Teacher as a Business Owner

A family friend became an Edward Jones Advisor last year and I learn something new about the Edward Jones company every time we meet with him. Many aspects fascinate me and I think there are many parallels to education.

1.  Although it is a large company, each agent works as their own entity.  They work independently (classrooms) but each individual's success leads to the success of the whole company (school/district). To help ensure success they provide each new agent with mentors and advisors who help the new agent build their business. There is always someone only a phone call away who can answer questions and give advice. This is an area I think schools could learn a lot from. Often we hire who we think is the best for the job, but we don't always support them. Burn out rates for teachers in their first five years is incredibly high.

2. Edward Jones has a thorough screening process. Our friend told me about his interview process and sounds intense. A phone interview, mock client meeting and other meetings/interviews. I got the impression from talking to him that they care more about personality and how you handle situations than background knowledge.  Yes, teachers need to know their content in order to be successful, but I also believe most successful teachers can learn new content if they need to teach a new class.  Many of the best teachers I have had all had similar traits: passion for their subject, ability to build positive relationships, clear communication and they cared about their students.

3. Each Edward Jones Agent is required to have their own facility. A new agent starts working in the same building as another agent and after a year or so they transition to their own facility. What is each teacher treated their classroom like a separate entity?  What if each teacher spent as much time on parent/family/student buy in as a business owner did?  

I know there are many differences between a business and a classroom and in many ways there should be.  I also think that there are many ideas we can learn from the business world.

Let Me Tell You A Secret...

"Out of 7 billion people and thousands of collected years of recorded human history, none of us are facing a particular adversity that’s completely unique. Keep perspective — other people have gone through what you’re going through and can help you. Also, remember that you’ve survived hardship before and you’ve come out okay."

 - Brendon Burchard

 Lately, I have been posting more about my struggles and to my surprise, I have found that I am not alone.  The more I share, the more I realize that what I am experiencing is completely normal.  Regardless of how I feel, I am not alone in my struggles.  Being a teacher is hard.  Being a wife is hard.  Being a mom is hard.  Being an adult is hard.

EVERYONE struggles and chances are they are or have or will struggle with the same issues.  Some people make life look easy and it seems like they have it all together, but I have learned that some people are just better at hiding it.  Don't let people fool you.  No one has it all figured out and no one is immune to challenges.  

The biggest secret of life is that everyone else is struggling too.

The Next 365

As the New Year approaches, I have been reflecting on the last 365 days.  Each year brings changes, great memories and sadness.  There are great accomplishments and tough challenges.  As I grow older, I am realizing the importance of learning and growing every year.  2016 gave me many opportunities to learn and grow.  My hope is that I am able to take advantage of each of these opportunities to learn and grow.

My Biggest Lessons from 2016

• Relationships are #1!
• Being an adult/teacher/wife/mom/person is hard sometimes.
• Life gives me multitudes to be thankful for and I need to spend more energy thinking about the positives instead of the challenges.
• Comparing my life to others steals joy from my life.
• Reading is a great gift.
• Children are hilarious.
• Enjoy the moment.

I am thankful for the lessons I have learned during 2016 and I look forward to 2017.  Each day is a chance to enjoy the moment and to learn and grow.

Happy New Year!

4 Years of Blogging: Top Posts

The end of 2016 marks four years since I began my blogging journey.  In honor of the last four years, I have put together a list of the top four posts from 2016 and the Most Popular posts since I have been blogging.

Four Most Popular
Composer of the Month

Incredibox Lesson Plans

Recorder Karate 2013

Idea Bandit

Top Four from 2016
Kindergarten Concert 2016

Do We Realize

5:1

Emergency Sub Plans

You Look Happy

Weeks ago, before church I had a few minutes before we had to leave so I picked up my phone to check Facebook. I had five alerts so I quickly skimmed through them and noticed someone had commented on a photo. Earlier in the morning I had changed my profile and cover photos. My marriage is the second most important relationship (behind God) and I decided my profile picture should show this relationship. My girls are also very important to me so I changed my cover photo to a picture of them and my profile picture is a picture of my husband and I.

Someone commented that we look so happy.  A completely innocent comment that made me upset.  How dare they tell me how to feel.  I realize now how silly my reaction was, but in the moment it really bothered me.  I did not feel happy and I did not appreciate someone telling me that I should be happy.  This comment made me realize how much we hide from others.  We give the illusion that we are happy.  On the outside everything looks great, but on the inside we are far from great.

In someways this is good.  Being able to "hide" some of your emotions can be very helpful. In other ways it can be a detriment.  Regardless of what "everyone" sees, it is vital that I have people close to me that I can share how I really feel.  People I can turn to for help when the trenches get a little too deep.  We all need these people.

What we see on the outside does not always match what is happening on the inside. Just another reminder that relationships matter.  Don't judge a book by it's cover.

One Word: 2017

'One Word' seems to be the new way of doing New Year's Resolutions.  The past two years, I have tried to pick a 'One Word' with the hope sit would help me focus my life and energy to make the most out of the next year.  After a few weeks, I tend to get overwhelmed with life and forget about my 'One Word' altogether.  This year I am going to take the opportunity that a new year brings to refocus my life and energy in a positive direction.

2016 has been a challenge at times.  Life is challenging at times.  Being an adult is challenging at times.  Two young kids, a husband, a job, a house and all of the responsibilities that come with each of these can feel overwhelming at times.  As I look back over this year I realize that many of my feelings of anger and frustration are caused by the same issues and most of these issues boil down to me not having enough time for me.  I know this is a common struggle for many moms and it is completely normal, but I still want to try to make things better and easier.

It may sound selfish and I don't mean to take it to an extreme, but my 'One Word' for 2017 is Me.  I have a wonderful family, but at the end of the day I am responsible for taking care of myself.  When I am tired and cranky, I am not the best mom, wife, friend or person I can be.  Now, this does not mean that I am going to forget about those around me and only think about myself. It means that I am going to think about filling my cup.  Often I become too worried about my family that I don't take care of myself as much as I should.

I vow to take care of myself in 2017.  I want to be the best mom/wife/teacher/person that I can be.  I need to make myself a priority (I think this is a struggle for many moms and women in general).  I have created a plan to help take care of all aspects of myself: spiritually, mentally, physically and emotionally.  I know my plan will need to be adjusted at times, but I am hoping it is a realistic plan that meets my needs and goals.

Spiritually:  Start the day with a Bible Study (YouVersion Bible App).  End the day with the daily readings from THE BIBLE in a year (YouVersion Bible App).

Mentally:  Take time each week to do something for me.  Listen to audio books during my commute, listen to podcasts/music while I workout, read a book for fun, take a nap, soak my feet or take a bath.  Play music and learn at least one new song a month.

Physically:  Run or walk 2017 miles in 2017.  I thought about doing this challenge in years past, but it always seemed overwhelming.  I am going to walk and run and hope to have my husband join in on the challenge.  5.5 miles a day will be a challenge, but I believe many positives will come from my time working out. We have a treadmill that I want to use more and I want to make walking a priority.  Fresh air is good for me and it is good for my kids.  I am not signing up for the challenge, but I am going to keep track of my miles on my own.

Emotionally:  I am going to be intentional about feeding the positive dog (Positive Dog by Jon Gordan).  I am going to journal daily and keep a gratitude list.  I will continue to work on my Mental Toughness.  I will treat people well, be thankful and have a positive attitude regardless of my situation (Train 2B Clutch).

One of the biggest lessons I learned during 2016 is that being positive and energetic is not always easy or automatic.  It takes effort to look past the negatives and to focus on the positives in life.  It takes effort to have energy everyday and to stay focused on treating people well, being thankful and having a positive attitude.  Even people who look like they have it all figured out have to work at it everyday.  Being positive is a constant choice.

Look in the Mirror!

It's everywhere! It's nearly impossible to miss.

Facebook
Instagram
YouTube
Articles/Blogs
Pinterest
Teachers Pay Teachers

Pictures of the perfect birthday party.
Pictures of the perfect classroom.
Pictures of the perfect decorations for your house.
Videos of amazing general music performances.
Plans and materials for the perfect lessons.
Articles and Blogs on how to be a good teacher/parent/spouse/friend/person.
Articles/Blogs about how you are ruining your students, kids, friends or marriage.
Articles/Blogs that tell you everything you are doing is wrong.

Social Media brings many benefits but it also inundates us with information and not all of this information is positive. I strongly believe that most people are doing the best they can with what they know and with their abilities. For every study that says X is the best thing to do there is another study that says it is the worst.

Look in the Mirror. Seriously, find a mirror. Ask yourself...

Are you happy? Is your family happy? Are you taking care of yourself? Is your family taken care of?

Stop worrying about what others think or see. What really matters is what you think and in yourself.

Look in a mirror...

You can put expensive windows and beautiful brick and make the outside of a house look amazing while the inside is nothing but studs and plywood. We make our appearance look good and we wear a smile. We post happy pictures on Facebook and we act organized and put together, but on the inside we feel lost or sad or incompetent or angry.  People say we look great or we are doing a great job so we feel like we should feel good.

Look in a mirror...

What do you see? How do you feel?

It is ok to not feel happy all the time. It is ok that your classroom is not Pinterest worthy. It is ok if your choir does not sound like The Vienna Boys Choir. It is ok if your kids birthday party is not worthy of a front page spread in a magazine. It is ok if the dishes don't get done tonight. It's ok if there are crumbs on the floor and something on the walls.

It is ok.

Be you. Work everyday to be the happiest and best version of you. Do things that fill your day with joy. Tell those you care about that you love them. Read a book. Take a nap. Go for a run or walk. Meditate. Do yoga. Go to church. Pray. Forget about the To Do List. Spend time with friends. Spend time with your family/spouse. Spend time with your God.  Give yourself grace.

Be happy with yourself and your situation for you are the one who has to get up everyday and see yourself in the mirror.  Stop comparing.

Look in a mirror.

Are you happy? Is your family happy? Are you taking care of yourself? Is your family taken care of?

If the answer is yes, don't worry about what social media and "the experts" say.

If the answer is no, talk to someone you trust and get help. You have to live your life, you need to be happy with it.