Be Your Best FOR the World

My mom has influenced me to be my own person and to do what I truly love. She has always encouraged me to do my best and to be proud of who I am and what I do. To this day, my mom is my biggest supporter with everything I do and I am so thankful for her encouragement and support. She has seen me through many ups and downs in my life and always seems to know exactly what to say at exactly the right time. I am thankful for her influence on my life and I am so happy to have the opportunity to pass these gifts along to my students.

My mom has taught me how to respect, and to truly know the importance of being respectful of all of the people around me, no matter what the situation.  Most importantly, I think, is that she has taught me patience.  My patience has helped me more than I ever thought it would as a [middle school] teacher and I am so thankful for this guidance.  My mom has also taught me the importance of humor in our lives.  This is a quality that I use consistently in my life, both in and out of the classroom.  Laughing is so good for the soul and it has been a great lesson learn as I continue to grow and learn as a teacher.

Three qualities that I can use to be the best for the world:

Quality: Patience

How I can use it: When I think about the quality of patience, I often think about my classroom and my students.  I use patience with my students on a daily basis.  This is not the only area of my life that I can use this quality.  Within the school walls I need to have patience with students, co-workers and myself.  I can really tell a difference in my own attitude when I have patience with those around me.

Quality: Respect  

How I can use it: Respect is a quality that I admire in people.  Everyone knows what it feels like to be disrespected and, simply put, it doesn’t feel good.  One of my main expectations in my classroom is respect for others (and their artwork).  In the art classroom, I know it not easy for every single student to create works, whether it is a drawing, painting, sculpture, etc.  so I make it very clear to my students that we must respect one another and the work we create.  This is a difficult lesson to teach, but I feel is an extremely important one.

Quality: Humor  

How I can use it: Humor gets me through the day!  I love to laugh with my students, co-workers, friends, family, anyone!  I feel like it eases the mood of my classroom and helps my students and I relax.  I feel that this is an important quality for the art room; if students are tense and stressed, they will not be able to create their best work.