Perspective

I thoroughly enjoyed spring break this year. I spent some time with my family, relaxed and even managed to knock out a few chores that I have been putting off. One of those chores involved cleaning out old documents in my home office that needed to be thrown out. In this process I managed to find my first paycheck as a teacher. This instantly brought my productivity to a standstill. My first paycheck as a teacher was much smaller than I remembered. At the time, Erika and I were in our first year of marriage. She had a car payment and we had purchased our first house. Erika was still in school and was doing her nursing internship. Until February of that school year, this check was our sole source of income.

Those of you that are older than me will get this, those younger might not yet. There are a few key moments in your life when you first feel old. This was one of mine. After trying to figure out how on earth we managed to even buy groceries that year, I laughed at myself for feeling like my grandfather when he would tell me that a Pepsi used to cost five cents or when gas was more than a quarter a gallon. After the initial shock, I was hit with the fact that this paycheck brought me a lot of perspective. In thirteen years a lot has changed. I've grown and while my paycheck does look better now than it did then, I definitely spend it much differently as well. Children and things like insurance and savings start to take the place of nights out with friends and late night pizza orders. We grow and adapt and if you don't, you're stuck with what you had then.

In the coming weeks we will all be completing our end-of-year PDPs. We will look back on our goals for the year and how we did toward meeting them. We click a few boxes and determine if we reached our goal. This time of year is important for that same perspective. Where did we end up and where do we want to go next. How has our instruction changed and have our values changed? What are you good at and how can you be better at the other things? Reflection and this perspective of looking back allows us to appreciate where we have been and celebrate where we are now. Growth is not just an important word for student test data. It's just as important for each of us and it's a personal thing. I'm sure that in 2004 there were plenty of people that would have loved my paycheck and there were many others that would have laughed at it. Growth is specific to the individual. So what is your perspective? What mountains have you climbed? Where are you headed and what challenge will you take on next? Think back to your first year teaching, or if you're a beginning teacher, think back to your first month. How much better are you now and how have your priorities changed? Most importantly, take time to laugh at yourself when you think through your journey. Those things that looked like mountains then, just might look small to the goals that stand in front of you today.