Me? I dread the alarm clock and I mourn the loss of time with my own two boys, but I'm grateful for so much. I'm grateful for what I do each day . . . for WHAT WE DO.
We aren't technically back on contract yet, so while these days are still our own, my school has been filled with teachers - smiling, excited, happy teachers - who are decorating bulletin boards, sorting classroom libraries, and eagerly sharing ideas and preparing classrooms and other spaces for the crowd of children who will grace us with their presence in the coming weeks. They are doing it on their own time. They are filling their last days of summer with school . . . by choice. This is WHAT WE DO.
Later, I stand in the school supply aisle, carefully checking off my own boys' lists while they scatter for supplies, thoughtfully selecting their folders and notebooks, picking out just the right set of markers and cap erasers. I feel grateful that they do this with at least a little bit of joy. For my part, I buy extra handfuls of this or that, knowing that some will come to me without everything they need. I don't tell you this for kudos, but because it is just another piece of what makes this time special for me. I'm eager to meet my class, to know them as people and welcome them as family, to make sure they have everything they need to be successful. I'm not unique in this, we are already thinking about how we can best meet the needs of our students. It is just WHAT WE DO.
Later, I stand in the school supply aisle, carefully checking off my own boys' lists while they scatter for supplies, thoughtfully selecting their folders and notebooks, picking out just the right set of markers and cap erasers. I feel grateful that they do this with at least a little bit of joy. For my part, I buy extra handfuls of this or that, knowing that some will come to me without everything they need. I don't tell you this for kudos, but because it is just another piece of what makes this time special for me. I'm eager to meet my class, to know them as people and welcome them as family, to make sure they have everything they need to be successful. I'm not unique in this, we are already thinking about how we can best meet the needs of our students. It is just WHAT WE DO.
As I reorganize my own space that I'll share with 24 eager minds and hearts this year, I stumble across a gift from a family from many years ago. It is a beautifully decorated clipboard with the signature of each of the kids that I taught that year . . . each of the kids that taught me in return. I can't help but think about all of the years that have passed. How each year I truly do "love my class," but for so many different reasons. Sometimes the students that spring to mind first as the ones who seemed to tiptoe through our days, quiet, shy, and sometimes tough to get to know. Sometimes it is the student who made me stop and just breathe multiple times on any given day, reminding myself that this is what I love, that my patience really does hold the key to not only getting through the day, but making it one that we can feel good about later. Sometimes it is the clown, the drama queen, the extraordinary heart, or the fourth grade boy who carefully strung beads on a ribbon so that he could present it to me at Open House, before he even knew me . . . almost spelling my last name right. These kids don't just pop in and out in nine months time, they capture our hearts, they keep us awake at night worrying or wondering how we can better reach them, they inspire us to be better, to do better, to learn more and to push ourselves. There are days that I know that if I give back even half of what they give me, I can call myself successful. This? This give-and-take is what makes our world go 'round. It is just WHAT WE DO.
So I sit here thinking about the new school year. I feel excitement because I've been collecting ideas all summer long and can't wait to implement them. I feel nervous because every year I just hope that I will be good enough to give these kids, at the very least, everything that they deserve. I feel grateful because I know I am blessed to teach in a place that values my intelligence, my professionalism, my education, and my judgement. I feel like I am doing exactly what I am meant to be doing . . . I feel like educators are a pretty tough bunch. Then again, maybe "tough" isn't necessary, after all, this is just WHAT WE DO.
So I sit here thinking about the new school year. I feel excitement because I've been collecting ideas all summer long and can't wait to implement them. I feel nervous because every year I just hope that I will be good enough to give these kids, at the very least, everything that they deserve. I feel grateful because I know I am blessed to teach in a place that values my intelligence, my professionalism, my education, and my judgement. I feel like I am doing exactly what I am meant to be doing . . . I feel like educators are a pretty tough bunch. Then again, maybe "tough" isn't necessary, after all, this is just WHAT WE DO.
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