Whimsical Wednesday: 8 of Rods

Death Card - What Needs to Die?

A lot of people who are unfamiliar with Tarot initially feel a sense of fear and dread when the Death card appears in their reading. However, I am going to discuss with you the reasons why you should not only have no fear of this card, but why you should also welcome this card. The death card is not only inevitable when it comes to teaching, but it is also essential. Without death, nothing would ever change. The teacher you were your first year of teaching is the exact same teacher you would be ten years into the future. Now that's a scary thought!

The Death card has to do with endings and transitions. We see this in simple ways like ending a unit and transitioning into a new unit or one term ending and a new term beginning. Even the start of summer vacation at the end of the school year is a death. You have completed a full school year and now it over and it is time for fun and planning for a new school year. That doesn't sound so bad, does it?

But on a deeper level, we need to take inventory of what needs to die in order for us to progress on our journey as teachers. Things that are not working for us need to end in order for things to improve. So the Death card can be a reminder to look at what is not working in your teaching. Are you having problems with time management, classroom management, organization, creativity? If so, the card is inviting you to look at what bad habits need to be killed off so that you can transform into a more productive and happier teacher!

Don't be overwhelmed if you feel like you are struggling with a variety of those suggested issues. I have been teaching for 9 years and I still have problems with all of those issues from time to time! What I am suggesting is that you be open to the energy of the Death card. Allow yourself to figure out what isn't working and what needs to die. Allow it to reach its necessary conclusion so that you can begin anew and renewed! You know that exhilaration you feel on the last day of school? Well, you can feel that way periodically throughout the year if you allow room for necessary change and growth! It also helps to look past the scary imagery of the card and and focus on the sun rising in the distance. This reminds us that even though death can seem scary or bad at first, if we accept it gracefully and with open hearts, it can transform things into something beautiful and positive.

So this week's spread will help us look at what needs to die in our teaching so that we can more forward in a more positive direction!

All my best,

Amy

Weekly Tarot Reading for the Week of March 31

Tarot by Numbers: The 5's

The Hanged Man Spread for Teachers

I've designed this simple spread to help figure out what issues might need to be viewed from a different perspective.


What issue do I need to look at from a different angle: Master
What is a new and fresh perspective from which I can look at this issue: Third Eye Chakra

The Master card correlates with the Devil card in traditional Tarot. This card has multiple meanings. It could be about mastering your emotions if you are experiencing negative thinking or limiting beliefs and it can also be about mastering yourself and getting control over your addictions or obsessive thoughts. It can also be about mastering your fears. The bottom line is that it is about overcoming the obstacles within that keep a person from reaching their dreams and goals and from living the life they truly want to be living.

For me, this card is about dealing with my own feelings of oppression. The heart in the cage represents my feeling of imprisonment. Lately I have been given outside opportunities that make my heart sing - a chance to work with an author and edit her drafts and provide her with feedback, a chance to create and teach my own tarot workshop, and even my own desire to work on my own creative endeavors. But these opportunities create some fear based feelings in me because although they are not taking away my focus from my full time job, they are making me question a lot about my teaching career. Lately I feel that I am being burdened with tasks at work that I don't really enjoy and tasks that I am getting little help with from other colleagues. A lot of these outside teaching related tasks just make me feel overwhelmed, stressed, and uninterested. I am really trying to "master" my own life and figure out what I really want to be doing. How can I be happier and less stressed at work? Do I really want teaching to be my lifelong career or do I want to eventually move on and try something new? There are a lot of questions floating through my mind that are making me feel quite captive at the moment.

I'm not surprised that the answer is the Third Eye Chakra card. This card is all about connecting with one's intuition and meditating. When you take time out to do this, you are able to get greater clarity on a situation. I know this is what I should be doing to get answers, but I rarely ever make time to do this. I think it's about high time that I do.

I would love to know what areas of your teaching need to be looked at from a new point of view. As always, feel free to share if you feel called to.

All my best,
Amy

The Hanged Man - Different Points of View

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."- To Kill a Mockingbird

My class has been reading that novel this term and that quote really got me thinking more about the Hanged Man. In fact, Atticus Finch reminds me of the Hanged Man in some ways. Although this card represents a time of inaction and contemplation, while Atticus Finch was a man who worked hard to defend his client, I do believe they have some things in common.

Beyond inaction and contemplation, the Hanged Man represents sacrifice, of giving up something for the greater good. In the case of Atticus, he sacrificed his own security and stability to stand up and do the right thing. Atticus and his children were being harassed and even threatened by some of the townspeople, but he never wavered in his mission. The Hanged Man is also about seeing things from different angles in order to get a better understanding of people and of situations and this was a concept that Atticus tried hard to teach his children.

I feel that the Hanged Man is a good match to the concept of critical thinking - a huge topic at my school and I'm sure in many others. I think it's important that students learn not just how to read, but also to come up with interesting, thoughtful, and hopefully accurate interpretations of a text, as well as to evaluate the ideas that they read about. The days of spoon feeding facts are over and it's important that we teach our students to think for themselves instead of having them rely on us to do all the thinking for them!

I also feel that the Hanged Man is an important card for teachers. Speaking for myself, I know that sometimes I can fall into the trap of just seeing my students as my students and not seeing them as individuals, especially when they are ticking me off. But it's really important that we see where they are coming from. That we see them.

This came to light for me on a deeper level yesterday when I assigned them a personal narrative essay assessment. They have their choice of four prompts which came from the 2014 Common Application:

1. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn?
2. Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?
3. Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you?
4. Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.

Overall, during the brainstorming session, most wrote down benign topics that most teenagers face - failing a test, questioning authority, listening to music in their bedrooms, and winning a championship. However, some wrote about darker topics like domestic violence, cutting, eating disorders, coming out and not being accepted by family, or just being neglected. Obviously, I had to connect with guidance counselors about some of the responses I received because I am a mandated reporter, but I also became very reflective about the whole experience. And it all came down to one big question for me: how can we expect our students to learn when some of them are struggling with really difficult and possibly traumatic things?

But upon further reflection,  I realized that at some point in all of our lives we all experience really difficult and traumatic things. This IS the human experience. We really are all in this together. This is why it is so important to take breaks from ego-centric thinking so that we can really tap into our compassionate energy. This doesn't mean that we should pity our students and not hold them accountable for their work, but it does mean that we should be gentler in our tone and reactions when they make mistakes academically or behaviorally. And we also need to remember that everyone has a story. People can look fine and put together on the outside, but we don't know what Hell they are experiencing on the inside. I was shocked to discover what some of my A students are living through.

So I really think the Hanged Man is a great card to meditate with when you need to get in touch with your inner Atticus Finch.

All my best,

Amy

Weekly Tarot Reading for the Week of March 24