Vickie Gill » Comments http://www.vickiegill.com Effective teaching, classroom management, parenting Sun, 27 Jun 2010 23:10:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 “Kindred Spirits” http://www.vickiegill.com/archives/52 http://www.vickiegill.com/archives/52#comments Sun, 21 Sep 2008 18:30:18 +0000 Vickie Gill http://www.vickiegill.com/?p=52 Vickie and Cynthia by Aidan Terry This is a caricature by the gifted Aidan Terry of me and my dear friend, Cynthia Carbone Ward.  He was Cynthia’s student when he was in 6th grade, and I was lucky enough to have him in my class in 9th grade.  Aidan was the first person to add a comment to my website–click on his name above and visit his website to view more of his work.  It’s hard to believe he’s only a sophomore in high school.  Thank you, Aidan!  You can also find a link to Cynthia’s website on the left side of my home page.  Cynthia produces “writing worth reading”–she is amazing, and you will be inspired by her gift.

]]> http://www.vickiegill.com/archives/52/feed 1 This I Believe http://www.vickiegill.com/archives/38 http://www.vickiegill.com/archives/38#comments Sun, 08 Jun 2008 02:34:41 +0000 Vickie http://www.vickiegill.com/?p=38 I have just left my current teaching position for another in a different school. Six months ago, I was determined to do something outside of the field of education, but I’ve been drawn back in by the challenge of starting up a new school. Over the years, I’ve had people thank me for “sacrificing my life” to be a teacher, and I’ve even had people suggest that I teach because I can’t “do” – an insult any way you look at it. One of my personal myths that I cannot prove, but still believe, is that I was born to be a teacher.

A close friend gave me a copy of the NPR collection This I Believe and I turned it into an assignment for my students – What do you believe? These are my thoughts about how to figure out what to do with your life:

I believe the goal of your career isn’t money, fame, or power, but that could happen. Money, fame, and power are byproducts, like sludge or vapor – the far more worthy goal is to spend your time doing worthwhile work that improves your life and the lives of others.

I believe that often those who are obsessed with gaining power can trace their obsession to feeling like a loser at some time in their lives. That’s why many of our heroes were reluctant leaders.

I believe that part of our life’s work to is locate our center – nostos – our authentic self. It doesn’t mean we are always at our best, but at least we have a clear vision of what that looks like. We choose work that utilizes “what is within us” and we choose our closest companions from those who bring out our higher selves.

More on this later.

]]> http://www.vickiegill.com/archives/38/feed 2 Comments http://www.vickiegill.com/archives/29 http://www.vickiegill.com/archives/29#comments Wed, 04 Jun 2008 18:26:56 +0000 Vickie http://www.vickiegill.com/?p=29 Please feel free to add your thoughts to my thoughts.  I look forward to hearing from you.

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