I have right now. I remember how the idea of working at this charter school occupied every minute of my free time for about a week and a half while I was going through interviews, demo lesson and waiting to find out if I got the job. In my mind, the ability to work at this school would change everything for me about how I teach.

Since I've been here, I've been judging my teaching, comparing myself to others and constantly worrying about whether I am measuring up to others' expectations of me. The fact is, I may not be measuring up to some peoples' expectations. People around me have told me to worry only about what the important people think. And I've also realized, that even then, you're going to let down the important people in your life, too.

One of the OMET students and I were talking the other day and she said, wow, you must be so excited. You have so much exciting stuff going on in your life. And the fact is, she's right. I published an article, I've been invited to speak at two conferences, I'm "working" at Pepperdine and getting to work with one of my favorite people. I'm also looking at getting my doctorate degree. Frankly, there are a lot of great things going on in my life. I'm working on a new education article and a book on education.

I am of course also thankful for my family, for my friends and for my cadre(s) who support me. :)