CLIMB THE MOUNTAIN by Becky Bowser

The harder the challenges, the more glorious the triumph.

Challenges are what make life interesting, overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.

Everyone has challenges and problems. Success lies in dealing with them promptly and thoroughly.























Mt. Everest rises to approximately 29,035 feet making it the highest mountain on the earth.

A very famous blind mountain climber named Erik Weihenmayer quotes:

“One thing hasn't changed in the twenty years I've been rock climbing and that's the reach. We calculate and predict. We hope and pray. All our measurements lead us to believe we'll find what we are looking for, but we know there are no guarantees. It's that moment when we've committed to the reach, and we know it's almost impossible to turn back."

Another amazing fact about Eric is that he is the first blind person to climb Mt. Everest, and during that climb, he led a group of Tibetan blind teenagers with him to about 21,000 feet, then he continued with a few blind guides up the mountain. To get ready for the climb up Mt. Everest, it took him weeks of preparation such as eating a good diet, getting plenty of rest, performing strength exercises, taking motivational training, writing down goals, and practicing rope training. Many will give up on their first attempt at the climb. Some may get scared or fall and may not want to experience that pain again. There are many who won’t give up, but will look forward to the challenges and the rewarding sensation of completing that goal and reaching the top.



I would like to show you a video of Dan Osman (February 11, 1963 – November 23, 1998), an Asian American extreme sport practitioner, known for his dangerous sports of "free-soloing" (rock climbing without ropes or other safety gear); and "bungee jumping" (falling several hundred feet from a cliff then being caught by a safety rope), for which his record was over 1000 feet. His mountain climbing skills will always be remembered in the hearts of his family and friends. Here’s a quick side note about Dan. The mountain that you will be watching him climb is called Bear Reach in Lover’s Leap, California. This would take the average mountain climber 3 hours to climb with ropes. Dan did it in four minutes without any ropes.



Dan Osman Speed Climbing - The funniest bloopers are right here

No one said teaching is an easy job. Unfortunately most first year teachers overlook the challenges, and then walk into their classrooms unprepared and incapable of handling the challenges of teaching. 1/3 of teachers leave their profession in the first three years of teaching. Just like a mountain climber, a teacher has to prepare themselves for the climb.

So, what are some of the challenges that you may face as a first year teacher? Shortages of money,lack of supplies and planning time, overcrowded classrooms, stacks of administrative paperwork,plain frustration, parents who won’t support you by attending conferences, diversity of student achievement and ability levels, a difficult principal, difficult student body, teacher’s meetings, teacher evaluation, feeling humiliated by making a mistake, being on an emotional yo-yo ride, working in a school with a high drop-out rate, meeting the emotional needs of students as well as their academic needs, piles and piles of papers to grade, dealing with an unruly student, constant interruptions, and being a young teacher whom the children may have a harder time respecting because they consider him/her a peer.

In the next video, there is a small clip from the movie titled, "Dangerous Minds," with Michelle Pfieffer. Michelle plays LouAnne Johnson, the true story of an ex-marine who doesn't give up on 34 inner city sophomores students who were called the class from hell. LouAnne Johnson inherited this class from a teacher who'd been pushed over the edge, and had said that these kids had blood on their hands. She was warned that her new assignment would be dangerous, but where the school system saw 34 unreachable kids, Johnson saw young men and women with intelligence and dreams. Johnson broke the rules to give these kids belief in themselves, and the ability to beat the odds when statistics said they'd never graduate. This is a remarkable memoir of a tough, dedicated, inventive teacher, whose inspiring story later spawned a hit movie and television series. LouAnne Johson faced the challenges and didn't give up. To learn about 25 other teachers who changed the world, you can visit, http://www.teachingtips.com/blog/2008/07/02/25-teachers-who-drastically-changed-the-world/





Your first year or your future years as a teacher may feel like total chaos, but there is always hope. Here are some tips for the first year teacher mentioned in Those Who Can, Teach book. (chapter 14, pages 483-487)

• Make a study of your strengths and weaknesses. For example, if shyness is your weakness, start speaking to people right now before you begin managing a classroom.
• Keep a teaching journal where you can write your teaching thoughts and suggestions. A journal serves as a constant reminder that you are preparing to actually be in charge of your own classroom, and can serve as a personal record. Plus, as years go by, you can reflect upon the challenges you faced, and may in return, help a first year teacher.
• Maintain proper frame of mind such as realizing that you are someone who is untested and who has a great deal to learn.
• Find an experienced teacher who can mentor you daily.
• Make your students’ parents your allies. Difficult parents will be a part of your teaching experience, but if you maintain the proper attitude by making the parents your friends, then you have already conquered the difficulty.
• Take Evaluation seriously. When you are being evaluated, be yourself, not someone else. Show the principal or administration the type of person you are when THEY are not in the classroom. Professor Robert Leblanc won a Seymous Schulich Award for Teaching Excellence in this article where he wrote about 10 points on how to be a good teacher all the time, not just on evaluation days, such as good teaching is as much about passion as it is about reason. It's about not only motivating students to learn, but teaching them how to learn, and doing so in a manner that is relevant, meaningful, and memorable. It's about caring for your craft, having a passion for it, and conveying that passion to everyone, most importantly to your students. You may read the other 9 points if you visit this website. http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/topten.htm
• Take care of yourself. Get plenty of rest. A teacher friend of mine goes to bed at 9:00 every school night. Be bacteria or virus aware. You will be around more germs than you want to know about that are creeping around in your classroom. Proper hand sanitation, Vitamin supplements and airborne are just a few ways you can help yourself fight germs. This website lists great tips to keep yourself healthy during your teaching career.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2036559/back_to_school_health_tips_for_all.html?cat=5

Will you be part of the 1/3 of teachers that quit their climb in the first three years? Or, will you be the one who faces the challenges and who climbs to the top of your teaching career? What can you expect the first year of teaching? Challenges. Finally I would like to encourage all of us future climbers by remembering, “Life is all about the climb.”