| "LA VIDA BUENA" "i thank You God for most this amazing day." -e.e. cummings |
| Of all the pages on this site, you are at "mi favorito"! Here is the reason why. All my life (and it's pretty long compared to a student in K to 8th grade!), I have wanted to BE in a place where what I believe inside, matches with what and who surrounds me. To clarify a bit, it is a true blessing for me to spend so many hours in a place where people live, talk and act out what I believe in my heart can make this world better for everyone.This place for me now is Holy Family School: those actions are the "Virtues of the Month". I read a book this summer titled The Teacher's Calling by Gloria Durka. The author's words inspired and refreshed me. Her words reminded me of what I am really here to do. "We are truly God's work of art, created....to live the good life." The book includes a poem by a poet I have loved since high school, e.e. cummings. The poem begins with these words: "i thank You God for most this amazing day". With this attitude of gratitude, I begin each day of "la vida buena" knowing that with God's help, I can be an excellent teacher and human being. If you have some time now, I would like to share some things about myself that you may not ever know otherwise. To begin, I am still in awe at the way students, parents, and staff at Holy Family School hold up specific virtues each month, pray about them, celebrate them and actually take steps to live them each day, OUT LOUD! What I mean by 'out loud' is people can clearly see, hear, touch and sometimes even taste and smell these virtues in the way students, their parents and staff of HFS behave. This is truly a work of God's art! I am celebrating my 21st year of teaching in public and private schools, in alternative and traditional settings, with desks in a neat classroom row and under a tent in the woods. Each experience has brought it's own special blessings. I have been in the "States" with the comfort of my own first language and across the oceans where I learned only the most important words in new languages such as: please, thank you, yes, no and of course the universal language of a smile. My students have been kinder age to adult learners in Social Studies, Team Building, Spanish and Computer Skills. All along, while teaching others, Durka reminded me,....I have been "feeding my own soul", learning along with my students and becoming the person God created me to be. Of course I didn't know this in September of 1985, on my very first day of teaching in Washington State when Cory threw up in the trash can during my opening speech. It was a very good speech I thought. It could have been freshman nerves; perhaps mine manifested through him! Not taking it personally, the "mama" in me knew what to do. I gently rubbed his back and carried the trash can out of the class with his face still half way in it. His dignity was more important than my introduction! The students were kind and respectful of Cory's feelings. Simple, if you know how. Once he was "OK", I returned to the class and we continued to learn the history of the Pacific Northwest to the end of the school year without any more nervous 'barfing'. We learned much more that first day of class and I have shared this with every group I have ever stood in front of since. I am NOT here ONLY to teach you how to speak a second language or create a web page! I am here because God put me here; to model what I believe makes the world better for everyone: love, respect, kindness. Thus, "P.A.R.A." which means both stop and for in Spanish. I say stop for PACENCIA; to check my ACTITUDE; to show RESPETO for myself and others; and to be AMABLE,(kind) with everyone. Simple? Yes and no! If you have read this far, you have reached my point. I have carried "P.A.R.A." in my teacher tool box for years, and practice it often, in and out of class, with students and parents, in the grocery line and in traffic; with my family and with strangers. I say "practice" because I have yet to perfect it! I truly believe practice makes progress, not perfection, because only God is perfect. I have been blessed with the calling to be a teacher. I understand that what I need to be the best human I can be (the one God knows and loves no matter what!) is all around me and always has been. After 32 years away from my parent's home, having three wonderful children, traveling safely across the world, here I am living again, on the same street in Alhambra, California, in the same house, in the same room I left when I was 19 years old! "All our life is a circle." (Durka) I really believe that! For every student, parent and colleague I have known and will know, I am grateful. Thank you for teaching me and leading me through the circles of this life so far, allowing me to live what I believe, OUT LOUD! As a teacher, it is most important for me to share what I know and what I am still learning about how to "live well". Thank you parents of HFS for the gift of The Teacher's Calling for summer reading. It has reminded me that my work to teach your children is "common work" and that I may do this in my "unique way". I love my work, a "form of public service" and that in itself is a blessing for me. I have the chance to open the doors to possibilities for making a better world while teaching Spanish. Can it really be that simple and that difficult at the same time? Yes! My dream for all of you is that you will make a difference for yourself and others in this life by listening to your own heart, by trusting the Creator who has a plan for each of us, by living OUT LOUD what you believe, by making the virtues of HFS your stepping stones as you walk along your own path of "la vida buena". Gracias for sharing with me true love, patience, and kindness, ways to peace of mind, heart and spirit! A-Dios! "Maestra Tere" Maria Teresa Velasco Sol�s [email protected] |
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