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Thank you, Trudy, for submitting today's prompt! Visit Trudy's blog, Random Thoughts. If you'd like to submit writing prompts for possible use on The One-Minute Writer, just e-mail me at cbethblog (at) gmail (dot) com.
One-Minute Writing of the Day:
When I taught 6th grade it was easy to get so demoralized by marking, long hours and emotional exhaustion that I forgot sometimes why I was even there.
One day, knowing I'd get my wrist slapped if the principal caught me, I let my students stand on their desks and drop paper helicopters we'd made as part of a science unit about flight. The kids timed their drops and attached weights to see if they could make them go any faster. Lucky for me, I didn't get caught.
A week later, one little girl went away on a family vacation to Paris. When she came back, she handed me a keychain shaped like the Eiffel Tower. She told me she'd had so much fun with her helicopter that day, she packed it in her luggage, took it up the Eiffel Tower, dropped it off and watched it until it disappeared.
And then I remembered why I was there.
Congratulations, knitwit! Your story was so inspiring. I hope my kiddos have teachers like you when they go to school. Feel free to put a One-Minute Writer WINNER! button on your blog, if you have one! Also, please either comment here or e-mail me at cbethblog (at) gmail (dot) com if you don't mind me using your response in a possible future podcast.
One day, knowing I'd get my wrist slapped if the principal caught me, I let my students stand on their desks and drop paper helicopters we'd made as part of a science unit about flight. The kids timed their drops and attached weights to see if they could make them go any faster. Lucky for me, I didn't get caught.
A week later, one little girl went away on a family vacation to Paris. When she came back, she handed me a keychain shaped like the Eiffel Tower. She told me she'd had so much fun with her helicopter that day, she packed it in her luggage, took it up the Eiffel Tower, dropped it off and watched it until it disappeared.
And then I remembered why I was there.
Congratulations, knitwit! Your story was so inspiring. I hope my kiddos have teachers like you when they go to school. Feel free to put a One-Minute Writer WINNER! button on your blog, if you have one! Also, please either comment here or e-mail me at cbethblog (at) gmail (dot) com if you don't mind me using your response in a possible future podcast.
26 comments:
My sons inspire and motivate me to live out my dreams regardless of what other's think.
A "Rocker", a MMA "cage Fighter" and an artist/college student.
All living out their dreams.
When I taught 6th grade it was easy to get so demoralized by marking, long hours and emotional exhaustion that I forgot sometimes why I was even there.
One day, knowing I'd get my wrist slapped if the principal caught me, I let my students stand on their desks and drop paper helicopters we'd made as part of a science unit about flight. The kids timed their drops and attached weights to see if they could make them go any faster. Lucky for me, I didn't get caught.
A week later, one little girl went away on a family vacation to Paris. When she came back, she handed me a keychain shaped like the Eiffel Tower. She told me she'd had so much fun with her helicopter that day, she packed it in her luggage, took it up the Eiffel Tower, dropped it off and watched it until it disappeared.
And then I remembered why I was there.
I've been told that I reinspired teachers to have faith in their students again. The funny thing is, it was the same teachers who inspired me to go into teaching so I could inspire students like those in my class who seemed misdirected and lost.
The world is connected in the oddest of ways,
Who you love tomorrow you may hate today.
Growing up, I went to a Catholic High School. We had boy cheerleaders. I started a political party and my platform was that I would lobby the powers that be to implement girl cheerleaders. I was overwhelmingly voted in and with such a mandate, I inspired the student body to protest the "Male cheerleader" issue and in my senior year....they had female cheerleaders! With a legacy such as this in politics...I should have run for President!
Dan
I didn't write this one, but lately it has been what has inspired me, and I just have to share it:
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you NOT to be?
You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people don't feel insecure around you.
We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It is not just in some of us, it is in everyone.
And as we let our own Light shine,
we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
Author unknown
I hope you like it. If you want to see it easier you can go to my blog at
nttp://bornbarefoot.blogspot.com.
One of the best things about being a teacher is that we inspire and motivate daily. Or at least we do if we want to be effective!
I have a student, a 7th grade boy no less, who always notices when I'm not feeling well. Maybe I am trying to get over a migraine, I'm coming down with a virus, or I didn't sleep enough. No matter what is wrong with me, he always notices. None of the other students do (even the one tenth-grade class I teach). But T. always says, "Are you feeling okay today, Ms. Norris? You seem a little ... out of it."
So I wrote him a note last week: "T., have you ever thought of being a scientist? You are one of the most observant students I have. You are the only person who notices when I'm not feeling well. That's a great quality for a scientist!"
You should've seen his smile.
Before I take the "minute" to write my own entry, I wanted to say "hurray!" for all the teachers that answered here today. As a former teacher myself, I feel so proud to be "one of you," and gratified that you are demonstrating the real reason that teachers teach (it's certainly not the pay!)
And to knitwit: Double hurray for you! Not just that you didn't get spied by your principal, but that you had the courage to do the exercise in the first place. Students of America need more teachers like you.
@docmon:
We're all teachers. No matter what it says on our business cards, someone is looking up to and learning from us. :)
Inspiration is the thing that I am passionate about and write about on my own blog Treasures-Found.blogspot.com
I believe that inspiration is around us all the time. And a lot of the time we can be inspiration to one another. Often we don't even realize the full impact that we have on another, whether they be our own children, our colleagues, our friends or the person standing behind us in line at the coffee shop. If you approach your day that you will be an inspiration to someone, perhaps even without you knowing it, you will approach the day with a lighter step, a kinder heart and a more accepting soul. It is our duty to scatter joy whereever we can and by doing so we may be the inspiration that someone needs to pick themselves up, dust themselves off and keep living their own remarkable life.
Enjoy the day!
Erin
Very good point, Sarah. Some people need to remember that more often, others know it always, realizing their actions are always being observed by others, often 'others' young enough to be impressed by those actions. Every moment can be a teaching moment!
i have motivated a lot of people, they said it's my charm that pushed them through whatever they're encountering..i used the appropriate words for them. these people were my friends, encountering love, life and other problems..
This prompt invoked more than 60 seconds of writing - sorry! Here is my link instead of the entire post:
http://mymuseandme.blogspot.com/2009/03/one-minute-writer-inspiration.html
I was in the closet for years about being a recovering alcoholic. I didn't want anyone to know, until I saw a friend whose drinking got out of hand and affected her familiy's life.
I shared with her my story. Last month she celebrated two years of sobriety. For me, it's been 18 years and..... I don't hide my story anymore.
My blog at Dani's Daily Drop is to serve this purpose, actually. I hope to inspire or motivate others who read it to be more positive influences and find good in things that are hard. To those people unknown to me out there in the world, I hope to prompt a smile, a laugh, or even a tear if it's needed.
My god-daugther/niece is the light of my life, she is my inspiration in what I do all the time. I wonder what would she think if I did this and I do something else. I want her to know that I love her and that she has meant so much to me.
I have a difficult time thinking that I have inspired someone. I feel the same way about being proud of someone for something they have achieved. For me it takes away from what they themselves have accomplished. I may have participated, or offered some sage advice, I might have given them a lift or extended a hand when they needed it.
I once read that its the people closest to you that can deter follow through on your dreams. So I try to inspire people by being supportive, helping them see their gifts and talents for themselves and encouraging them along the way. Letting them have the all the credit for their accomplishments amd never dismissing their ideas and dreams as silly or unimportant. For me the true measure of my success in inspiring people comes from the people that come back late in life and say, you remember when you did or said this? Well, Taryn, that made a difference to me.
It's a whole different thing, being an inspiration to someone else. But I see it when my little nieces look up at me, with those eyes that tell you that you're the world to them, you're their beloved aunt, a model for what they want to be. If the look doesn't say it, well, when my 10-yr-old niece said she wanted to go to my alma mater, well, I could deny it no longer.
I'm inspired by the way the sun inevitiably shines again no matter how rainy it gets.
Each day I greet a classroom full of eager little ones and do a job that I love, teach. I teach them to love reading, to question texts, to solve new problems, to think outside the box, to respect our planet and those who live on it. I sometimes know, with certainty, that I've reached them. I can tell when they are inspired, or at the very least engaged. Many days, though, I head home wondering if I made a difference for at all. Being a teacher is sometimes a thankless job (as I'm sure most jobs are), and sometimes it's a job that wears a teacher thin.
So, imagine my surprise when I got a letter in the mail in December saying that I was recognized by three graduating seniors as a teacher who made a difference in their lives. THREE! I had those kids eight years ago. Eight years ago, and I made a difference. One of them said that she knew that she could do anything because I made her believe that she could. WOW- I guess sometimes what I do does make a difference! I guess I should have been really proud of myself when I got those letters. You know, I was just so very proud of those kids for being so successful and for graduating with honors! I was one of many who inspired greatness along the way. I hope there are many more on their paths.
(clearly longer than one minute)
I am an organized person. I pack things away properly. I throw things out in order. I clean all my closets once a year.
I was telling a new friend this last week. She told me that she is basically lazy and didn't know how to be organized.
She went on to tell me about the messes in her house.
Boxes that has been packed for 20 odd years. Papers that were in files but with no headings. Clothes in the closet that had not been worn in years. Messes everywhere.
I told her how to start fixing hte problems. I gave her a time limit to get her started and asked for a progress report.
She reported that she had completed the given tasks and what next should she do. She was so jazzed by her success that she was actually looking forward to the next organizational skill I could teach her.
I was/am so proud of her. I don't know what it is like to live with the chaos around my space.
She has motivated me to teach a community ed class in getting the home de-cluttered and organized.
We will be proud of each other.
Well, that’s an uncomfortable question.
Does it count when you motivate your kids by threatening them with endless and interminable punishment? Okay, okay, I really didn’t think so.
My favorite way of motivating just about anyone is to help them feel how valuable and important they are, to help them see where their talents and strengths lie, to help them to feel how very, very much they are loved. Once somebody’s in touch with that feeling, you can trust them to do the right thing without even suggesting it. It’s like watching a flower blossom right before your eyes. I love that!
My inspirations are similar to Beth's - it's a weird thing to be able to post a word or phrase or question and have people be inspired to write based on these little prompts.
It's always particularly nice to receive a message letting me know that I've encouraged someone to start writing again. The internet is a strange and wonderful place.
How I have inspired and motivated someone else? "That's for them to know and me to find out..." ;-)
When I think about inspiration amazing hymns, stories with impact, uplifting art all come to mind. When I think about the times I have truly been inspired I think about times when someone has expected me to rise to their expectation without necessarily saying the words. Isn't that what inspire truly means? something that breathes life into us and makes us be better than we thought we could be. Little nudges from people along the way. May we all pay that forward.
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