Having Faith in a December Sunset

The December sunset will deliver a spectacular show. There are just days that you will not be able to follow the sun descending into the horizon of the Pacific Ocean because of heavy cloud cover. Just have faith in the sun that it will pierce through the sky once it's behind the horizon.

Ala Wai Boat Harbor - Honolulu

The Bad and Good Teachers

Teachers play such an important role in developing our children at an early age. 

My memories of a bad teacher recounts a Monday morning when I was in the First Grade. On the agenda for the day was sharing about what you did over the weekend. When it was my turn I stood up and said I could see the wind blowing when my dad took us up to a scenic lookout. There were a lot of clouds blowing around the mountains. It was very windy that day. I was so excited to share that with the class. To my surprise the teacher barked at me and to the class "You can't see the wind it's invisible and Drake said he could see the wind blowing." I remember students starting to laugh. I was so humiliated that day. I did report that incident to my mom and she had a nice talk with that teacher to make sure she never behaves that way again. A good teacher would have used my story to explain to the class how the wind works and thank me for my story.

Memories of a good teacher recounts a very dedicated teacher that offered to tutor me after school to bring me up to speed on a subject. Mission accomplished and she rewarded me after school by taking me across the street to get a milkshake. Such a precious moment I remember when I was in the Second Grade.

My advice to new teachers and veteran teachers is that you need to remind yourself daily that you are setting lifelong memories that are good and bad for your students. You play an important role in the development of young minds to be good students. Make a difference and be that good teacher.