Live Out Loud

Blog Prompt: “If you ask me what I come to do in this world, I, an artist, will answer you: I am here to live out loud.” ~ Emile Zola ~What does “living out loud” mean for you?

I feel like that means to make your personal mark on this world. I feel I do that by teaching and hopefully influencing my students in a positive way. They may not like me because I'm not here to be their friend but I hope they will remember me because I've made a positive difference in their lives. I see so many teachers that say they just do their job from 8:30-3:30 and leave it all behind. I feel that in order for me to be a good teacher, I can't do that. I make phone calls home in the evenings when parents are home (they tend to be more receptive when I'm not bothering them on their job). I call home often in order to say good things so the behavior in my classes aren't a big issue. I give the students and their parents my home phone number (I have theirs so I wanted to give them mine) and no one has abused this privilege in 26 years. I have had students call me at night when they felt like running away, thinking about suicide, or were being pressured to have sex by a boyfriend. In my heart, I believe that I've been "living out loud" and I'm so thankful that God has given me the gift to teach.