I love GapingVoid cartoons. Here is the one that I am most recently in love with:
As a fan of Simon Sinek and “Start With Why?”, this cartoon is a great reminder for once you have your why pinned down – or as pinned down as defining your purpose can get.
It is also a good reminder for teachers when we ask things of our kids in our classroom.
- WHY is this worth their time?
- WHY are we doing this?
- WHY do we need to do it?
- WHY did I do it this way?
- WHY not something else?
I would like to believe that most teachers have a pretty good idea of why they teach. Sometimes when we move from the philosophical ideals to the human reality of bodies in the room, administrators, parents, and our own personal lives, we have the potential to lose the ‘why’ that drove us to this profession in the first place.
Don’t do that. Or at the very least, resist at every turn! Keep an eye on your why. And live it, daily, in your classroom.
A great example of someone who consistently lives out his why, is the CEO of the YMCA here in Boise, Jim Everett. We visited with him for the second year on our passion tour and again, Jim was hugely popular with my students. The letters they wrote him were heartfelt and just amazing. Jim told the story of the death of his dad when he was in third grade and the huge impact that had on his life. One of my kids concluded his letter with, “If your dad were alive today, he would be the proudest dad in the world.” Yes. Yes he would.
As he did last year, Jim wrote back to us and this year reminded us of the “P” words that he lives his life by and encouraged us to live our lives by. I turned his words into the following as a visual reminder to always look to fulfill your purpose and never lose sight of your why: (PDF Download)
sonya terborg 