Tuesday, October 13, 2015

The One With Lost Teeth #sol15


Every Tuesday, I participate in the Slice of Life challenge at Two Writing Teachers. If you want to participate, you can link up at their Slice of Life Story Post on Tuesdays or you can just head on over there to check out other people's stories. For more information on what a Slice of Life post is about, you can go here

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Last night I dreamt that two of my teeth fell out. No big deal. There wasn't any blood. I can't remember the details but I think I was playfully wrestling someone...rough housing...joking around. And one tooth fell out, right into my hand. And then other one fell out too.

I used to love dream interpretation when I was in high school. My best friend and I would tell each other our dreams on the way to school in the mornings and try and decipher them. We each had dream interpretation books and would sometimes look up the meaning of our dreams, overanalyzing ever detail like teenage girls tend to do.

It's been a long time since I paid attention to what my dreams me but this morning the complete clarity of my dream - the two teeth nestled gently in my palm - seemed overwhelming meaningful.

So I looked it up.

Guess what?

Losing your teeth in a dream can be symbolic
of going through a major change,
a time of transition
or of letting go
or starting a new phase in your life.
My dream was spot on.

It's been about two months since school started. I love my new job. I'm doing similar work but now I'm close to home and impacting the schools where my own kids go to school. The people are great. The conversations are fulfilling. But it's still change.

It's still new people and making friends and figuring out where I fit in. I so miss my friends who were like family in my previous district but I trust that I'll get there in my new district. I keep reminding myself that even if it's hard, I have to keep going. I'm positive I'll look back on this post and think how silly I was.

But it's not silly. I'm feeling these emotions so strongly that even my dreams are begging me to acknowledge them. To recognize that this is a huge shift in my life. It's amazing in so many wonderful ways but still of epic proportions.

Students start a new school year or a new school, move to a new place, make friends, figure out where they fit in. Getting to know students, fostering an environment where all students feel safe and respected, showing them you care in the slightest of ways, is so important. That's where it all starts. And when they sense the sincerity, it's the beginning trust.

It's a pretty important job we do as educators and parents. We feel the pressure to do as much as we can as quickly as we can as best as we can. But we need to remember that it all starts with helping kids feel connected so they know they have us - a support system that believes in them - whenever they have to face something new.

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