A Week Without Facebook and Twitter: Liberating

If you have a Facebook or Twitter and are active like me, you probably are involved in the daily carousel of posts, comments, news, and shares. It starts when you awake. You wipe your sleepy eyes, grab the cellular device, open your social media apps, and check to see what you missed while you were dreaming about that bear chasing you. You get out of the shower, dry off, and check it again. Your just about at work and find yourself at a stop light. Instead of thinking for yourself, taking in the scenery, maybe being mindful for a moment; you habitually check social media once again to see what’s happening. This cycle goes on all day long for the majority of people who utilize these platforms.

As I was sitting on my couch last week watching tv, my wife brought to my attention how much I was checking Facebook lately. I would watch tv for a few minutes, check Facebook. Go to the bathroom, come back, and check Facebook. I was doing this probably 50-100 times a day. I feel that in our society today, I am not in the minority of people who live their lives like this. After a discussion, my wife and I decided to challenge each other to live as if it never existed. We were going to delete our Facebook and Twitter apps from our phone and see how it would feel after a week.

The first day was hard I must admit. My habit was to go to the social media folder, and open Facebook when I had a free moment. Not having the app made it a lot harder. Through days one through three, I broke down a few times and used the browser to peruse. After day four, I think I checked it one or two times for only a minute. As the week went on, I cared less about what others were doing and invested more time into my life. It honestly felt good to break my mind of the habit and think for myself again. Some of the things I noted about the week through reflection were:

1. Who cares what others are up to all the time. Spend less time worrying about them and focus on living your life to the fullest. I found I have had way more time to work on important things in life rather than wasting my life on worrying about what others are up to.

2. Honestly, anytime I did something fun in life, it was in my mind, “take a picture and share it on social media.” It was so temping during that week to share the places I went to, my new walkway I completed, where I was running, etc. I now realize that sometimes the best memories don't need to be shared with the world, only with the people who truly care.

3. Stop comparing your life to others. One of the worst things about Facebook is we look to see what others are up to and then we compare our life to theirs. Recently, I saw someone’s post say, "OK, you all can stop getting engaged now." Basically what that person is says is, "I am not happy in my life and I am tired of seeing others getting engaged." Stop wishing it would happen, put the device down, and live your life.

4. I didn’t miss out on anything. I'll say that again. I DID NOT MISS OUT ON ANYTHING. What I had been missing out on is doing things to make myself a stronger person like reading, learning to program, brainstorming ideas, exercising, etc.

After going through the process, I feel I have a new perspective on life that has been deprived from me since I bought a smart phone with these apps on it. Truly, I feel liberated. Liberated from the habitual cycle of wasting time caring about what others are doing that is more fun than what I am doing right now. I am now into week two and have no reason to install the apps back onto my phone. Do I plan to use Facebook again and post? Sure. Will I check it 50 times a day again? No way. Life has been more enjoyable and I am choosing to live out there instead of inside of device. Try it. How long can you go?

-RD

3 Years In: Truths About Teaching

I am in the midst of completing my third full year of teaching. Each year has been completely different. Year one was about surviving, year two was about creating and innovating, and year three has been about trying to improve myself as a professional and make what I have created even better. As I take time to reflect on this year and education as a whole, I feel I have come to some truths about this profession. Feel free to weigh in and discuss.

1. If you don't have a true love for kids, you aren't going to make it in teaching very long. You need to be patient, kind, and understand them. Instead of saying "this generation is lost in technology," we need to meet them where they are. Unfortunately the clock doesn't go backwards, only forwards. Love them for who they are and be where they are. When kids know you care, they are more likely to want to learn from you. We must embrace technology and "teach" them how to use it responsibly.

2. State testing is destroying the creativity and innovation of our teachers and students. To be honest with you, if my field of expertise was in a testing subject, I might not be teaching K-12. I feel those who teach tested subjects. They feel "handcuffed" in their teaching practices because of the stress state testing causes on their evaluations. Instead of doing engaging and creative lessons, they are stuck doing test prep all year. Where is the "joy" in that? The kids know it as well and can't stand it. Quit preaching that we as teachers differentiate our instruction when you standardize test our students. The solution: Instead of standardize testing students to pass an exam, why not give them "choices" on how they demonstrate their learning. There are "eight" multiple intelligences Howard Gardner stated we as humans possess. Some of us have and can utilize more than others and all can be taught/developed. Standardizes testing only allows students to show two of them. To be continued in another post...

3. You have to bring it everyday and choose to have a positive attitude. Unlike some jobs, you can't hide behind a desk if you aren't feeling well. You have to be ON 24/7. You are an artist, entertainer, counselor, motivator, and disciplinarian all in one. There is nothing that can prepare you for that unless you do it. Also, each year you will develop thicker skin and learn what works best for you and your students. My first year, I was awful at disciplining students and having those hard conversations. After year three, I feel I have seen and dealt with many interesting situations. Wisdom can only be gained by experience.

4. Most teachers that I talk to LOVE teaching. Teaching is the easy part. What many don't realize is all the "extra" stuff they have to do along with grading, making phone calls, lesson planning, etc. The number one thing that teachers whom I have talked with beats them up is all the other things that need to be done. SLO's, testing meetings, eight hour long evaluations, committees, etc. We do it because we love our jobs but it takes away in many cases from us being better teachers for our students.

5. If you want to become a better teacher, you need to push yourself to do so every year. After three years in, I can see how it can become easy to get "stagnant" and do the same things every year. Many "scoff" at teachers who get summers off. Teachers NEED off in the summer for a few reasons. One, at the end of each year, our "energy" and "creative juice" are at a low. The battery needs to recharge to deliver 180 days of enthusiasm, encouragement, and guidance. Two, we need time to brainstorm how to we can make those lessons better for next year. The great ones use that time to push themselves to be better than they were last year. Lastly, the students need a break as well from everything that is thrown at them. When they come back in August, they are excited and you as a teacher are pumped to get fresh faces and brains.

6. Overall, this is one of the most rewarding professions in the world. We as teachers do this job not to become millionaires. We do it because we want to change lives and empower our students to become better people. It can be easy to get "caught-up" in all the other things at school, but it is important to remember that we as teachers are the molders of the future. We are the ones who can change the world with one spark lit under a kid for an eternity of time. Congratulations to all the teachers who made it through another year. Rest up this summer; get back those creative juices, because your students need you to be better than you were this year!

-RD