As always, stressful, cranky periods in my teaching give way to more pleasant stretches where things go better. (It has nothing to do with school actually being closed this weekend. Not at all. Ahem.) In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I thought I’d share some of my appreciations specific to teaching.
I’m grateful for:
* Inspiring teachers who continue to try new things in their lessons after more than twenty five years in the classroom who befriend me and share their wisdom generously
* The print shop I can use to order copies ahead of time
* Students who give a damn
* A grown up job that allows for a “do-over” semester to semester
* Technology which allows me to communicate with students without having to be physically available all hours
* A career which keeps me up to date on buzz words that impact my own child’s education
* A classroom with windows that look out onto a nature preserve
* A built-in excuse to buy new fiction in order to “keep up” professionally
* A job where I never have to try and get the holidays off in order to be home with my family
* A profession which continually challenges me and fills me with the knowledge that I am doing something worthwhile with my life
Happy Thanksgiving!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Especially in these stressful times of NCLB, thank you, Kate, for reminding us of the many aspects of our teaching situations that we have to be thankful for. May I add a few:
*The ability to truly build relationships with our students as we read their writing and discuss rich literature
*On some days, the ability to spend the entire day discussing wonderful literature with our students and colleagues
*Knowing that we have a tremendous impact on fostering life-long readers and writers
*The many practical and inspirational professional books available to us to extend our teaching toolbox with best practices
*The honoring of collaboration among our peers to share ideas for lessons and insight into individual struggling students
*Read-Write-Think
*The services and support of NCTE
What are others that bloggers could add?
Kay
I love the do-over semester. For me, I often have a complete makeover between my first period of English eleven and my final period. Every period is a do-over, all day.
I'm grateful for teachers that really care about their students. I had a wonderful English/Lit Mag teacher when I went to Paint Branch High School. She was a great role model of an intelligent, funny, confident woman. She encouraged and inspired me when no one else did. I don't think she realized the impact her mentorship had on me, but I know I wouldn't be where I am today without her guidance.
Chrissie Anderson Palmatier
Chrissie, I haven't taught at Paint Branch for almost ten years, but I'm pretty sure I remember you...Thank you for your lovely words. You brought tears to my eyes!
Take care,
Kate Kellen
Post a Comment