Experiencing Life

In An inheritance of experience from  Blue Skunk Blog, Doug Johnson talks about what legacy he wants to leave his grandchildren. He states, “…I do hope they will inherit is a taste for adventure, a love of travel, and the courage to try new foods and experiences.”

When my husband talked me into retiring as soon as we had the required years of employment completed, I was a little worried about leaving my wonderful career.

The statement that convinced me was when he said that he wanted us to travel while we were young enough and healthy enough to go where we wanted. If we got tired of traveling, I could always return to teaching. I had expected to return to teaching after five years though and didn’t even get rid of my boxed-up supplies and teaching materials during that time. Eventually, I realized that a lot of things I had were soon obsolete and out of date, so I let them go.

Now that I look back at the past twelve years, I realized that we had made the right choice. We have been able to make so many good memories and when we get in poor health, we will have these memories to look back on.

During our travels, I have been able to meet so many new people, learn about so many new cultures, learn new things, and have new experiences. This would not have happened if I had not retired.

It is so easy to stay where you feel comfortable and know what to expect most of the time. It is hard to let go of this and head for the unknown.

The more and more we head for the unknown and when each adventure is successful, it makes me more comfortable to try some more. If we hit obstacles or things don’t turn out as expected, we just look at it as a different kind of adventure.

I consider an adventure anything that doesn’t cause us bodily harm or break the bank. As long as we are together, our adventures are great ways to experience life.

It is hard to share this with my college students though because they have a huge world of “unknowns” in front of them. They are looking for security and paycheck that they can count on.

I just ask them to be open up to the idea about experiencing life. Don’t accept the comfortable if an opportunity comes up to have an adventure. Be open to new ideas. You don’t have to leave the country or even your own town for an adventure. Don’t let life pass you by.

How do you experience life? How do you convince your students to do this? Please share.

Photo by Catherine McMahon on Unsplash

A is for Adventure

When I was thinking of words that begin with A in education, I came up with the usual “apple” and “achievement” but I wanted something different. I wanted something fun because learning should be fun. I think that is why I’ve always loved learning because when I was growing up, it was fun and exciting so I’m thankful that I never lost that feeling. I want that same feeling for my students.

When my children were little and we would go somewhere fun, we would tell them we were going on an adventure. It may be an adventure somewhere locally or we would be going on some kind of road trip but wherever we ended up, it was usually an adventure.

I think it is important that I tell my students that each lesson we do is an adventure and it will be fun because any time you come away with more knowledge than you started with, it is fun! Every adventure may have some unknowns, uncertainties, and even bumps in the road but that is what makes it an adventure. If we give up or complain about it, it takes the adventure out of it.

Every adventure is more fun when we work together and help each other. When I go on a hike with my friends, we stay together. If someone has some trouble, we all help each other overcome the obstacle. There is nothing that we can’t do as long as we stay together. I believe that in the classroom too. We can tackle anything as long as we stick together.

Too many times, I feel that students think they are heading out on a new adventure all alone. Society has somehow made them believe that they need to do it alone and I totally disagree. The important this is the result and how we get there can be done the hard way or the easier way. Whenever I go somewhere unknown, I always feel better if I’m not alone. Why wouldn’t we expect students to feel the same way?  “A” should not stand for “alone.”

I also think that how we look at something can affect our attitude. If we look at a challenge as a fun new adventure, we are putting ourselves in the right frame of mind to tackle the task. The more successful we are, the more willing we are to take risks and try harder. I want my students to find success and be willing to risk learning new things. I want them to find the adventure in learning.

What would the letter “A” stand for in your classroom? Please share.