Glad to be back

Every Saturday I get breakfast for my family at a local breakfast eatery.  When I finished taking everyone’s order, I walked up the stairs (about ten) so that I could call the order in.  When I reached the top of the stairs it felt like I had run ten miles.  I was breathing so heavily that I went to sit down in my chair and called for my wife.   

While I thought, I was yelling my lack of breath made it impossible for her to hear me.  Within seconds, the room was spinning, and I fell out of my chair and hit my head on my desk.  The next thing I knew my wife is asking me what happened.  As I try to explain to her what happened, I realize that the words I am hearing is not what I wanted to say. 

She quickly told my son to call 911 and kept me calm.  I thought I was having a stroke, but my wife looked at me and did not see the signs.  The ambulance arrived in five minutes (it felt like twenty) hooked me up with oxygen and off we went to the hospital. 

When I arrived in the emergency room the nurse asked me, what I thought had happened.  I thought I either had Covid or that I had previously had a blood clot.  The nurse did not think it was a blood clot and quickly administer a Covid test (later I found out it was negative). 

When the doctor came in, he told me he wanted to take a scan for my head and my lungs.  As they were wheeling me back to my room from taking the scans the doctor told me that I had huge blood clots in my lungs and that they were going to have to put me on blood thinners. 

While this was an extremely scary situation, I am profoundly grateful that it happened when someone was home in the house.  In addition, I was about to go into a car and would have crashed into something so that was extremely lucky. 

I have tried hard in the past few years to be grateful for the moment, but this experience has made me more grateful than ever.  I have always loved the first day of school but truthfully, this one is going to be even more special. 

Yes, this is going to be a crazy year, but I am truly grateful that I am going to be here to go through it with my students.  There is so much power in gratitude (more about gratitude) and the challenge is for all of us to think more about what we are grateful for then what we do not have. 

guest blog

I had the pleasure of teaching this young lady.  This is the last thought of the week until next year.  Enjoy stay safe and healthy.

. I’m sure everyone’s routine feels altered in some way, shape or form. It is imperative to have built in self-care that you practice every day. In my bathroom mirror, I have one sheet for good morning and another sheet for good night. I read the good morning sheet every time I brush my teeth in the morning and respond to the prompts honestly. 1. How are you? 2. 3 people your grateful for. 3. One thing you’re looking forward to. 4. One thing you like about how you look. 5. Intention for the day and deep breath. Good night looks like: 1. How are you? 2. One thing you’re proud of from today. 3. 3 good things that happened today. 4. One way you treated yourself today. 5. Deep breath and good night.   

Now this one is very reflective of myself and what I’m working on. I tend to be hard on myself, so I’m working on treating myself more. I also tend to be critical of my appearance so I like to verbally remind myself that I am beautiful. Affirmations have done wonders for my self-image and I continue to do them every day. If you are more religious, you can ask yourself one way you saw god today. If you are Mr. Bressler and you like to work on forgiveness, you can ask yourself to forgive someone as a prompt. For me, it’s easy to forget to take care of myself. Especially in uncertain crazy times like this, I feel like everyone’s anxiety can be heightened. It is very simple to work this practice into your routine and has done a lot to help me see the good in the everyday little things. To verbalize something like “I want to have a happy day” or “I want to have a productive day” is speaking it into existence.  

I found myself at first being uncomfortable talking to myself in the mirror. But to be vulnerable, open and honest with yourself is important. As is setting aside time for yourself and your mental health. Plus, I now tend to brush my teeth for a full two minutes. I challenge everyone to try this practice and hope everyone stays safe and healthy. 

Tribute to our Seniors

 A group of us started this journey last summer.  When the regular school year began, the full class came together.  While the start of the year was familiar, the way we ended it was quite a shock.  

Your dedication to learning the material was second to none.  I was continually impressed by how many of you would come before school, spend free time during the day, or stay after school to master the material.  Your effort did not go unnoticed.

During class this year, we worked on vulnerability and trying to get students to understand that we all make mistakes.  It was fun watching you add to the Bressler’s Blunders board, which eventually led to me hitting my goal of blunders.  You realized that even the so-called expert (me) blunders way more than any other student in the class

I truly appreciated the great questions that came from you throughout the year.  There were often questions that were outside the curriculum (which was great) and questions that helped clarify the curriculum.  Your curiosity was inspiring.

You guys also brought changes to my teaching that will benefit my students in the future.  I logged the suggestions you gave me on the feedback forms as well as the questions you thought needed to be clarified.  Your feedback has helped improve my teaching more than any professional development in my career.

What was even greater to see, however, was how helpful you were to each other.  When looking at the class, I could consistently see one person helping another, making each other feel comfortable asking for help.  It was also great to see a person who normally asked for help giving one of our stronger students some help on a problem.  

The last few weeks have been challenging, but we have overcome the obstacles put in front of us.  One student told me that if this is the way he was going to end his academic career, he was going to go out swinging.  That seemed to be the attitude of most of you

I will leave you with one last piece of advice.  Sit in the front three rows of all your college lectures, ask questions, and visit the professors during office hours.  

Thanks again for a great year. Remember, I owe you donuts (blunders), so when we are allowed, we will have to gather one last time.  Never hesitate to call if I can be of any help to you.

With love, gratitude, and admiration,

Milestones

For seniors this year, online schooling means they are missing many of the usual milestones— spirit week, sports, prom, graduation.  These are events that many seniors have looked forward to all year. 

How do you cope with these disappointments?  The first step is to acknowledge the feelings: realize that it is normal to feel disappointed that you are missing prom or graduation.  Do not downplay the importance of those events to you. 

Stay connected with your friends.  One of the great things about technology is that it allows you to stay in touch with people.  On a personal level, when I am having a tough day during this crisis, my wife tells me to go call a friend.  These relationships are important to all of us and will help us get through these difficult times. 

Try to focus on what you can control.  You might not be able to have a prom or graduation, but perhaps there is an event that you can plan to celebrate the end of the crisis. 

Remember that we are all doing this for the good of each other.  By staying home and abiding by the quarantine rules, we are helping each other stay healthy.  You should continue to think of the positive reasons why we are not going to school and not having these events. 

If you are feeling a high level of anxiety or depression, reach out for help.  Contact your guidance counselor, or you might need a therapist to help guide you. 

In the end, if we continue to help each other get through this crisis, we will all become stronger for it and realize we can handle tough situations