Thankful to be a Teacher!

Okay, I know. This post is technically coming a few days late. I've been spending time with family and traveling and haven't really had time to blog. But while sitting on the beach today (yes, I'm bragging), I realized that teachers really do have a lot to be thankful for.

In celebration of the Thanksgiving Holiday, here is my list of why I am thankful to be a teacher;

1. The endless stories I have to tell - I cannot imagine any other career that has half the stories that we do. Seriously, I feel like I could have a very successful stand-up comedy career using the material I experience in my classroom. I truly love the giggles that I get everyday from my babies (even if they don't intend to make me laugh).

2. Parents conferences - I seriously love conferences. Please believe me when I tell you that I have experienced all kinds of conferences. I have had plenty of normal meetings, but I have also had some with parents who have shown up drunk, parents who have cried uncontrollably, parents who threatened to kill me, and even parents who have asked me to go to the bar with them afterward. I am thankful for all conferences though both good and bad because when a parent shows up for a conference, that means that they care in some way about their child's education.

3. My co-workers! There are days that I simply could not get by without a little help from my co-workers. Whenever I feel overwhelmed I know I can always turn to my team members to help me out. I remember feeling guilty when I first began teaching for always taking ideas from my co-workers and never being able to give them anything in return. I found out later that they were using my classroom organization ideas all along. Teaching is all about giving and taking. There may be times when you do a little more giving than taking but it will all even itself out in the end.

4. My paycheck, yep, you read that right. Although I may not be rich, I mean seriously, my husband and I are both teachers, I am thankful that I get a paycheck every other week. I can honestly say that each paycheck is very hard earned. Sure I would love to have a few extra dollars, but I am glad that I earn enough to take care of my family.

5. The light bulb moment - This is definitely my favorite part of teaching. When nothing you do seems to work and both of you are starting to get frustrated and then out of nowhere the light bulb goes on and he just gets it. It's amazing. It's a miracle. It's surely something to be thankful for and it truly gives any teacher a reason to keep on teaching.

Take a minute to reflect on all of the reasons why you are thankful to be a teacher during this Holiday season and remember that you should be thankful for all of the Holiday treats in the lounge even if they do mess up your diet!

You Mean The World To Them!

I didn't forget about this blog. Nope. Actually, I just realized that I talk too much and everyone around me, including my new teachers, already hear all of my stories and advice. However, there are some things that are so important that they need to be put in writing and this is going to be one of them. 

I have a new teacher in my school who has been struggling with her classroom management, just like a lot of new teachers do. Unfortunately, she truly has a class that has a lot of unique personalities in it. It's as if she was given that class for her first year to test her to see if she was meant to really be a teacher (and yes - she really was!!!!)

So although the small tidbits of help I give her may not make her kids be perfect angels, I can tell her this - you mean the world to them. Let me explain:

Example 1

Six years ago, I had the hardest group of students that I have ever had. They were very mature third graders. A lot of them had been through some pretty difficult things. They were a very cliquey group and there were a lot of mean girls and boys who would fight you if you looked at them cross-eyed. I had to try something new every week to survive the year and I remember the relief that I would feel each week when Friday rolled around. I felt like I had to be a drill sergeant each day and that really just isn't my style. Needless to say, I barely survived that group.

On the last day of school two years later as I was walking out (and celebrating in my head!), I got stopped by a student and her mom. It was one of my former third graders from the class-from-you-know-where who was now going into middle school. Her mom explained to me that I "meant the world to her" and that I was her favorite teacher. (Excuse me while I go grab my tissues . .  . ).  She gave me a present and a hug. She honestly didn't need to give me a present. Her recognition was enough. I always felt like I never gave my best to that class because I was always so stressed out. Since that day, I have kept in contact with her. She even recently came to see me during pre-planning and even brought me some pumpkin cookies and candy for Halloween!

Example 2

This example actually continues with that same group of "wonderful" students. I hadn't heard from anyone else in that group besides that one girl, but I always wonder about my former students. Then out of the blue during our school's annual Holiday Program a few years ago someone came up from behind me and put their arms around me (that's pretty easy if you know how short I am!). I turned around and saw a girl who looked exactly as she had four years prior when I had her in the third grade. She told me she didn't want to come back before because she was embarrassed of how she acted but she really learned a lot from me. She too told me I was her favorite teacher because I made her love reading. Since then, she has visited me during every evening program the school has had. However, the most surprising thing was the fact that she remembered my birthday from six years ago and got a bunch of my former students together to call me up at school and sing to me the other day (weep, weep . . . ).

Example 3

This one makes me cry every time I think about it. Eight years ago I had a boy in second grade who was very energetic but a pretty cool kid overall. He was amazing at baseball and I went to a lot of his games. I looped up with my entire class the next year and that was the year his family went through a nasty divorce. He became an entirely new kid that year. It hit him hard and he just shut down. His grades suffered. He didn't want to talk to me or really anyone for that matter. He just became mean. He quit baseball and he went on to become "the bad kid" in fourth and fifth grade. It always hurt my heart because I knew who he really was and I knew what he was going through. I wanted to help him and I tried. Believe me, I tried, but he didn't want to talk to me. So his label just followed him and my heart was broken. However, last year it was put back together when I saw him walking down the hall with his "little brother". He was part of the Big Brothers program and he came to visit me. He gave me a big hug and thanked me. He had turned his life around and was now mentoring our kids and was back to playing baseball for his high school. He thanked me for not giving up on him. He told me that even though he was a "punk" he was still listening to everything I said. 

I could go on and on with my success stories. You may not have these yet as new teachers, but you will as long as you stick with it! Veteran teachers need to be reminded of their success stories every now and then too so feel free to ask them (plus, you know we all love to talk!). After all, it is the reason we all got into this field, right? 

The thing to remember is that the ones that challenge us the most are always the ones that need us the most. They are the ones that need us to be their world!