Ask, Seek, and Knock: A Summer To-Do List for New ACE Teachers

Mary Pickens, Associate Program Director of ACE Teaching Fellows
ACE Teaching Fellows

BlogPickensDearACE23


To our newest ACE Teachers,

As you begin your first ACE summer, here are some tips from someone who's been in your shoes to make the most of your time together on campus.

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  • Spend time focusing on the people of the ACE community. Your cohort is full of intelligent, kind, and determined women and men who have many different life experiences.

  • Enjoy getting to know your classmates and be open to receiving their love and giving some in return.

  • When ACE 22 arrives later this week, get to know them and ask them about their best stories from their first year of teaching and community.

  • Take time to go on walks around campus, have lunch with a new friend, and dance a little!

  • Seek the best practices that will make your classroom a thriving community of learning for the coming year.

  • Ask God to be with your future students. Although you do not yet know your school community, ask that this summer be one of relaxation and renewal for them.

  • Pray for your diocesan leaders and know that they have been praying for you.

  • If you are feeling overwhelmed, remind yourself and your peers that the work you are doing will benefit the students who will fill your desks next year.

  • Allow yourself to ask questions and be able to recognize when you need to take a break. Take refuge in knowing that seeking support from your classmates, professors, and the ACE community is encouraged.

Above all, approach each day with a grateful heart and an awareness that you are never alone on this journey. God chose you to be an ACE Teacher, and he will continue to choose you to impact the lives of your classmates, students, and community. He may ask you to include a fellow ACE Teacher who is sitting alone in South Dining Hall. He may seek you out at the Grotto during a silent moment of prayer. During the late nights of writing lesson plans, He might inspire a friend to knock on your door and tell you to go to sleep (you have to teach practicum in two hours!). When we allow ourselves to ask, seek, and knock, we are able to greater notice the many gifts that surround us.

This summer will be busy, refreshing, and joyful. Take in each moment, knowing that memories are made in moments of gratitude.

Welcome home!

Mary Pickens
Associate Program Director, ACE Teaching Fellows
ACE 21 Richmond

For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. - Luke 11:10