Tag Archives: teaching

More Than Words

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I just finished the first draft of my entry for the Harlequin More Than Words contest and I’m going through Kleenex like there’s no tomorrow.

apb_highschool_smallIt helped that I just visited the final campus of the charter school that I helped start in 2006. We opened class in a dinky renovated warehouse with six classrooms and 140 students.  And now look at the building! This is the fourth year, the first graduating class. I took a brief tour through the classes and waved at my students. I’d like to say they look all grown up now, but nah…they’re still my kids. My chest was more puffed out than the little gryphon mascot that the senior class voted on when they were wee little ninth graders.

I must admit I did get a little teary when I took the picture of the California Distinguished School logo painted on the front. To think back where it all started…

I really do believe that this was one of the best things I’ve ever done. Part of me will always feel that I sold out now that I’m no longer teaching. I couldn’t keep from crying as I wrote the essay for “More Than Words” about one of my good friends, a phenomenal teacher who also founded the school. I have my fingers crossed and I’m hoping she wins even harder than I’m hoping to sell the short I wrote. 🙂

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I love teaching

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The way you know that you were meant to do something is just how “right” you feel when you’re in the moment.

I started thinking and planning for a web conference session to teach beginners how to create their blog on WordPress. Even unpublished writers are being told — get a website, get a blog. Even for someone like me who’s online all the time and comfortable picking around technology, it still took me forever because I dragged my heels and didn’t want to get started. Imagine the block for someone who’s never had a website?

So I thought I’d just set up a way to show people and after the one hour session, they’d have  a blog setup and know how to change things, navigate, etc. I didn’t want to charge for something like this because all the information is freely available online. I just wanted to help people get to the knowledge by presenting it in a friendly way. As I started to research web conferencing, I realized I was excited about this. More excited than I get for my RL job. More excited than even *gasp* I’ve been about writing lately.

I’m already planning for a test run in two weeks. I really hope it goes well. I’ll post any documents I create for it here. The big part of it is the interactive part which is possible through web conferencing. Isn’t technology wonderful?

Teachers really mean it when they say they teach because they love it. I miss being out of the classroom. Not the drama, or the long hours or the emotional drain. But I  miss the teaching and guiding and connecting.  I’d do it for free as long as someone wants to learn.