The World Spread for Teachers

What should I be celebrating right now? 8 of Cups
What is my biggest accomplishment when it comes to teaching? 2 of Wands

What I should be celebrating right now is my ability to walk away and move on from stressful situations that can not be dealt with reasonably. Last week I had to deal with a highly charged situation regarding a student's behavior. That situation quickly escalated to the point where the student was threatening physical violence and an administrator had to intervene. Even though I am disappointed with the behavior of that student, I am proud that as an adult I have the ability to reason and not just make decisions based on emotions. Like the figure in the card, I have the ability to lead through example and not through lecturing. I have since let the situation drop and am continuing on from where we left off. I am not holding grudges or treating the student any differently. I am hoping that she will learn from my example on how to let go of things that don't serve her highest good.

I could have held on to that situation and let it ruin the remaining few weeks of the term, but instead I am choosing to celebrate that the situation was handled quickly and to my proper satisfaction. I can celebrate my positive traits: patience, rationality, clarity, and objectivity. Those are traits you really need to have if you are working with middle school students. If you are a highly emotionally charged person who takes everything personally, it will make for possible explosive situations.

My biggest accomplishment when it comes to teaching is my ability to plan long term. I use backwards design for planning my units and I find this incredibly helpful. I know what my goals and objectives are for my students and I am able to design lessons that will help them reach those goals and standards. This card also ties into my 8 of cups because I am celebrating that after next year I will be leaving 8th grade behind and moving on to teaching juniors and possibly AP. So I am already starting to begin my planning and preparation for the 2015-2016 school year. I need to start planning now to some extent because jumping up to teaching 11th grade after 7 years of teaching 8th grade will be a huge leap. I am used to teaching the basics. After next year, I will be teaching students to think more critically and more creatively. So I have a lot to celebrate and look forward to as the end of the school year approaches.

What are you celebrating?

All my best,

Amy

P.S. I have a new video series in the making and I am EXTREMELY excited about it!

Whimsical Wednesday: 9 of Swords/ Rapunzel

The World - Let's Celebrate

We have finally reached the World card and this card is all about celebrations, completions, and accomplishments! This totally fits with the end of May as many of our seniors are graduating and will be moving on to college in the fall. But the World card also reflects the end of a school year for all students and teachers as well. We have completed a journey and can now celebrate  all that we have learned. This is different from the Judgment card because instead of assessing what we have done, we are simply celebrating it instead.

The beauty of the World card is that it represents integration. It is not simply celebrating the completion of a project or a school year or celebrating our accomplishments, but rather being in the moment and celebrating where we are in this very moment. The World is inviting us to celebrate, without judgment, that where we are right now in our lives is exactly where we are meant to be.

This has been a tough year for me so far. It was hard coming back to work from maternity leave in the middle of the year when my students were already established with a teacher they liked. It was hard balancing work, a new baby, a marriage, an exercise routine, and finding out about my son's illness. At the same time, this has been a beautiful year. This blog is the first creative project that I have ever started and actually saw through to completion. I have had the pleasure of working closely with an author and being a part of her latest project. I have met some wonderful people online who have supported me on my journey. My team and I were also able to raise $2,500 for the MDA and it was a great feeling to reach our goal.

The World card is a reminder to stop periodically and celebrate the ups and downs in life. You may just surprise yourself about how many more wonderful things there are to celebrate than your sorrows. You should celebrate your gifts and talents and your ability to overcome the obstacles that come your way. As a teacher, you should celebrate your hard work and dedication to your students and your craft because this isn't a job for someone weak of spirit! So please, celebrate yourself this week. You deserve it!

I just want to share with you some pictures that represent the energy of the world card to me. These pictures show exactly what it means to be in the moment no matter what internal or external problems a person is facing - there is still so much beauty to appreciate during this journey called life.

Thank you so much for sharing this journey with me. What I have learned the most from this journey with the Major Arcana is that there is no end destination. There is only the journey. Enjoy that journey - the joys and the sorrows, the beauty and the hideous - because they all bring valuable lessons for your soul's growth. I wish you the best as you continue on your life's journey as well as your journey as a teacher.

All my best,

Amy

P.S. We will be celebrating our accomplishments in our next spread.
P.S.S. I will be taking a break from the blog after this week, but I will be coming back in September with plenty of new content. I hope you have an amazing summer vacation and that you will come back and visit the site again in the fall. I will still be posting videos on my youtube channel.

Thanks again! <3

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Weekly Tarot Reading for the Week of May 24

VR Monthly Deck Challenge Week 4: Archangel Oracle Cards

The Judgment Spread for Teachers

What is my calling when it comes to teaching: Ace of Wands
What is my life's purpose: Compassion (Archangel Oracle Cards)

So when it comes to my calling as a teacher, the first thing I notice is the wand in the hand. Since wands correspond with the element of fire this makes me think of the expression "passing the torch." I feel my calling as a teacher is to pass on my love of learning and my love of literature to my students. The green leaves on the wand make me think of creativity and new ideas. So I also think my calling as a teacher is to teach my students to think creatively and to support their new ideas. I also have a gift for coming up with new, creative ideas for keeping my lessons fresh, so I think that is part of it as well.

When it comes to my life's purpose, I instantly noticed the ball of light between the angel's hands and  thought "healer." This card really validates my decision to go for my Reiki 1 certification this summer. I really feel drawn to do energy work and healing work. I also feel it is my life's purpose to support others and offer them my compassion and help when they go through difficult times.

What is your life's purpose? I'd love for you to share!

All my best,

Amy

Whimsical Wednesday: Judgment/Jiminy Cricket

Judgment - Reflection and Rising Up

It feels right that as we wind down our journey with the Major Arcana that it coincides with the home stretch of the school year. Judgment is all about taking some time out for some self reflection. Now this does not mean you should be tallying up scores about things you have done right or wrong. This isn't not about judging yourself in a critical or harsh way. Instead, it is truly about listening to the inner voice inside of you that is trying to awaken you to reaching your full potential and following your true passion and calling.

Throughout our journey with teaching and with the Major Arcana, we have experienced highs and lows. It is easy to get caught up in the day to day drama or to become complacent. But as a teacher and as a human being, it is important to not allow yourself to become stagnant or complacent. Rather, you should allow yourself to opportunity to evolve and live life in a way that truly resonates with your true desires and core values.

Look closely at the card. I am always drawn to the image of the dead rising from their coffins. It reminds me of how sometimes we can become like the living dead - no, not the cool zombies of the apocalypse who are into cannibalism - but just living, breathing people who go about our lives day in and day out feeling numbed out or disconnected. We know there should be more, but something feels missing. We know we could be happier, but we aren't sure how. We question if we are truly fulfilling our life purpose, but we don't try to figure out what that means.

The judgment card is about awakening and fulling engaging with life. Are you doing that?

Even if you are sure that teaching is your life purpose, are you becoming complacent? Are you recycling the same old lesson plans year in and year out without reflecting on what has been successful or not, just because it's easier? When was the last time you took a class or workshop? When was the last time you tried something new?

The judgment card is asking you to take some time to reflect on what you truly enjoy about teaching and to figure out more ways to infuse your passions and interests into your teaching. For example, I am obsessed with studying archetypes, mythology, and the hero's journey. This really resonates on a deep level for me. My school is very supportive of reading with a lens and teaching higher order thinking skills. So this allows me to infuse my love of archetypes into my teaching. We have been studying archetypes this term and applying them to ourselves and to the characters in the novel we are reading. We are also incorporating archetypes into our own short stories. This really energizes me. And when I feel energized and passionate about my subject, my students become more energized and passionate about what they are learning.

Veering away from teaching for a moment, this card is also important in our personal lives. In light of the Tower experience I have had recently, I have been thinking a lot about the Judgment card and what lessons it has for me. I have been deeply evaluating my life - the person I want to be, the direction I want to go in. I feel like I am taking a painful situation and using it to evolve spiritually and emotionally. It has awakened me to how I want to help others who are suffering. Before all of this, I lived in a bubble. Sure, I knew other people suffered, but it was so abstract. I was more caught up in the petty problems and silly stresses of every day life. But now I know what real suffering is and that some people have it even worse. It makes me want to reach out and truly help others. I feel called to learn reiki and other healing modalities. I feel this is part of my life purpose and I am taking steps to follow it. I have also been awakened to past mistakes I've made - times when I took the low road in situations with other people and caused them pain. I am now working to make amends and to truly become a more compassionate and living person.

What do you feel called to do either professionally or personally? Please feel free to share.

All my best,

Amy

Weekly Oracle Reading for the Week of May 19, 2014

Some Random Thoughts

Hi everyone,

I just felt like doing a freely written kind of post today on some of my thoughts. I may tend to ramble, but I hope you'll stay with me.

So first of all, we are two cards away from being finished with the Major Arcana. So now I have been thinking about the direction I want to take this blog if I decide to keep it going at all. I have really enjoyed looking at the Major Arcana from the perspective of a teacher, but sometimes I wonder how helpful these posts really are for others. Also, I am just beginning a new journey with my process of manifestation. I plan on doing a post about this sometime next week. I have been reading about manifestation and the law of attraction for quite a while now and I have started keeping a manifestation/synchronicities journal. This is where my focus seems to be these days.

I do plan on going internet/social media free this summer. I really want to spend my summer outside in nature and with my sons as well as working on some other creative projects like my novel and my mixed media art. That said, I will be taking a hiatus from this blog in the sense that I will not be writing any new posts after the World card until September. However, I do plan on posting weekly videos from my youtube channel onto this blog. I really enjoy making the videos and they aren't terribly time consuming for me.

If I do decide to pick up writing blog posts again in September, I'm not sure if my direction will be totally on Tarot anymore. I may choose to discuss other spiritual topics like meditation, yoga, writing, manifestation - things that I feel will also offer teachers benefits in terms of relaxation and spirit feeding. Of course, I will always talk about Tarot from time to time since that is the title of the blog after all.

I also just wanted to mention a couple things that I experienced this week. Yesterday I was really sad thinking about my son and feeling like I haven't been receiving a lot of emotional support from my friends. I cried during my lunch break. I was going to have the two classes I saw after MCAS testing read Lord of the Flies and work on their dialectical journals, but instead - I said, "Ef it." But not literally and not aloud. I simply scrapped those plans, pushed desks to the corners of the room, and had everyone sit in a circle on the floor. We used this free time to play games from my childhood: trapper, pattern changer, musical chairs, and 7 Up. It was awesome. It was great to see smiling faces and to see the kids actually interacting with one another and being social. So often they lose those opportunities because they are glued to their electronic devices. We definitely need a fun break after a few days of testing and I have no regrets.

The other thing I wanted to mention is that my homemade zen rock garden has been a huge success. And not just for myself. I have noticed students coming over to my desk to simply rake the sand and ask me about it. But more importantly, I had to have an intense conversation with a student because his dad is concerned about him. This is not a child who easily opens up. Yet he was able to tell me so much as he raked the sand of my zen garden. It really warmed my soul to see the relaxation power of the zen garden allow him to be able to have this conversation with me. I feel confident that this zen garden will have this effect on other students as well. So I just wanted to share that with all of you.

So I highly recommend getting a zen garden for your classroom or finding other relaxation tools that will allow students to be able to open up and share their feelings with you.

If you already have something like this in place, please feel free to share in the comments below. Thanks!

All my best,

Amy

Whimsical Wednesday: 5 of Pentacles/ The Ugly Duckling

The Sun - Finding the Joy in Teaching

How do you know when you are experiencing the energy of the Sun card? When you feel joy, bliss, enthralled, positive, and absolutely in love with what you are doing. This sums up for me what it means to be "in the flow." Sun days just fly by. All of a sudden, the class period ends and you're like, "Where did the time go?" Everything just seems to come together - the kids are learning and you are going home with a smile on your face.

Obviously teaching doesn't feel like this every day. But imagine if it could? I'm trying to think of ways that I can have more Sun energy throughout the school year. Number one, I need to stop thinking about all of the negative things that are outside of my control. Number two, I need to find ways to create more positive energy in my classroom.

For example, I currently have two shells on my desk (to connect with Lord of the Flies) as well as a new miniature zen garden I received for a Mother's Day gift. Making your classroom have a more relaxing or positive atmosphere can really help.

But what about the learning? This term I decided to get experimental and it is going REALLY well. We are reading Lord of the Flies and looking at it through an archetypal lens. So to correlate with this, I decided to have them do some creative writing. So as we read the story and analyze the characters, conflicts, archetypes, and symbolism, we will also be incorporating those things into our own short stories! I gave each student a random archetype card. So far they have created internal and external conflicts as well as back stories for their characters. It's pretty awesome because they are learning so much more about the elements of literature by applying what they learn to their own creations. I would love to do this every term, but my school puts more emphasis on nonfiction/essay writing.

But the students are really enjoying the process and I am enjoying teaching the process. They are more engaged and I am thrilled to see them actively participating in class. This is exactly what the Sun card feels like to me.

I would love to know what you do in your classroom that reflects the energy of the Sun. Please feel free to share!

All my best,

Amy

VR Monthly Deck Challenge Week 3: Goddesses and Sirens

My post on the Sun card will be ready tomorrow!

Weekly Oracle Reading for the Week of May 12, 2014

VR Monthly Deck Challenge Week 2: Conscious Spirit

The Moon Spread for Teachers

What area of my teaching needs light shed upon it: 10 of Wands
How should I handle this situation: The Hermit

10 of Wands: This card is not really a shocker to me. This card is all about feeling totally burdened by responsibilities. I am fully aware that there is a lot going on in my life right now both professionally and personally. I think what needs to be illuminated is how I can delegate those responsibilities. Or I just need to figure out what I need to let go of.

The Hermit: I really need to take a step back from the outside world for a while. I am in a period of major transition. It's funny because last week I decided that this summer I will go internet/social media free. I think this card is acknowledging that that is a good path to take. I need some time away to really evaluate my path. I know I will stick with teaching, but I need to evaluate the company I have been keeping, the way I want to live, and how I want to raise my family. My recent experiences have really opened my eyes about the world around me and I'm not really thrilled with what I have been seeing. But deep inside of me, I know the change needs to begin within. I want to live with more peace, joy, and love in my heart. I need to figure out what that looks like for me and begin to really manifest. This may very well mean severing my ties with certain people and certain lifestyle choices. We are currently in the process of going green. I have been making a list of ways to incorporate a more green lifestyle in our household and have been taking steps to move in that direction. I am moving away from the mainstream and I actually feel happier and freer about those choices. So the Hermit is validating for me that I need to go this part of my journey alone to really discover my true purpose and my true desires.

I apologize that this post has little to do with teaching. To be honest, my focus on my career has really taken a major back seat to what has been going on with my family. I am still working at capacity and have a pretty good unit going on with the novel we are reading, but I am not thinking about work at all once I go home for the day. I think that's the way it needs to be right now.

All my best,

Amy

Whimsical Wednesday: The Tower

The Moon - Navigating Through Uncertainty

There are many associations for the Moon card: illusion, deception, uncertainty, intuition, unconsciousness, etc. When I look at this card, I think of trying to navigate in the dark with limited light. In times when I have had to walk in darkness with just a flashlight, I felt anxious yet excited because I really had to rely on all of my senses including my intuition, so I wouldn't get hurt. That's not to say I didn't stumble from time to time, but overall I was able to navigate. Just not as easily as in daylight, obviously.

When it comes to teaching, the same analogy applies. This card represents needing to rely on all of your senses in order to navigate through the uncertainty of teaching. Yes, we can make a plan and be super organized and write lessons and design assessments, but you will still never feel 100% certain about what you are doing. Sometimes it will still feel like you are feeling your way in the darkness.

This card comes up when we do not have all the facts. We can do our best to teach based on what we learned in school and based on our teaching experience, but every year we have different kids with different needs and there will always be different mandates to meet. So ultimately, you need to rely on your intuition if you want to be successful. You know what just "feels" right.

For example, last week I planned a lesson for the beginning of my Lord of the Flies unit. It was intended to increase student interest in starting the book as well to get them thinking about how societies are formed. I had them choose which would be their top priority if they were stranded on an island: building shelter, hunting for food, or starting a signal fire (all three things discussed in the book). After they chose, I put them in groups based on their choices. Then I gave them two instructions: choose a leader and come up with rules for their society. As they did this, I circulated the room and took observational notes. Then we came together as a class to discuss the process. They talked about what went well and what challenges they faced. It went fine, but I felt like something was missing...

So for the next class, I started the same way but this time I had one group at a time do the activity in the middle of the classroom, while the other students sat in a circle around them taking observational notes with me. This worked out a lot better, because they all had the opportunity to observe the process of other students and to analyze that process. Sometimes it is easier to analyze another group because you feel more subjective when talking about your own process. I was worried that if they watched each other that it would get boring or repetitive. It didn't. The groups were so different - some were large, some were small, some had mostly boys, others mostly girls. It all made a difference and we were all able to discuss how those differences affected their ability to create their societies.

I feel the Moon card is a great card to think about when it comes to changing your lessons on the fly. You can plan all you want, but sometimes after you see it in practice you come up with an even better idea.

If this has ever happened to you, I would love to hear it!

All my best,

Amy

Weekly Oracle reading for the week of May 6, 2014

VR Monthly Deck Challenge: Week 1 Gateway Oracle Cards

The Star Spread for Teachers

How can I heal how I feel about my work situation? Heart Chakra
How can I find more inspiration for my teaching? Win or Lose (5 of Swords)

The Heart Chakra card makes a lot of sense in terms of how I can heal my work situation. Having a balanced Heart Chakra allows a person to be open to both receiving and giving unconditional love, compassion, and harmony. So if I want to heal my work situation and feel less burned out, I need to balance my Heart Chakra. I can do this through meditation, of course. But I can also do this by expression daily gratitude and by being mindful of my emotions and the emotions of others. The truth is, we all have a story. Everyone is going through something, even if it may look like someone has a perfect life. We don't know what they are going through. My students don't know what I am going through in terms of my son's health and I don't know what their individual stories are either. I don't know their struggles or suffering. When we are in the classroom, we are connecting over the literature we read. So it's important for me to remember that everyone needs love and compassion, especially the ones who are acting out. They are usually the ones who need it the most.

The Win or Lose card was unexpected for me in terms of how I can find more inspiration for my teaching. But then I sat with it and thought about how I phrased the question. The 5 of swords represents mental conflicts. When we read novels in English class, we are often drawn to the conflicts in the books - both internal and external. We can learn a lot about ourselves and how we handle conflicts when we read about the conflicts of others. Right now we are beginning Lord of the Flies and there are plenty of conflicts in that book. But I also think I need to be inspired to reassess how I handle conflict with my students. If a students is pushing my buttons or getting out of hand, it is best for me to be mindful of my breathing and to detach myself emotionally from the conflict. This way I can keep perspective and stay objective. It is easy to become emotional or take things personally when someone is acting hostile towards you or speaking to you disrespectfully, but as the adult and authority, it is best to stay in control and model proper behavior.

Enjoy the rest of the week.

All my best,

Amy