Keep Calm and Teach On: Refreshing a Passion

"Teaching reading and writing will always be a part of who I am.  Thanks for the reminder #icteafc" 

A thank you note to the Iowa Council of the Teacher of English annual fall conference:

Thank you for allowing me to "geek out" amongst my peers and mentors.

Whispers of admiration fluttered through the conference hall as Kelly Gallagher walked in and prepared for his presentation.  I immersed myself in his books and words less than a year ago using his thoughts, theories, and ideas to support and incite my own in my Masters research paper.  Now, this man I quoted and cited so many times is HERE.  This must be what it is like for sports people when they meet Aaron Rodgers or when teenagers go to a One Direction concert.

Thank you for the inspirations, conversations, connections and reflections.

Collaboration is key to enhancing teacher performance.  This is collaboration at its best.  There's a feeling of coming home when the connections are made and rekindled year after year.

Thank you for helping me to "Keep Calm and Teach On"

When I got home today, I felt like I could do it.  That feeling has been fleeting this semester.  A new position has made me question many beliefs I was sure I knew the answer.  Now, I can tackle that pile of grading and send those parent emails.  I can handle the reading load of a new prep combined with the grading load of composition classes.  I can manage the meetings and maneuver through the red tape.  I can look to the future beyond this semester and know that the ideas I have garnered from sessions and keynote address will forever effect my teaching practices and students.  I can do all of this and more.

Thank you for reminding me who I am.

I am a teacher.  I am a writer.  These are essential parts of me.  There will always be outside influences trying to dictate parts of my career: the how, the why, the what.  But, as it was said in Jim Davis's session today, "Iowa Writing Project: An Uncommon Core", the core is the teacher.  I am the one who has the most impact on that student day in and day out.  The core of who I am is unchanged.

For this, I am eternally grateful.