" A Perfect World": Reflective Classroom Teacher 2

In my perfect world, it would be acceptable to be slightly irregular
and not be marked down.
My wife and I have been classroom teachers for a combined total of sixty years. We have been effective classroom teachers for most of that time but not all. There have been times when we walked into the classroom spiritually bankrupt and on those days; we were not effective teachers. Our spiritual-self was not right on those days and as a result, our teaching suffered. Our values are confused and we are in a state of concern as to the direction our lives and thoughts are taking. We are not able to center our thoughts on the task at hand.
Teaching is an endless moral decision making process based upon a set of values. Most teachers have a wonderful sense of what is good, what is right and what is important. Because we are not perfect beings, there are days we become confused about our values and the directions our lives are taking us. We become disjointed and confused and we are less effective at dealing with life. This is our spiritual-self; our moral self; our core being and at times we are what Piaget calls in a state of dis-equaliberium. We cannot conceal this confusion from our students. We teach what we are, as surely as we teach subject matter.