Live From Joy

I was thinking about distance learning and Zoom classes and sharing with a friend the many challenges. So much of what it means to be an Education for Life teacher is about magnetism and energy. It's not as much about what we do, the lesson we prepare or the activities we offer but who we are as individuals and the energy and attitude we bring into our classroom. How do we get that to go through a computer screen? When I began my journey as an EFL teacher I spent a lot of time looking at what other more experienced teachers were doing and trying to find ways to bring that into my classroom but I felt like I kept coming up short. I couldn't be like those other teachers and gradually I realized that "being a good teacher" was much less about any outward performance or product and much more about being myself; bringing my whole, authentic, fully-present self to the classroom in each moment. It wasn't about being perfect, it was about being me. That is in essence what...

I finally ended up cleaning my classroom and moving all the furniture to prepare for the annual carpet cleaning. I kept putting it off partly because those bookcases are heavy! But it’s also another confirmation that this school year is actually over. The classroom was pretty much frozen in time from mid-March when quarantine started. Paper snowflakes still on the windows, our last math lesson still on the board, so many unread books piled up on my desk and cobwebs everywhere marking the passage of time; the absence of activity. Well, I got some help moving the heavy bookcases and I vacuumed all the cobwebs. I boxed up the students' things to send home and I’m finishing their progress reports. It’s time to let go. It’s okay to let go. It’s hard to let go and it’s okay that it’s hard but somehow it seems a bit harder when it’s so uncertain what will come next. I know things will be different, things will change, but I don't know how. It reminds me of another time I was approachi...

One of the things I miss the most about being in the classroom five days a week is the opportunity it gives me to completely forget myself. I use to think this was something inherent to teaching but I think it's what happens whenever we become deeply absorbed in something. We lose all sense of time and self and we get into a flow. Some people might experience this while playing a sport or running, others while cooking, creating or making music.  I miss that flow, that absorption, that sense of focus and purpose. I've certainly been able to keep myself busy with new activities and projects, like this blog, but it has also felt somewhat restless and unfocused. There isn't the usual sense of external order and flow to the day that was once there and so it seems harder to forget myself. Instead, I'm learning to listen to and trust myself more. Since there isn't the usual external flow of events there is a need to turn inward to find a new flow. Weeks and weekends, the u...

When the thought of having to close our school first came up and the suggestion to start creating distance learning materials arose I thought "How on earth can you do Education for Life at a distance?" So much of what we do is working with energy and magnetism. How can you send that home in a packet or through a computer screen? Then schools closed and the reality is that, despite the challenges, this has been the perfect time for Education for Life. In fact, there is no wrong time, place or age to apply these principles. That's why it's call Education for LIFE! It prepares us to engage with and learn from everything we encounter in life. When Paramhansa Yogananda first founded his schools in India (from which our schools have drawn inspiration) he called them "How to Live Schools." There is so much to be learned from life as it unfolding, pandemic and all! There is so much to be learned about "how to live" in every new situation. Even though we we...

The energy it takes to avoid a difficult conversation is much more uncomfortable than the energy it takes to have the conversation. Many times it's the anticipation is many times worse than the actual conversation. Our minds play out all sorts of worst case scenarios.  This is in the case where we know the conversation is coming. But what about when we suddenly find ourselves in the middle of, or even listening in on, a conversation that suddenly becomes uncomfortable? Perhaps someone has said or done something disagreeable, confusing or unexpected. These things happen regularly in the classroom - kids really do say and do the "darndest things." They say and do mean things to each other without thinking. But these moments are also just a part of life. The question is, how do we react or respond?  Most of us fight, freeze or flee. It's how our brains are hardwired to respond to stressful situations. The problem is, this response gets in the way of learning and growth. ...

It's been an intense week for the world and for some reason I've been tuning in and paying attention more than usual. I don't usually watch or follow the news at all. I rely on others to let me know if something really big is happening but something has shifted recently. I don't know what's different but it suddenly feels very important to pay attention and stay engaged. I completely understand the desire to avoid the news, not take in too much. What's happening is not always positive or uplifting. But it is important. For racism to end, we all have to participate in dismantling it, within ourselves, our families, our communities and our organizations. Trying to write about anything else right now seems irrelevant and yet trying to convey all that I'm taking in and processing seems impossible. It's an important time for self-reflection, introspection. I am what I am; wishing cannot change me. Let me therefore face my faults with gratitude, for only by fa...

Today was our last day of online class. Never in my wildest dreams ever thought I would be saying those words or living this reality. It was, much like our virtual track meet on Tuesday, one of our best days of our distance learning experience. I would still have preferred to be together but it seems distance makes the heart grow fonder. I appreciate each of them and our class as a whole so much more deeply than I think I might have if we'd been going through our usual routine. It's so easy to get caught in a mentality of just getting through to the end of the year. I'm thankful for the slowness, for the shift in perspective, that this time has offered.  As part of our time together I read them a story called The Invisible String by Patrice Karst. It was hard not to cry while reading it! The message is this: we are all, always, connected by invisible strings of love that connect our hearts and we are never really alone. Such a sweet way to end our year and this strange time...