Courage Doesn't Always Roar: A Teacher's Quest to Be Better Each Day

#nf10for10  I am the lucky mom of two adorable kids, Alex and Megan.  Note their adorableness:        Alex and Megan both have their special, unique qualities- their quirks.  Alex loves superheroes and stories.  He will take whatever objects are near him and turn them into a team of bad-guy-fighting crayons! I love the dialogue he creates for his toys as he makes up scenes and stories for them to play out.  Megan, a month away from turning 2, amazes me with her vocabulary and her empathy.  She asks me often, "You happy, Mommy?" especially after she does something that most assuredly has NOT made me happy (colored on the wall, flung her pastina, pressed every button on the remote...).  She then will pat my cheek, look at me with her big blue eyes and say, "Be happy, Mommy!" This morning, when I told her we had to wake up Alex, she told me, "It's too dangerous!" Did I mention she isn't even two? They are both my loves, both...

#sol15 Courage doesn't always roar.   Sometimes courage is that quiet voice  at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow". -Mary Anne Radmacher I first came across this quote as an education student at Molloy College. I remember it was tacked up on the wall and I paused to read what it said as I made my way to class. After reading those lines, it was almost like exhaling breath I didn't know I was holding. It was so reassuring to think that you could be courageous by admitting it all wasn't going as you wished it would- but you could try again tomorrow to get it right.  As I embark upon this new adventure in blogging about my life as a teacher, this quote came back to me as the right name for this blog.  After 13 years of teaching, I find myself struggling still to get it "right" and always trying again tomorrow to be better and do better for my students.  This year, in particular, has been a year of great learning for me. ...