Maybe all you need is both feet on the ground (The Lemon Twigs)

At 1,000 pages long, it's taken a while, but I have just finished the David McCullough biography of Harry S. Truman, simply called Truman.

What a bargain it was - costing a dollar from that book shop in Santa Rosa (the origin story is here). It's an extraordinary biography that delivers majestically throughout and yes, I misted up during the last three pages as McCullough recounts events of December 26, 1972 - Truman's final days.

The summing up of Truman in these last pages of the biography really affected me. 

Here are some extracts:

He did require to be loved. He did not expect to be followed blindly. Congressional opposition never struck him as subversive, nor did he regard his critics as traitors. He never whined.

He walked around Washington every morning - it was safe then. He met reporters frequently as a matter of course, and did not blame them for his failures. he did not use the office as a club or a shield, or a hiding place.

(Mary McGrory in the Washington Star)

The contrast to the times we now live in, with a narcissistic spoilt child in the White House couldn't be starker.

The last word should go to David McCullough:

Ambitious by nature, he was never torn by ambition, never tried to appear as something he was not. He stood for common sense, common decency. he spoke the common tongue.

He held to the old guidelines: work hard, do your best, speak the truth, assume no airs, trust in God, have no fear.

A dream becomes a goal when action is taken towards its achievement (Bo Bennett)

Photo by Adam Winger on Unsplash

Recently, one of my senior students told me she's intending to be a teacher. That's something that always excites me. There is no finer career in my humble opinion. I love being a teacher.

She asked for some advice and I said - don't let anyone, or anything put you off achieving your goal. Even when things get tough - that's when you get tested, but stay on target, don't listen to the doubters.

Energy and persistence conquer all things (Benjamin Franklin)

I'm into the last 100 pages of the epic that is David McCullough's Truman, which has him entering his final phase as President.

Truman, in his mid-sixties is into his seventh and last year of his Presidency and still full of energy and still with a steely commitment to his job.

He's not weighed down by events (the 'limited war' in Korea and Senator McCarthy's poison tongue), still healthy and fit, and still morally upright.

He's an inspiration and a role model for the rest of us in the same age bracket.

Don't assume that anyone has it all figured out. Don't assume that anyone knows better than you (Amanda Gutterman)

The impulse towards the imposter syndrome is a strong one for many, me included on occasions in my life.

That you are not good enough or have risen above your level is a real feeling. I like to keep Amanda Gutterman's quote in mind at such times.

Experience helps, but self-doubt and the anxiety that comes with it can still creep up on you.

Remaining calm, breathing deeply and following advice I give to others (be kind to yourself) helps me when I get those self-doubt pangs.

Some days you eat the bear, some days the bear eats you. Best to own it on the days when you get eaten.

Stay away from what might have been and look at what can be (Marsha Petrie Sue)

Photo by Efe Kurnaz on Unsplash

There's always an urge, as a new teacher in a new school to look back at what students have been like for other teachers plus there's all that previous data which can be mind-numbingly contradictory.

I've always aimed to resist that urge and instead take students at face value. A fresh start for everyone. It's what they can be that motivates me. It's their potential and how they interact and connect with me that I'm more interested in.

Less is more.

Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself (Richard Bach)

Photo by Paul Greenberg on Unsplash

Recently, I had to own a stuff-up due to my inexperience with certain protocols.

The roster had me on lunch duty. Part of that duty is to allow girls in year groups to enter the dining hall, check they've washed their hands and keep things moving. I checked in the hall a couple of times and thought it was okay to allow more girls in to get their lunch.

Wrong! 

There are two sittings for lunch and I'd failed to remember that the kitchen staff have to replenish the food for the second sitting.

I owned my gaffe and apologised to the chef. Mea culpa is a great expression. I told him I'd learn from my error. He was very good about it - realising I was new to the role. Next time I'll slow down and check with the kitchen staff rather than make any unilateral decisions.

Mistakes happen - it wasn't fatal. There was enough food for everyone luckily and I was cut some slack. Phew.

Being true to myself means learning from my errors/gaffes and being honest whenever they happen - I'm sure to make more. Everybody does.

Now that I've owned it, I can let it go.

It doesn't matter where you are coming from. All that matters is where you are going (Brian Tracy)

Photo by Zoe Richardson on Unsplash

I like the sentiment expressed in that quote above from Brian Tracy (no I'd not heard of him before either).

I'm enjoying meeting new students in my new school. Clean slate for them with me. 

I don't know who they are at the start - I have a few strategies to get to know them quickly though.

What matters is where they are headed next.