Planning is Part of My Ministry

As I sit here (...during my planning time, whoops), I wanted to touch on something that has been resonating with me a lot lately. I am not the normal, type A teacher. Sometimes I wish that I was, but I'm a little bit different, and that's just the way it is.

If I'm being honest, when I look at my teaching qualities, my strengths fall on loving, and a little less on planning ahead. But as it turns out, teaching in it's nature, demands a lot of planning time. This doesn't come easily for me. What comes easy for me is intentionality in relationships & focusing all of my attention on who I'm with and how I can serve them. So naturally, I gravitate towards this.

However, it has become apparent to me, that in all facets of my life (even outside of teaching), planning must be a part of my ministry. 

Without vision, the people perish. Without well thought out plans, my classroom becomes chaos rather than an environment for loving & nurturing. Without clear intentions in friendships, those relationships fall to the wayside. Without a vision for your future, goals remain unachieved and forgotten.

When I set aside vital blocks of time to organize and itemize (as painful as it may be to get started), I am able to pour so much more into my students in the times when we're together. That extra hour in the evening helps me to get ten fold more out of my hours during the day.

Anyway, that's just my tidbit on teaching (and a little bit of life) for today. 

I've got to go double check my plans for math class this afternoon! ;)