new leaves

August and I are not such good friends. Although I am excited about the start of a new school year, its return always triggers a certain amount of anxiety. You know that "Sunday night feeling" when a new work week is about to start? It's like that, but worse. I toss and turn into the wee hours of the morning. (Last night, for example, I was awake until 4:15 am.) I have an unusual number of nightmares, oftentimes specifically school-related. And, based on my conversations with others, I am not alone in my experiences. This is just a part of the teaching life, part of the rhythm of the year.

Thankfully, the beautiful flipside of the August stress-fest is the glorious possibility of a brand-new year. It is the perfect time to begin again, to make new-school-year resolutions, to change something in my life.

Our state and national economies and educational systems are under significant stress. Life in general seems to lack any sense of certainty. This situation leaves me with two choices: to teach out of fear, with survival my only aim; or to teach without fear, looking past the temporary challenges, holding on to a more joyful, hopeful vision of the future, and having fun in my classroom every day.

I know it won't be easy, but I want this to be the year of living fearlessly.

But forget all that—
      it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.
 For I am about to do something new.
      See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?

- Isaiah 43:18-19