This is a letter I wrote to myself while I was at "teacher boot camp" this summer, i.e. TFA Summer Institute.

14 July 2011

Dear Future Me,

Congratulations on your first teacher job :). Are you taking yourself too seriously yet? You know you have a ten dance to do that! Keep yourself in check girl. make sure you are taking time for yourself--journal, pray, read.

How are you feeling about your students? Are you able to assume the best of them? In areas where a student has proved to you that they don't care, what can you do to invest them back into their own success? What has happened in their life to make them have the attitude they do? Are you being respectful to them and theirs? Are you modeling what it means to be Christ-like in the classroom?

how are you feeling about your co-teachers? Do you feel respected and valued by them? Do you respect and value al you co-workers? Are you being a light in the darkness by being positive and friendly with your smiles? Do you actively avoid gossiping? Be respectful and assume the best of your co-workers and peers and you will be at ease.

How are you feeling about your administrators? Do you seek out their help and give them the proper respect? Do you respect their time? How about with your TFA bosses? Have you maintained respect for them and continued to assume the best of them? Remember Lara, your pride can get in the way of potentially great relationships in all areas of your life. Take hurtful words with a grain of alt, you know who you are and you know your worth outside of what you perceive others think of you. Reinforce a positive self-identity in others and you will begin to feel even more loved and content. If you do this with your students, peers, and overheads, you will be more successful at making a positive difference in the lives of those you encounter.

View people a Christ would view them.
Look beyond people's behavior and into who they are, and you might be able to reach them.

I truly hope you are doing well, and that this letter helps your life be even better, because you are me :).

~Yourself (past me/you... Oh the confusion)

P.S. Students need to be taught what it means to be a good student. What does it look like?