When you teach, there are days, and then there are The Days. They're the ones where your lesson plans are clicking, students are interacting, and the classes are clicking along. On those days, when I'm in my classroom doing this thing called teaching, it's almost a rush. To have my students learning Spanish, laughing with me---the days when teaching almost seems effortless, those are the days that I absolutely love my chosen profession.
Yes, there are the frustrations, and, yes, if you listened to me complain sometimes you would wonder if I actually enjoyed my job, but overall, teaching is just the best profession there is. To have even a small impact on a young person's life, what more could I want to do? To be able to teach my student some Spanish, give them a positive idea of learning, and to encourage them to be positive, constructive citizens in this world...there is almost no other profession I could love more.
Check back soon for the almost clarification.
Back-to-School!
Though it often comes too early and too soon, the start of a new school year holds a special excitement and anticipation that only a teacher can fully appreciate. I'll try to describe the feeling for all of you non-educators!
You leave your classroom in June, feeling tired, impatient, slightly cynical and just all-around cranky from the previous school year. 180 days with 15-year-olds is enough to leave any teacher having white-sand and crystal water visions! So, the green grading pens are put away, teacher manual's stored, and the classroom locked up.
Then comes the special bliss of summer -- sleeping in, staying up late, and being creative for creativity sake, not the student's sake. Flexible schedules, no deadlines, and leisurely lunches invigorate a tired teacher. Summer projects are completed (or put on the list for next summer!), and the fresh summer days are breathed in deeply.
And then, that day in August comes, when you walk back into the school building. As the car is parked, you view the building with fresh eyes. Even the building itself seems excited: the smell of fresh paint lingers through the hallways and the freshly-waxed floors gleam.
Teachers greet each-other with smiles that were virtually non-existent 3 months previously, administrators start meetings with a positive plan for the new academic year, and curriculum is creatively planned. Anticipation builds as teachers get ready for the new year.
A fresh optimism fills the hallways as teachers count-down the days until students will, once again, flood into the builidng. Break out those grading pens, baby! A new school year, here we go!
You leave your classroom in June, feeling tired, impatient, slightly cynical and just all-around cranky from the previous school year. 180 days with 15-year-olds is enough to leave any teacher having white-sand and crystal water visions! So, the green grading pens are put away, teacher manual's stored, and the classroom locked up.
Then comes the special bliss of summer -- sleeping in, staying up late, and being creative for creativity sake, not the student's sake. Flexible schedules, no deadlines, and leisurely lunches invigorate a tired teacher. Summer projects are completed (or put on the list for next summer!), and the fresh summer days are breathed in deeply.
And then, that day in August comes, when you walk back into the school building. As the car is parked, you view the building with fresh eyes. Even the building itself seems excited: the smell of fresh paint lingers through the hallways and the freshly-waxed floors gleam.
Teachers greet each-other with smiles that were virtually non-existent 3 months previously, administrators start meetings with a positive plan for the new academic year, and curriculum is creatively planned. Anticipation builds as teachers get ready for the new year.
A fresh optimism fills the hallways as teachers count-down the days until students will, once again, flood into the builidng. Break out those grading pens, baby! A new school year, here we go!
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