When I started teaching, my dad told me I had to have thick skin. This became my mantra when I started dealing with ideas that did not align with mine. I learned that we could grow and learn from different points of view, but when someone attacked my teaching, I took it personally. In the early days of teaching, my principal and I did not see eye to eye on many things, and I would go home in tears. I am still working on this. I was told by my mom early on that I do not take constructive criticism well, and I am still working on this.
So, when it came to editing my manuscript, I found it easy to use editing tools to close the spacing gaps, put commas where needed, and remove commas where
they didn’t belong. That happened so frequently that I thought I needed to return to comma school. English was always my best subject as a student, so this was pretty humbling, but I wanted to get it right. I had several people edit for me and took their suggestions to heart. I made statements more succinctly and clearer if there was a question. I used an editing program after that to still clarify the content.
My husband is very detail-oriented and has great writing skills, so he suggested other edits. At this point, my edits have been edited and edited, and I
think I am ready to go. Was it hard for me to understand that there was a better way to say something? Yes, it was, but in the end, this book is so important to me that I am getting better at constructive criticism and am developing a thicker skin. I have learned to have an attitude of being curious instead of furious, as my initial reaction. What makes people tick? I have learned that we all come from different backgrounds with different life experiences, and that knowledge
has helped me learn and grow as both a teacher and an adult. Learning different points of view helps bring clarity and understanding.