Finding My Voice

Life Coaching for Teachers

aprilprice — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 13:12:23 +0000

I teach, it’s what I do. When I’m in my classroom, door shut, I am at home. Nothing energizes me more than watching a child grasp a new concept and get excited about learning. When I go to workshops, visit awesome schools, I tend to forget the success I have in my room…I focus on the bigger than life personalities I see and wonder how I can compete. I’m not comfortable rapping in my class, I have never been the “cool” one, BUT I believe in my students.

I’m discovering that I have a place, to come along side another and whisper words that cast a vision of what they can be. You know what I’ve found, they start to believe it. Then they begin to taste success, they work harder, and my class becomes a place where success is celebrated, failure is no longer feared.

Maybe this is what’s missing from education. What would happen if teachers spent more time investing in students over the latest, greatest, gimmicky, here for 2 years methods of teaching? What would happen if we saw our greatest accomplishment as the development of character in a child, not their latest test score. As a successful professional, I have heard that a teacher is only as good as their last test score. Are we naive enough to think that students don’t pick up on that as well? Are they worthy only if they perform? Are we willing to see that rescuing the sinking educational ship is going to require much more than a new technique?

It’s going to require an ability to teach, a love for people…not just students but their families, an ability to be a “life coach.” I have an idea, let’s teach coaching to teachers…whose with me?

Sunday Dread

aprilprice — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 11:46:27 +0000

Sunday again! Aren’t Sunday’s supposed to be fun, exciting, engaging, restful? Well, Sunday’s in the world of a minister’s family can seem like a long list of to do’s, couple that with people frustrated over trival matters and focusing on God becomes deliberate, a matter of choice. I must choose to see people through His eyes, I must choose to give of myself when I want to withdraw, I must choose to engage in community. If I refuse, which honestly I often do, I remain stuck in the drama the church can be. Today I write for the sole purpose of reminding myself that I can’t but He can.

Value

aprilprice — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 11:38:50 +0000

People have value. I know it, even honor it in others, but for me… It’s my value that I question.

So quickly, a word, a look, a place, and I’m back to my teenage years where I ate alone, cried alone, and shared my thoughts with my cat. Stupid, yes … crazy, yes…. Embarrassing, most definitely.

I always thought that I had nothing to offer:
Not pretty enough
Not funny enough
Not smart enough
Not kind enough
Being alone meant I could pretend to be all the things that I wanted to be, but thought were unattainable. Fast forward 25 years, and most of the time I catch glimpses of myself the way Christ sees me:
Accepted
Loved
Clean
Forgiven
Those days are fun, free. Then there’s today.
The battlefield is my mind. He is enough. He can take the weakness in me, the failures I bring, the mess I’ve made and create something beautiful.

Accountability

aprilprice — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 02:13:07 +0000

Proverbs 18:1 “Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire”

I have read Proverbs so many times, but yesterday when the pastor used this Scripture it was brand new to me. The Holy Spirit immediately convicted me. For years, I have thought my desire to be alone was because I am an introvert by nature. BUT when I’m honest, the truth is that I avoid difficult people, difficult conversations, and when I’m really honest, I allow the awkwardness I feel most of the time as an excuse to walk the other direction in the grocery store, to not comfort others when they are hurting because I just don’t know what to say, to walk away from friendships that seem too demanding, and to hide from life when I feel overwhelmed. Look at the verse again, there is no exception for personality or fear. It plainly states that isolating oneself is due to seeking our own desire. OUCH! I don’t want to stay in this place, I don’t want to hold back love, service, comfort, encouragement because I fear my words might not be eloquent. God has us on a new journey, one that is bound to overwhelm us like never before. So I ask for your prayers and I give you the freedom to call me on my behavior or to ask me how I am pursuing relationships with others.

Overwhelmed

aprilprice — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 22:55:23 +0000

Jon and I have started out on a new adventure. Saturday we started our classes to become foster parents. I know it is the right decision. The kids are excited about it. I have a peace about actually putting my faith into action, yet I am nervous, scared, overwhelmed. Questions like,,,,do I have enough patience…no, do I have enough energy….probably not, am I scared a child will have lice….yes….do I want the chance to give hope and safety to the very ones who can’t take care of themselves….absolutely. Loving like Jesus means doing things that don’t make sense and moving out of our comfort zone.

So far so good

aprilprice — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 20:51:20 +0000

This blog is mainly for me…a chance to say what I think, unedited. That being said: I am excited for the way this year is starting. So far today, I have created a zero balanced budget (Dave Ramsey would be so proud), created multiple excel spreadsheets to help keep track of spending, read my Bible (I can actually say that I’ve read it everyday this year), played with the kids, slept late recovering from a fun night with friends and I’m about to clean out my closet.

On another note, I just read in a magazine that alot of folks spend 13 hours a week on fb. Sad to say that I am probably one of those, well was one of those. I could conquer the world with 13 extra hours in my week. Maybe that is what I will pursue…next entry…How I spent my time instead of being of fb…

New Beginnings

aprilprice — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 16:07:02 +0000

I love, love, love new beginnings…fresh starts…the chance to change myself into the person I long to be. Here’s to a new year…becoming a little better than the year before. By the end of 2011 I hope to: run 2 half marathons, conquer debt once and for all, and carved out some margin in my life.

Excess

aprilprice — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 14:19:20 +0000

It’s the day after Christmas and I am too full…of stuff, of food, of bills. Christmas is supposed to be filled with love and joy as we think about the birth of Christ. Love and joy have been a few of my emotions this Christmas, although they have been accompanied by anger and anxiety. That is embarrassing to admit. I want the Norman Rockwell version of Christmas, the perfect picture that has everyone smiling and laughing. My family portrait this Christmas has been more of mom’s quick temper over everyday frustrations. I just read Rob Bell’s Drops Like Stars, and my soul so resonated with his words. The wanting, the longing, the inner angst that speaks to the fullness that only God can bring. The beauty of suffering…that suffering changes everything. Jon went on a hospital visit yesterday, Christmas day, to see a family whose matriarch had a stroke and brain bleeding. How quickly does life come into perspective when death is a possibility? Does the perfect present under the tree matter at all? Not in the least.

Perspective changes everything. I can look at the mess around my house and be frustrated that my world is not perfect, or I can look at the mess and be thankful that it means my life is full…healthy children, a husband that I cherish, provision for the things we need and more. Today I will choose to be thankful …

I do fill the need to declutter…my house, my life, my finances, my head. Part of the decluttering means getting honest with myself and looking head on into the parts of myself that I would like to assume don’t exist…the selfishness, the pride, the anger. Getting ready for 2010 means getting things, including myself, in order…ready for a new start. I am hopeful for growth this new year: spiritually, personally and professionally. Let’s get ready!

The Closet

aprilprice — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 11:40:49 +0000

We all have that one closet, drawer, or space that we cringe if anyone looks in. I promised Jon that I would tackle it this summer, but I’ve been putting it off. Putting it off until he brought it up at a dinner party…that was it. I am now looking at a clean closet and a messy floor. I’m slowly getting it done. In the process I started thinking about the closets we have inside. Whether we try to hide them from God or others, they are still there. For me, I want to clean it up and have it organized before I show Him or anyone else. Have I forgotten that redemption has happened, that I don’t have to put a bow on it before He sees it. He already knows, yet he loves me anyway. I am now 19 years into my walk with Christ and I am still trying to do things my way – am I really so arrogant to think I know best?

Waiting

aprilprice — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:28:21 +0000

I know that waiting develops character and teaches you so much about who you are. Yet I hate it! It seems to be a current theme in my life. It is so hard to force yourself to work your plan when the end is not in sight. I’m a bury your head in the sand and hope it goes away kind of girl. Believe it or not, I gained perspective in the movie Kung Fu Panda. I know, it doesn’t take much for me to have an a-ha moment. Well the wise turtle was saying that we face the thing we resist as we try to avoid it. And yes, the turtle was much more poignant and elegant – and yes, it feels ridiculous to even write. But it is what I do. How different would life be if I made the phone calls I didn’t want to, wrote the note I didn’t want to, tackled the project I’ve put off…my list could go on and on.

I’m off to tackle 1 thing…