No Excuses

A l.o.n.g. time ago, a friend of mine named Julie stated that the most annoying sound on the face of the earth was that of a whining child. I laughed like crazy. My sons were 2 and 6 so I could relate with her feelings even if I didn't totally agree. As the years have gone by and I have taught school in elementary, junior high, and high school, I would say that the most irritating sound is a kid with a million and one excuses for not doing his part, whatever that is. When I taught junior high, I read the book Do Hard Things to my 7th graders. One phrase in the book "Pursue Excellence, Not Excuses" stuck with me. I wrote it at the top of my white board and any time a student began to give me an excuse for his situation, I would instruct him to read the top of the board. When I moved to the high school, I realized I would have many of my former junior highers again. That's when I decided to make the motto a permanent part of my classroom. I bought one of those rub-on letter thingys, cost a fortune, but it's going on three years old and still well-stuck in place. As I set up my classroom for the coming school year, I looked at those words and realized that they were just as important to me as a teacher as they were to students trying to escape responsibility. I want to do the best I can to prepare students to live well, to be honest and caring, to make a difference in the world. There are no excuses for doing less than my best.

I love the wall of windows and the constant reminder to do my best.

I use the chalkboard wall as a gallery of sorts. Never have cared for chalk!

But I do love books! My loaners.