The easiest one for me is 7 1/2 "Play", I love to play video games, watch T.V. and have what I like to call "me time"(which mostly involves me skipping off to my own little world where I can image what ever I want...I like to daydream...Don' you?" For as long as I can remember I have been more interested in play time then doing schoolwork and even housework. But my play time is actually what first sparked my thoughts at wanting to be a teacher. Growing up there were five years between my older sister and 5 and 6 years between the younger two. My older sister didn't want anything to do with me once she hit her teen years and the younger ones were always off playing with their friends and well I didn't want to play with them either, so I played by myself mostly. I had some old literature and math books that I got from a library sale for a couple cents and had a mirror and a white board marker. I would teach and read to an invisible class full of eager eyed young students, I would grade their papers and have parent conferences. I continued with this from 8 years old onto about 12. But the spark to teach had taken root in my heart and even though at this point I was a pretty horrible student, I knew that I wanted to be a teacher. And as I grew up a little more and got into high school the spark became a growing flame and actually brought me to this point. Besides all work and no play makes for a very horrible day!
The hardest would have to be #3 "View problems as challenges." Often when something arises that looks like its going to set me back I get frustrated. I see it as another thing that has gone wrong, as if there is some higher power telling me that I am on the wrong path, that the dream of being a teacher that I have had for the last 17 years is not what I should be doing. As much as I try not to let things get me down when they come up it makes me feel like I have chosen wrong. I sometimes think "Why have I chosen this path? How am I going to help someone learn and get the education they need? What happens if I mess up?" Its not so easy for me to look at something and go "Alright a little speed bump, no big deal, just got to get it done and then I will be on better ground." But then again I usually make mountains out of mole hills...its something I'm still working on.
