Attention (again)

I'm not able to comment on some of your sites because of some of the settings you guys have chosen, such as displaying one post at a time, post moderation, etc., but please know that I am looking at and enjoying your sites very much. Stop by my room for your grade. Have a wonderful summer! Love, Mrs. Vaughn

!!ATTENTION STUDENTS!!

If I didn't post your grade as a comment, and you want your grade before summer, you're going to have to stop by my room Thursday or Friday. They're looking great!

Hero as a Lover

My name is Laura Vaughn, I'm 30, and every choice I make is motivated by the love I have for God, for my family, and for my students. The closeness I feel with family has always meant the world to me and I don't know who I'd be if it weren't for the provisions of my dad, the love and care of my mom, and the friendship I share with my three older sisters.

When I come to a fork in the road, and I'm wondering which way to go, my decision inevitably comes down to: Can I stay near the ones I love? Can I please them? Can I take care of them? Can I do what I love? If the answer is ever a resounding "NO!" then I go a different direction. The most recent example I can think of is the decision I've made to quit teaching for a while and work from home so that I can raise my daughter. I cry nearly every day when I think of how much I will miss my students, miss teaching what I love, but the love for my daughter trumps all of my other desires. My family will have to make monetary sacrifices, and it will be so very strange and heart-wrenching to leave a school I love so much - not to teach, to close the door to my classroom one last and final time, to not hear the halls echo with the sound of energetic, young minds so full of potential, but leave I must. Because of the love of my Jane, I have to take a new road in life, branch out, and learn a new way of living.

My favorite things are hanging out with my family, watching movies, the Cowboys, Mavs, and Rangers, writing poems and short stories, drawing and painting. I love music of almost every kind; I am a proud Texan, a word nerd, and an old movie buff.

A Quest for Wisdom

On my journey, I look to learn from every experience so that I may put what I've learned to good use. You gain wisdom from seeking a relationship with God, interacting with the world, and being a careful observer. Being a teacher means I get to learn every day. As soon as you think I've "got it" a student challenges me to think harder, look inside myself, look at life, and make some changes. In my experience, that's how you grow and improve. Wisdom is important to me because when youth, humor, money, and everything else is stripped away, you're left with the value and beauty of the mind, something that can't be taken from you.

My Mentor

My mom has taught me the importance of being "great" and not just "good" - a great friend, a great mother, wife, sister, daughter, teacher, and an example of God's love. I don't always succeed, but when I fall off track, she is there to set me straight, not by pressure or direction, but by example. She is the one person who has had the single biggest impact on my life. Throughout this past year, when trials have come concerning my daughter, she was always the first to be there for me, to show me what to do and how to care for a sick infant, reminding me to be strong for Janie's sake when situations arose that seemed greater than I could bare. To me she is a rock and light, always strong-always shining.

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