Have you ever truly lived in the present? I mean really been able to let all other things fall by the wayside if need be and live moment to moment, taking care of things as they are needed? That is how I have been living for the past couple of months. It’s been challenging and freeing all at once. I’ve spent most of my life planning, making lists, thinking of the near and distant future, racking my brain about the chores I should be doing, people I should be calling, assignments I should be completing.

But sometimes circumstances make it impossible to think of other things when there is something much more important RIGHT NOW!

And that is where I am right now – living in the present.

My 6-year-old daughter has needed my attention lately, and with that my family has as well. So, instead of planning for what’s going to happen next, I plan for the next time I have a moment – and that’s when I’ll think of those things, no sooner.

This living in the present has made me better though – a better mom, hopefully a better wife (although, not a better housewife!) and this new way of framing my time has made me a better teacher too!

I’ve stripped my job down to the essentials: teaching, monitoring, creating. I do what is right for the moment, taking into account what the priority is. If it’s meeting with Sam to go over a math concept, great. If it’s roaming the room to encourage students, fine.  I’ll stop in my tracks now to answer a question or to help a student find a paper.  I’m spending less time worrying about the next meeting, my next post or the upcoming paperwork that is due and more time working with my students – AKA teaching. Go figure!

There was a time when one of my biggest concerns was sharing out to the world my latest lesson.  Even that has been modified.  If I can and time allows, then great.  There’s nothing like sharing ideas with colleagues and doing so can make you a more productive teacher.  But there’s something to be said about not worrying so much about that and just enjoying the students that are standing right in front of me.

~EMP