Gearing Up!

All summer long you get to listen to people say, "You are so lucky to have three months off for summer!" Yeah, yeah, yeah. I have spent already three days getting my room ready for the upcoming school year. I have been in my room early this summer. I just had so much to do. All that reading makes you just itching to get back in there to get started. I got to thinking about all the criticisms that we teachers face because our achievement scores are plastered for all the world to see. It can get a little unnerving even for an optimist like me! I made a list, a list of all the "achievement" that I see because I get to be...A Teacher.

-Oh, when they read. First grade, around October, they all fall in love, and you can't get them to put the books down. Not many teachers get to see this transformation but it is just like a butterfly breaking from a cocoon. They read. Spend a day and just focus on that one little skill that you learned when you were in the first grade, it was the foundation you needed for the rest of your life...to read.
-How about the struggling student, the one with all the strategies that you have tried and they still aren't with the others. How can you not just ache for them? They inspire you to keep trying, to ask others questions, to read more about them, and finally, you start watching the littlest achievements that they make. It will never be posted in the paper as an achievement- they wouldn't understand, but you saw achievement!
-Everyday, from 8:40-3:20 I am among greatness. Future doctors, lawyers, human resource persons, mothers, fathers, ministers, and teachers sit in my room and learn from one another. I have influence in their lives. One person, who gets to touch many.
-Forever, I will be learning. Not just the teacher, I am the learner. They share the greatest wisdom these little people. They allow you to look at life through a different set of eyes, I get to witness that, daily.
-I came to a realization when I sent my own kindergartner off to school last year. I had such worries, and concerns for her. I wanted to protect her and keep her safe from the world. Looking out at my students I was struck with this realization: Their parents feel this same way. These people must be handled with care. My profession, I feel my impact, I see the responsibility, and I understand the importance of what I do...everyday.
Thank God, I am a teacher.