Usefulness

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” – William Morris

If you are a teacher, the one thing you dread is Professional Development. Every teacher wants to be better at their job. Teachers know how much is at stake when we have our students in front of us. We know it is up to us to shape the future generation of people. The problem with most professional developments is they fall into two categories: 1) they are trying to convince us to use some sort of new curriculum or program that has been purchased for us or 2) they are showing tips and tricks that we have been using or used during the bulk of our careers. The hard part about these trainings is trying to learn something new, and finding something to apply to my classroom. Even though I am not a fan of most of these, I still walk in with the mindset that I will walk away with something useful.

Analyzing the usefulness of something is how I have been doing for the last few years. Most of my major purchases over the last few years I have asked myself, is this useful. That has helped me not only save money, but keep my priorities in check when it comes to anything. Before the pandemic started, I was so busy that I barely had time to breathe. When everything shut down, I re-evaluated what I was doing. When it comes to anything, I ask if it is worth my time, and will it be useful. This has allowed me to be more focused and practical.

I took these photos when I visited South Mountain State Park last summer. We were camping nearby in Golden Valley, and I was looking for somewhere to explore and hang out at. My son and I hiked about three miles to check out all of the sites. We found two awesome waterfalls along the way. This is a must visit park to check out because of the beautiful well-kept trails and amazing sites to see. We only saw part of the park that day, and I hope I can visit again in order to see more of it.