Graduation Wisdom

A graduation ceremony is an event

where a graduation speaker tells

thousands of students dressed in identical caps and gowns

that "individuality" is the key to success.

Robert Orben

Our Biggest Fans

We long for affection altogether ignorant of our faults.

Heaven has accorded this to us

in the uncritical canine attachment.

George Eliot

Sunshine and Joy

The sun does not shine for a few trees and flowers,

but for the wide world's joy.

Henry Ward Beecher

Tomorrow Begins Today

For tomorrow belongs to the people

who prepare for it today.

African Proverb

Save the Trees

Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees,

and then names the streets after them.

Bill Vaughn

I think of all the things that the tornado took, I miss the trees the most.  Our brick streets used to be canopied by old trees.  I miss the school, the church, and the old houses, but they are all being rebuilt.  I won't live to see the trees grow large enough to canopy our streets once more.  They've been planted.  I know they are there.  Someday our barren town will be shaded and charming once more.  We've planted for future generations, and I hope they grow to love the trees as much as I do or as much as I did. 

True Joy

Joy is not in things;

it is in us.

Robert Wagner

Who You Are

Who you are makes a difference

to the people of our world.

This quote was on a poster over the front chalkboard in my room for years.  (The tornado took it, but it will be there again when we move into the new building.)  Now, daughter K puts it on a wallet size card she gives to her students. 

I tell the students that it matters every single day what kind of person I am in that classroom.  My mood and behavior affects their mood and behavior.  The same is true for them.  It matters every single day what kind of person they are in my room.  It matters whether they are kind, helpful, and honest. 

Going a bit further:  It matters what kind of people we are in our families. It matters to our community what kind of people we are. It matters whether we help others, work together, or do what we are supposed to do.  It matters in our state and our nation, too.  It matters. 

Middle Age

Middle age is when you're sitting at home

on a Saturday night and the telephone rings

and you hope it isn't for you.

Ogden Nash

Drinking and Driving

If you drink, don't drive.

Don't even putt.

Dean Martin

The Pillars on the Porch

Friends are the pillars on your porch.

Sometimes they hold you up,

sometimes they lean on you,

and sometimes it's just enough to know

 that they are standing by.

Building Good Things

Whatever good things we build

end up building us.

Jim Rohn

This is the Language Arts hallway of the new school that will replace Trailer High.  I can't imagine walking down this hallway to my classroom next January.  I can't wait!

We've been building a school in this town for over 100 years. The real school isn't about the building.  The school is the students, the staff, the curriculum and the activities.  Teaching in trailers, we've learned that. 

One Year Ago Today

This blog was started a year ago today.  I didn't post every day, which was my original goal.  I think I missed 20 days.

So what's up for this next year?  There will be more quotes and more photos.  However, this year there will sometimes be an explanation of a photo.  (I can't tell you how many times I have wanted to do that in the last year!)  Other times there might be a photo with no quote or a quote with no photo. 

"Every new beginning

comes from some other beginning's end.

Seneca

Einstein's Relativity

Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute,

and it seems like an hour.

Sit with a pretty girl for an hour,

and it seems like a minute.

THAT's relativity.

Albert Einstein

Dancing in the Rain

Life isn't about waiting for the storms to pass...

it's about learning to dance in the rain.

Amused or Shocked

Perhaps one has to be very old

before one learns how to be amused

rather than shocked.

Pearl S. Buck

From the Mom's Point of View

The decision to have a child is momentous.

It is to decide forever

to have your heart go walking around

outside of your body.

My Mother's Prayers

My mother's prayers will cling to me

all the days of my life.

Abraham Lincoln

Growing Wings

Sometimes if you aren't sure about something,

you just have to jump off the bridge

and grow wings on the way down.

Danielle Steel

Sweet Flowers

Flowers are the sweetest thing God ever made

and forgot to put a soul into.

Henry Beecher

Men Like Fine Wine

Men are like fine wine.

They all start out like grapes,

and it's our job to stomp them

 and keep them in the dark

until they mature into something

you'd like to have dinner with.

Kathleen Midsud

Purpose of Education

The true purpose of education is to teach a man

to carry himself triumphant to the sunset.

Liberty Hyde Bailey

Gathering Rosebuds

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,

Old time is still a flying:

And that same flower that smiles today,

Tomorrow will be dying.

Robert Herrick

Teeter Totter Wisdom

Life is like a teeter totter.

It's a balancing act.

There are ups and downs,

but without someone else it is just a lot of "downs."

Keep Playing

We don't stop playing because we grow old;

we grow old because we stop playing.

George Bernard Shaw