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A Higher Calling Deserves a Friendly Answer
Madison Paine | TheApple.com
My mother knew I was going to be a teacher when she tripped over my stuffed animals and me in the narrow hallway of my childhood. Of course I had them in a perfect straight line.
“But my Cabbage Patch Kids have to go to the bathroom, Mama”, I protested as she sternly asked me to pick them up from the floor. Later that afternoon I was placed on punishment for writing the alphabet on my closet door with a Magic Marker. I thought the commercial said they were washable.
When I watch young children play, I can almost always tell who is going to be a teacher. It’s like they have a special glow around them. So often they are the child explaining the ever changing rules of hide-n-seek or they’re the ones holding up the game because, “We have to wait for Chucky!” This unique child is quick to show their friends how to play a new game and often says, “Now watch me”.
We teachers are a unique breed! Our fraternal order steps to the beat of a different drummer and answers to an ancient calling. It is our mission; no it is our duty to preserve this honorable tradition.
Allow me to introduce myself. I am Madison Paine and I intend to nurture, enlighten, and motivate my fellow educators, especially the newest among us. I am honored The Apple.com has extended an invitation to me to be a guest writer. There are already so many wonderful writers inspiring you daily, therefore I was hard pressed to come up with something original you probably have not already seen.
So I decided to just be available to encourage you, offer insight when needed, and definitely be a strong voice in your corner on those days you really feel like walking away. We’ll call it A Moment with Madison and I hope my column will be for you what so many veterans have been for me, a genuine source of inspiration.
Use this column as an opportunity to share observations or ask advice about a pressing issue you are facing as a teacher. I will in turn share my thoughts as well as seek out wisdom for us all. This column seeks to tear down communication barriers and build a positive environment where teachers can openly express themselves while gaining helpful insight.
Send your questions to my account on TheApple.com or to mrsmadisonpaine@gmail.com. Join A Moment with Madison group on TheApple to post questions. I hope to leave no question unanswered. Thank you for the opportunity to speak into your higher calling, the teaching profession.
Special note: Madison can be followed on Twitter (http://twitter.com/madisonpaine), Facebook Fan Page (The Poisoned Apple), Goodreads.com, and BlogSpot (The Mad Apple Forum).

madison_paine
3 months ago
10 comments
Anyway we can connect to make a difference in education, I am open. I will contact you. Thanks Jeffrey!
papertalker
3 months ago
10 comments
Madison, just reaching--saw your twitter comment re: publishing company for a novel. I would like to talk to you about the Play Tectonics movement I am advancing----with the use of Play-Based Communication and Technology-- to fell this beast we call institutional learning. If you do your novel and cobine it with play-based media--you'll be incorporating tools that kids and teachers can use in the classrooms and share on facebook. If people like you and I are not mobilizing the troops and infilitrating the learning culture, we're in effect standing still. Would love to talk sometime soon! Jeffrey Peyton, inventor, Play Language.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=561336146&ref=name#/group.php?gid=97923652021