Music Mondays - Teacher, Teacher
Editor's Note: I asked FB Hubby if he wanted to write another blog post before the end of the year, and he wrote this one. I had no idea what he was going to say, and I never thought he would say this. I am very fortunate to have him in my life and thank him for honoring me with this post.
Teacher, Teacher, Can You Teach Me
Hi everyone, and Happy Holidays, FB Hubby is back to grab Shannon’s blog one more time in 2014. Shannon had remarked that I had not written anything in a while. I didn't know what to write about, other than being a teacher, which sparked my choice for Music Monday, the song Teacher, Teacher by 38 Special. As many of you know, I am a high school Physics teacher, so I always liked this song, and the movie it came from. However, I didn’t want to write about myself (even though I am everyone’s favorite topic, right? Bueller? Bueller?). Instead, I want to use this song to pay tribute to a great teacher out there:
Shannon
Great Teachers Take Risks
Teacher, Teacher, can you teach meCan you tell me if I am right or wrong?Teacher, Teacher, can you reach meI want to know what’s goin’ on!When Shannon first decided to leave her job and start her blog and financial planning company, I was very uncertain about the risks she would be taking. (Actually, uncertain sounds too calm, I was more on the scared sh&tless side). Not only was she taking a huge risk financially, but also for her own career. She was going the complete opposite of her job, which was secured by people with lots of money, and betting on people who have almost no money.Yet over the past year, I have watched all of those bets pay off in the success of her clients (some of whom I know personally). To have heard how people who have no savings, spending problems, or are just financially lost, remark on how Shannon’s teaching them has completely turned around their lives is remarkable. To teach well requires taking chances, trying new things, and Shannon lives this.
Great Teachers Let You Go, But Never Let You Fall
Teacher, Teacher, can you teach meCan you tell me all I need to know?Teacher, Teacher, can you reach meOr will I fall when you let me go?As a teacher, I constantly challenge my students to figure it out on their own. I give them lessons, structure, reinforcement, but as the year progresses I pull back and ask my students to do more. Many will soar when set free, but there are still those who will stumble. I am always watching, and when I see a student still having trouble, I am there in an instant to provide help. This is probably one of Shannon’s greatest talents as a financial teacher.Shannon trains her clients to overcome their financial problems, she gives them the tools to be successful, and then she backs off to give them time to utilize what they have learned. However, behind the scenes, she will continue to monitor their progress. When she sees her clients soaring, she will contact them with a congratulations and words of encouragement to continue in their journey. If she sees a client stumble, she is right their to suggest other methods to help, give different steps to take, or just an old fashion stern warning, just like many of us got from teachers back in school.Shannon wants to see her clients succeed, whether they are an 8-year-old boy just learning about money (if you have not listened to that podcast, you have to), an 18-year-old just starting college, a 25-year-old with student loans trying to live and save, or a 40-year-old client who just needs to get their spending under control, Shannon, like any great teacher, can reach them all.
Great Teachers Never Settle for Second Best
Am I ready for the real world? Will I pass the test?You know it’s a jungle out thereAin’t nothin’ gonna stop me, I won’t be second best.I recently met with a parent about her child’s progress and effort in my class. I knew this child was quite capable of producing better work than I had been receiving. She asked me if perhaps my standards were too high. I looked her straight in the eye and simply said, “No”. I have a quote on the signature of my email from Michelangelo that says, “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.”Shannon has never settled for being second best. Whether it was while she was in school, in her career, as a wife and mom, she always strives to be the best she can be. As a financial trainer and teacher, Shannon brings out the best in her students. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you will see how every post has a great lesson, even the goofy ones (or the posts she has to proofread because FB Hubby is a Physics teacher, not an English teacher). Shannon will never settle for second best, so from one teacher to another, I could not be more proud of the great Financial Teacher that is Shannon.
Is there a great teacher in your life?