He says this kind of deformity can happen when you plant your carrots too close together. Well, it certainly brightened my morning that day. I couldn't see myself butchering it up for a meal so it's been in the refrigerator awaiting its fate. Last night I decided that it had served its purpose well by being a conversation piece, but today I would probably shred the carrots for a macaroni salad and to use in garden salads. Then inspiration hit me, as it usually does late at night.
Inspiration is a must for a teacher. That's what a teacher's summer is all about - inspiration and catching up on sleep, but mainly inspiration. We look at the lessons we taught during the year and reflect on the positives and negatives and then look for possible improvements. We also look around for inspiration on new ways to do things. The world is constantly moving and changing and so must we as teachers.
My inspiration involved immortalizing this amazing, unique, and downright scary carrot. Kind of reminds me of Elvis (well, the lower half of Elvis anyway.) When I told my husband I was going to take a picture of it, he cringed. "Are you sure you want to do that?" he asked. I think my response was to just grin. I don't like to over think things some times...just go with it.
That's what I do in my classroom. I don't spend a lot of time over-thinking, it won't be productive. I know some teachers who spend too much time over-thinking and sometimes wind up talking themselves out of good creative lessons. "What is the kids don't like it? What if they can't do it? What if? What if?" I hate the "What if 's." I can't plan for all the contingencies. But I have found that if you have passionate about a lesson, then it comes across to the students and can be contagious. Besides, if I don't expect much from my students, then that's what I get - not much.
I hold them and myself to pretty high standards and expect the best. It's just how I roll!
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