The Teacher’s Tongue

Students have a story to tell… about teachers.

Teachers have a story to tell… about students.

Which one matters most?

Since I have begun teaching GED classes at the local college, I’ve been actively building new relationships with my adult students.  It’s been quite an eye opening experience.  Such sad stories.  Maddening stories actually.  Stories about teachers who fumbled the ball in the red zone, and their students simply couldn’t recover.

Now, I’m no push over.  I know there are a plethora of reasons why students choose to drop out.  But, having said that, I never want to be the player on my student’s team who causes them to lose the game because I got in the stinking way!   I know none of us do.  After all, when we play well together, we both win. Amen?  Can you tell I’m watching football right now? 🙂

As I listen to students’ stories, the greatest common factor (shout out to math teachers) as to why they dropped out is the teacher’s tongue.  Their win or loss is in the power of our tongue. Gasp! That’s huge and kinda scary too.  Rash words can be like daggers, even sometimes when we don’t think they are…

                                               Perhaps the best advice then is to…I understand it sometimes can be like walking a tight rope.  After all, we have to correct poor student behavior.  There are more than just a few middle school rascals who have tested my patience over the years.  Can anybody identify with me?  When a student gets on our last nerve, steadfast prayer for the patience of Job and wisdom of Solomon can keep us from sustaining a sack like the proverbial quarterback.    

Remember Proverbs 12:16 when a student tenuously tests your wherewithal:

The bottom line is this:  a student’s story matters most!  Not ours.  The story they tell about us in adulthood will tell the tale of how they won or lost in our classroom, and therefore, maybe ultimately in life. That, dear teachers, could depend on how well we controlled our tongue.  So let’s be wise to tame our tongues, and push them on to victory!  AMEN!  

Insert STUDENT’S for man’s!

God bless you in your classrooms this week.  Be mindful!  You will be remembered on down the line.  Stay devoted(!), and students will look back and be thankful you taught them. 🙂  See you back here next week on the blog.

 

 

 

Steady Island (Rock Steady!) 1st Corinthians 15:58

Steady, steadfast, immovable, rock solid… these are traits that our students need to see us demonstrate day in and day out in our classrooms.  But what, you ask, does that have to do with an island?  Ha!  Stay tuned and you’ll find out today on the vlog.

Not only that, but yes, I actually do a cheer for you at the end.  Hey, whatever it takes right?!  Seriously though teachers, many of our students, unfortunately, don’t receive the benefits from having stability in their lives, bless their hearts. Stability is a gift we can give our students, and the formula for it is found, you guessed it, in the Word of God.

Remember, what you do for The Lord in your classroom can’t be overstated.  It’s very important, and thank you for being steadfast, immovable…. always abounding in the work of The Lord!  God bless you and stay tuned…

Steady Island

#StabilityIsAGift   #SteadyLikeTheRock  #RockSteady

The Thoughts of Life and the Life of Thoughts 2 Corinthians 10:5

So many thoughts and so much thinking going on in these minds of ours…in the minds of our students.  How do we take control of our thoughts, instead of our thoughts taking control of us? That’s what we are talking about today on the blog.

I’ve done a lot of thinking about this subject over the past few days as there have been some tragic events that have taken place in and around our community.  I want my students to be prepared when bad things happen.  I want them to know how to handle the deceptive thoughts that come their way.  We always need to be aware of the demeanor of our students. You never know – in doing so, we might just save a life. There is literally a battle going on in the supernatural realm for their souls.  To think otherwise is to be deceived for sure. 1st Peter 5:8 states, “Be alert and of sober mind your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”  Our classrooms are our mission field, teachers. Never forget that!

Blooper alert!  I get just a little (well, really a lot!) tongue tied with a certain phrase at the end of this blog!  Stay tuned, ’cause it’s just a tad funny!

Thou Shalt Not Complain! Philippians 2:14-16

Tall order isn’t it?! In reality, it seems as if teachers do have the most reasons to complain.  Here’s the short list – a list I know 99% of us can more than likely relate to:

•  The parent who thinks their kid can do no wrong and is just down right    mean
•  The student or class that drives you up the wall
•  An overbearing administrator
•  A fellow teacher who does you wrong

Notice I said that’s the short list, because there is a much longer list for sure!  The truth is we will always have reasons to complain – good reasons to complain – but the challenge is to rise above all that and not complain.  I have learned over the years whenever I feel like complaining to pray instead.  Praying just changes my attitude and gives me a different perspective.  So replace your complaining with praying.  You’ll be a happier teacher, and happier teachers are better teachers!  #StopComplaining  #StartPraying

8 To Be Great!… The Finale! Matthew 10:45

We’ve made it to the end of our series 8 To Be Great!… The 8 traits successful people, or in our case, successful Christian teachers, have in common.  It all started with passion, and it ends with…. well, you are fixing to find that out for yourself! 😉

On another note, this will be the last vlog of 2014 as we are 4 days away from Christmas break here in Georgia.  Praise the Lord!  If you’re like me, you are COVERED UP with things to do before the end of this first semester.  May God bless us all and keep us sane for the next 4 days! lol  I am praying for The Lord to bless you and make you the successful teacher He plans for you to be!

Grace and peace to you and remember:  Jesus is the reason for the season!

See you in January!

Donna

8 To Be Great!…Pt. 5 IDEAS: Innovating and/or Discovering Excellent Ideas for Students Proverbs 18:15

Hello teachers!

Successful people have good ideas, and I would venture to say lots of them, wouldn’t you?  I would also go a step further and take a guess, based on personal experience, that more of them don’t work out than do!  I firmly believe the Lord is waiting for us to simply ask Him for help in this area, and that’s what we are talking about on the blog today.  By the way, what you see is what you get with this blog! lol  If I make an error in grammar or pronunciation here or there, please forgive me.  If I edited it out, it would probably be more noticeable!  (Just keepin’ it real – and human!)  May the Lord richly bless you with lots of great ideas for your classroom.

Praying for you,

Donna

8 To Be Great…Pt. 4 Rocky! Rocky! Rocky! Psalm 40:1-4

Hello teachers,

What does Rocky Balboa have to do with 8 To Be Great? He embodies the next 2 traits of successful people that we are taking a look at today on the blog.  I’m thinking we, as teachers, need to be encouraged to do these 2 things as well, especially when we get stuck.  Are you stuck?  If you are, I hope this will help you to get out of that pit!

God bless you in your classroom,

Donna

8 To Be Great! Pt. 3 The Sooty Shearwater…Say What???!!! Hebrews 12:2; 6:10

Hello to all my fellow teachers out there!

We can learn a lot from God’s creation…just take a look around. He paints a picture for us just about everywhere we turn! I love that we can use it in the classroom to be better teachers too.:) It’s all in His grand and glorious plan for all of us together and individually. Today, I talk about just that in a little bird God created called the Sooty Shearwater. Can’t wait to hear what you think about it! As I ended the vlog today, I mentioned that next week we would be continuing 8 To Be Great with part 4 about PUSHing. Well, next week is Thanksgiving break. YAY! So I will post a new vlog the week after the break. God bless you and enjoy your days off. Refresh and revive yourself in the Lord so you can stay focused on the journey. Hint, hint!…
See you soon at devotionsforteachers.org.

God bless you,
Donna

8 To Be Great Pt. 2 Work & Improve…How do you want to pop?! Colossians 3:23-24

Parable of the Popcorn

8 To Be Great…Pt.1 Passion! Romans 12:11-12

Hello Fellow Teachers!
I have attached links for the 2 prior blogs mentioned in today’s blog-cast – Wanted: Spirit Filled Teachers and Joy Stealers.
Best wishes for you in your classroom now and always,
Donna McBrayer