Inspire, Be Inspiring, Become Inspired

This post is my first blog post because I became inspired-

My name is Lexi Law and my current teaching position is 5th Grade Science in North Texas. At this point in my career I am wrapping up the back half of my third year of teaching. I promise what I lack in experience I over compensate in the amount of energy I have.

Although I feel like my first year of teaching should have counted as 4 years of experience. I was at a difficult school, cried in the parking lot on my lunch hour almost every day, and lost over half of my hair due to stress. I taught two subjects and quickly became the staff member no one liked because I had no classroom and got pushed into whichever teacher's room who was on conference. I became very comfortable with letting others watch me teach because I did not have any other option. I have always been a people-pleaser and fallen victim to a lot of things I did not want to do because I simply cannot tell people "No!" I am the go to volunTOLD person. Gratefully, I have learned so much in my experiences from not being able to say, "No!" 

I have been placed on every cohort, collaborative, leadership team, and pilot my district offers. I keep my summers slammed with professional developments and conferences to present at and attend. Sometimes I wonder WHY, LEXI? Why do you pile your plate so high and so full? Then I realized...

INSPIRE-
I think about the word inspire. What that word encompasses. I love being around people who love to inspire others. I have found that those teachers, the ones that aim to inspire others, all participate in the cohorts, collaboratives, leadership teams, and get picked for the pilots. I love being around like minded people. It allows me to become a sponge and just soak up all the greatness that I can from them.

BE INSPIRING-
How do I then turn it around and be inspiring to someone else. Most teachers are not okay with being mediocre so how do I take what I have/or know and be inspiring. My teaching style has always been different and I am definitely not one to let my lesson planning become stagnate or stale. I feel like the "be inspiring" aspect just comes from admiration and not pushing. Others have to want the drive to be inspired; I cannot MAKE someone want more. I just have to continue leading by example because the #KidsDeserveIt.

BECOME INSPIRED-
To become inspired is an easy one for me. I become inspired rather easily and I do not know why or how that came to be. I am the one who is the crying sap listening to the Teacher of the Year speak, or hear a motivational speaker and think I can change the world. I become inspired by my Educational Heroes that write books about their experiences, like Paul Solarz- Learn Like a Pirate, Dave Burgess- Teach Like a Pirate, Matt Miller- Ditch That Textbook, and Adam Welcome and Todd Nesloney- Kids Deserve It. After reading about their amazing classrooms and schools, I then tried to find innovative ways to bring that back to my class for my students. If I am being honest, following all of these amazing people on twitter totally helps me stay in a motivated mindset. My PLN teaches me and inspires me daily.

My advice to you, as a semi-new teacher, do not quit being a sponge whether you are starting year 5, 10, 15, 20, or 25. I have so much to learn from my veteran teachers, and I have barely scratched the surface in my efforts to become a great teacher. I just hope I always have the drive to be better, to evolve as the kids do, and to push myself to not settle for mediocre.