I’ve taught during a hurricane, well a few days before and after…. but you get the point… It changes you. I remember Paducah, I remember Columbine. I was student teaching during 9/11. My first day to teach, I had to read a note to my students (who I’d met for about 30 minutes) about a classmate dying of cancer. We’ve had houses destroyed by hurricanes and floods. We’ve had our school destroyed within a year of the new building opening. Thing changes your perspective on what’s important.. 
For me, these pictures are 15 acres of pasture on both sides of a road covered in 3-7 feet of water. For me, the picture is a reminder of the four families that were pulled out of rushing flood waters during Harvey. For me, this is 12 out of 15 acres of pasture covered in 2-5 feet of flooded waters during Imelda. For me, this is the 7 minutes it took to travel 1/2 mile crossing receding waters to see how much was left in my house. It’s also a reminder of the power of water. As the hay in those pastures came up later, the renewal in the water.
For me, this is a brand new classroom ready for a brand new year. The floors aren’t really that shiny and they haven’t been mopped. That’s what is left of flood waters…
I was ready and excited for anything that the year was going to throw at me…. well, except flood waters I wasn’t expecting that. After all, that was a brand new school building!!
Two years later…
Perspective is saying, “We had HALF the amount of water.”
Rita, Humberto, Gustav, Ike, Harvey, Imelda, those aren’t student’s names. They aren’t kids who have changed my life as a teacher. Those are storms that have changed my school years. You can throw in some fun to the mix with some river flooding also. These storms change us. Our ability to change because of storms, is just as important as our ability to change with our students. I laughed at one person’s social media video talking about how each hurricane has it’s own personality. That is so true, some bring wind (Rita), some bring tidal surges (Ike), some bring big rain- for days (Harvey), some bring big rain in 24 hours (Imelda).
When it comes to teaching some students bring troubles from home, some bring friend troubles, some bring drug or alcohol abuse, some bring learning disabilities. It’s how we choose to see what is given to us which makes the difference. In the same sense, the teachers and staff we work with bring us similar things…. but these are the negatives…. We must look at the bright side of these situations. Who brings the humor, the love, the enthusiasm, the excitement, the questions to your classroom, your building? Are you the positive?
If it hadn’t been for the storms, I would still have that ugly carpet in my living room. If it hadn’t been for the storm, would my kids be as close as they are (sharing a “room” in a tiny trailer…). If if hadn’t been for the storm, I wouldn’t have talked my husband into repainting the rooms (I mean the walls were gone halfway up anyway). If it hadn’t been for the storms would I be as willing to be creative in my teaching and expectations and seating!!? I’ve been a math teacher – seats are in rows and columns??!! Not anymore!
I’ve learned that safe and healthy are the most important parts of education. I’ve learned that being flexible in your assignments gets you unique answers — a rap to explain math, a parody about pancakes, stop-motion videos about angry food trucks, book reports that come up when the book cover is scanned, commercials to sell yearbooks and lanyards, editorials on the World Series… The more open I am to the end result, the more energetic the kids become. (by the way — rubrics are a must!)
Adversity comes in many forms, shapes and sizes. From now on “If it hadn’t been for….” is going to have a positive connotation. Reminding students that all experiences, even when they are sad, scary, or anger-inducing can be learning experiences. Changes in perspective allow us to see things from someone else’s eyes; whether it be another person or a bird… 
Teaching Re-Imagined 