A holiday that is fraught with meaning and loaded with expectations.  Some of us celebrate and some of us dread.  Because I am all about learning and then can’t help but share what I’ve learned, I am using my Telling Tuesday to share about the origins of Valentine’s Day.  Some of you are up on your history but please bear with me, I have a call to action for all of us at the end.

 

Who was St. Valentine? There really was a person, a priest in Rome (around 250 A.D.) who is said to have defied Emperor Claudius by secretly marrying young couples in spite of the emperor’s mandate making marriage illegal for young men before they served as soldiers.  Valentine knew that was a bad idea. (On a side note, priests were not required to be celibate at this point in history.)  According to what is written about him, Valentine was martyred for his defiance of the emperor.  There is an additional piece of information that connects him to the current practices of the day; while he was imprisoned before his execution, he is said to have written a note to a young woman whom he loved and signed it “from your Valentine”. Isn’t that sweet?  He was an advocate for marriage and a romantic!  You can read more about how we got from that point in history to our present day celebrations here.

 

But what about you and me today?  How can the story of Valentine impact our lives today? We need to delve a little deeper into what Valentine would have believed about LOVE to really understand his actions.  As a priest in the early Church he would have made a confession of faith, and had access to monastic copies of what we call the New Testament translated from the original Greek into Latin.  He would have known what the Apostle Paul said of LOVE in his first letter to the church at Corinth: “Love is patient; Love is kind and is not jealous; Love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never fails.”  Frances Chan encouraged his congregation to read those words substituting God for the word Love.  When I first heard that read aloud in that way, those words struck me in a new way.  I recognized that God IS Love.  I can’t live out these words in my own strength by trying harder or doing more.  If you believe God and have accepted His gift of Redeeming Love through His Son Jesus then YOU are filled with Love! So, regardless of whether we are married, dating, or longing, we can be about the work of showing LOVE to the world by the person we are and the things we do.  How will you show LOVE to others today?

 

Where have I been for the past year?  On a journey. Sometimes it was an exterior, physical journey but mostly it has been an interior one. A journey of the heart.  One of deep significance that is beginning to show on my exterior in subtle ways.  God has been about the business of remaking me from the inside out.  I am ready and challenged to take up the proverbial electronic pen and write of my journey…won’t you join me?

Where have I been for the past year?  On a journey. Sometimes it was an exterior, physical journey but mostly it has been an interior one. A journey of the heart.  One of deep significance that is beginning to show on my exterior in subtle ways.  God has been about the business of remaking me from the inside out.  I am ready and challenged to take up the proverbial electronic pen and write of my journey…won’t you join me?

With Valentine’s Day around the corner we see red and pink hearts everywhere!

But are those symbols true images of love?

What does love look like anyway?  Red velvet cupcakes?  Red hearts?  The Eiffel Tower?
Vintage linens or glassware?

You might think of a couple walking holding hands; a child looking up lovingly at a grandparent; brand new parents holding their infant tenderly.  All those definitely conjure a comforting image for me, but what if you don’t have another half?  Or your grandparents have passed away?  Or you are a childless couple?  My image suggestions would be painful and not full of love.

What images of love transcend the brokenness of our lives here?

 You may be familiar with this Celtic symbol of the Trinity from ancient times.  It is called the triquetra meaning a shape with three corners.  Various histories claim the symbol so it is not primarily a Christian symbol in origin, but it has been associated with the Trinity since the Celtic revival in the 19th century.

I share all this by way of sharing something I have recently come to appreciate as an image of love.  The unity of God in three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit is pictured in this symbol.  No beginning, no end, flowing One into Another.  You may know that Jesus the Son prayed in John 17
“that they also may be in Us”.  When we are “in Christ” we are “in God”, in the Trinity. 

I am a visual learner.  At the center of this symbol is a space surrounded by the flow of the Three in One.  That’s where we are invited to live.  In the center of God.  Surrounded, protected, empowered, loved.

I want to be right there in the center don’t you?  Not center stage.  Not even!  But in the middle of the Love of God from the foundation of the world!  Forgiven, Redeemed, Accepted, Loved.

That’s an image I can stand on.

How about you?

 I’m a visual learner.  Back in the day when I was a student, teachers didn’t pay attention to learning styles.  That was research and knowledge that came out of my generation to benefit students of today.  It was challenging to learn abstract concepts without a visual perspective.  So by way of modeling, I want to talk about perspective that you have as a teacher.

 You’re getting a tour of our breakfast area at the same time by the way!  Back to perspective.  You may have a particularly challenging student that is difficult to connect with or is having a really hard time “getting it” whatever “it” is at this time.  Think about the problem from a different perspective.  The student’s for example.  Does this child need another way of approaching the topic or problem?  Are there background issues for the child that may impede the learning process that need to be taken into consideration?

 Taking a look at the issue at hand from a different person’s perspective can also be helpful.  Are there other significant adults in the child’s life you can touch base with to gain another perspective?  As you look at the issue from different angles you may discover something about the child you hadn’t seen before.  Your own change of perspective can help the student look at the learning challenge differently as well.

Your role as teacher and cheerleader needs to be a balance of instruction, correction and encouragement.  Remember, you are in their life to help them grow! 

 One morning last fall, I happened to look out in our backyard as I was washing the breakfast dishes.  I saw something pink out of the corner of my eye.  It was a balloon floating over our fence.  It settled in our gone to seed garden bed.  I grabbed my camera and ran outside to capture the random event.

 I was able to get one stationary shot and then the balloon started moving on.  It gently floated across the beds and then suddenly caught an updraft.

The last image I took was just before it floated out of our yard.  The whole event was only about ten minutes, but the images and the randomness have stayed with me.

The pink was lovely and sweet; in an all male household there’s not a lot of that color floating around!  The randomness was obviously unplanned; if my batteries weren’t charged I would have missed the photos.  I need to be prepared to respond to the unexpected gifts of time with others or calls to action that the Spirit may bring my Way.  The gentleness and quiet movement of the balloon reminded me of the Way that the Holy Spirit often moves; I need to be attentive or I miss the opportunity of His gifts.

What have you learned in your solitude lately?

The season is still winter but where I live it looks like spring.  Don’t be jealous; we all need the rest that a season of quiet and solitude can bring.  Spring is a growing, active time and to be quite honest I am not ready to get back to work cultivating our garden!

Cultivation is essential for growth. 

I’m not just talking about gardening though.  We all have to work to learn.  We have to nurture to see growth.  We have to invest time and energy to see change.  And quite frankly we need to be both diligent and relaxed in the process.  Those two words may seem almost opposite but they’re not. 

To be diligent you have to pay attention, to be watchful, ready to speak or act as the situation requires.  But being hyper vigilant can cause a lot of stress for students (and the teacher) and take all the fun out of the learning experience.  To be relaxed can imply not being attentive and letting things slide which can be harmful in certain circumstances.  And while that is partially true, being relaxed does not have to turn into a state of chaos.

How does a parent / teacher do both?  Aren’t diligence and relaxation mutually exclusive?  I don’t think so.  Just like a gardener can over water or over fertilize or over prune, and as a result ruin the plant, too much attention to the errors in our learning can wilt or stunt the child’s learning potential.  The student can develop a mindset that this area of learning “is too hard” or “they’re no good at ….”.  That limiting mindset stunts the ability to learn.  If a teacher / parent can overlook periodic missteps on the learning path and instead choose to focus on one area at a time to foster growth, the student can sense that mistakes are a natural part of learning and are meant to be simply a part of the process. 

If you give yourself and your students permission “to get messy, and make mistakes” (to quote my favorite teacher, Ms. Frizzle of The Magic School Bus fame), then the air of acceptance allows both the students and teacher / parent the freedom to relax.  Some of us have to cultivate diligence while others have to cultivate relaxing.  Which is your need?  If you’re not sure, take a risk and ask someone who knows you well.  If you’re already aware which you lean toward but are stuck and don’t know how to cultivate the missing piece, ask for ideas and help.  I’d be happy to be included in your growth, to listen and share ideas. 

Have you ever spent time with a young child outdoors? 

If you haven’t yet experienced this simple joy, put it on your life goal list!  You will likely find no end to the asking of the all important question “Why?”

Now granted, for those of you who are currently parenting young ones, that question goes through an over use phase, but it has purpose for them!  They’re learning!

Of course we can question too: what exactly are they learning?  How to push my buttons?  Part of you wants the incessant questions to stop!  Give it a rest already!  Mom’s busy, or Miss S. is busy, or Mrs. G. is busy, or Mrs. L.  But I have wondered, what are am I teaching when I squelch the questions? Am I telling the littles that their wonder is a waste of time?  Or am I saying being an adult with so much responsibility and no time to have fun is the “right way” to be?  Do I want that to be their goal in life?

When I was a brand new teacher at the so very mature age of 23, I actually told parents of “wayward” Kindergarteners “all you need is a routine.”  It’s amazing to me that those parents didn’t just give me the what for with my audacity!  Routine was how I ran the classroom and my life.  It all worked very well as long as I was in control.  That was the goal right?  Learning takes place in a quiet, orderly environment with 20 minutes at each learning station with neatly organized pre-cut activities to assemble.  What’s the problem with that picture?

You might say nothing’s the problem.  Except for the fact that all that is being learned is how to behave in a controlled environment.  Some classrooms (and home schools) are still functioning this way.  I know my classes were like that for the first 3 years of my teaching… then I moved schools and grade levels.  More on that later…

What is the real beauty of the question “Why?”

I don’t always have the answer to the question!  That’s the beauty of it!  If I don’t always have the answer, then that means I have something left to learn!  There is a topic to research!  A book or two that need to be found at the library together!  A google search to be conducted!

Does not knowing answers stress you out?  It used to really bug me.  I had a ridiculous impression that as a teacher I was to be all knowing in all subject areas, to be ready to pour all my knowledge into the minds of my students.  Ha!  What that ridiculous impression did however was cause me to learn a lot about the subjects that I was responsible to teach.  Of course what I didn’t realize at the time was the fact that I love learning!  I was that incessant questioning child.  At a certain age, my mom’s response to my questions became, “Look it up!”  We had learning tools readily available at home and I had my own library card.  She fostered my need to know “why” by prodding me to find out the answers myself.

Have you equipped your children with the tools to learn?  Have you taught them how to find answers to the questions they have or do you simply tell them the answer?  

What new idea or memory about helping children learn comes to mind?  Will you share it here?  I’m sure I’m not the only person who loves to learn!

The first day of something new always makes me feel excited!  New job, new classroom, new school year; they have all contributed to my positive anticipation.  I get jittery.  In a good way though.  Nervous excitement my mom used to say.  Then she’d say, “settle down!”  But I just can’t!

Today is like that for me.  This is the first day of my new blog!  I am celebrating 30 years of educating our future citizens by going public with the gems I have gathered while learning along the Way.  Time to time not only will I give away my favorite resources but I will literally give a copy to a lucky follower.

Before you want to follow someone you want to know if there’s any reason to right?  So I thought you might like to know a little bit more about me and my learning than what the About Me section says.

I love to have fun!  It’s very important to me that my students (adults included!) have fun while they are learning.  I have been known to stand on the desk in a 5th grade classroom and ask the students to tell me what they know about gravity before walking off the desk.  Odd?  Perhaps.  But memorable and fun for sure.  Do I have stories to tell?

I ran into a parent of a former student in town recently, (not literally!) after her daughter had graduated from Hastings Law School, and she made a point to tell me I am still her daughter’s favorite teacher.  This is a gift I never anticipated when I started this educational journey.  I guess the consumers are the truest test over time.

I have been a wife to two different men (not at the same time!) and have learned A LOT about marriage through those experiences!  And a lot about me, too. Best thing for a marriage: a tandem bicycle.  More on that later…

I am a mom of two sons.  Both are still in school: one in college and one in high school.  And yes I started a family late!  I have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of their educational journeys and have lots to share on how to be a good supporter to a classroom teacher from both sides of the table!  Not only that, I home schooled each of them for 4 years so I know the joys, frustrations and exhaustion of being both parent and teacher to one’s children.  Lots of anecdotes to share!

I better stop before I inundate you with 53 years of life all at once!  If you’re interested in learning, and you like to have fun, then join me in this journey!  I have a little “gift” to my first 10 followers who decide to join in the fun!

So come on, let’s go…