Unexpectedly I was able to spend some time with my dog today and as always he taught me something! If we pay attention, there are opportunities to reflect and learn- and time with are pets are perfect for this!
The clean slate effect with dogs is inspiring! No one can love so unconditionally as your own dog. Even when family, kids and work take your attention away from them, dogs will give you their heart and soul the minute you are ready. In our classrooms and schools we would be wise to embrace this unconditional acceptance of our students. They are young and have a lot to learn, why not give them the benefit of the doubt and let them have a clean slate each day so that we may reach them and teach them the power of compassion.
It's cliche, I know but teaching an old dog new tricks is inspiring! Our dog has never been a real "tricks" dog, but our son has taken an interest in teaching him some.
While it can be difficult to take ourselves out of the comfort zone, learning new tricks is essential to staying relevant, respecting ourselves, our students and the profession. Our dog has taken to shaking fetching and eating out of my son's hand- things I've never had success doing in his eight years.
I find it fascinating that while focusing on spending some time with my dog, he reminded me how by being present, unconditionally affectionate and always willing to learn he can be blissfully happy and well adjusted. I'm hopeful that I can emulate even a small fraction of his (dog) self actualization to improve my interactions with others as well as my professional growth.