Had a hectic day? Questioning life? Nativity Play driving you loco? It's days like these that you need to pour a strong coffee with all the sugar, push alllllllll work to the side and switch off! The correcting can wait until tomorrow. There is no guilt like teacher guilt and sometimes we need to make sure we don't let ourselves become consumed by it. Leave the day behind you and start afresh.
As mad your day may have been, when you begin to descend back to Earth, it's impossible to ignore that there are always a million reasons to still be thankful that you are a teacher. Many say teaching is a thankless job. It's not. Yes, some days may be horrendous but someone will have appreciated your effort and someone will have been thankful!
I had a crazy day. It was busy, interrupted, mixed up and noisy - one of those days where very little on my 'To do' list got ticked off! Despite facing a ghastly dose of traffic on the journey home, it actually left me plenty of time to mull things over and remember so many little aspects of my career that I'm thankful for.
Here's a few:
1. I have 28 kids without actually having kids! They're mine. For five and a half hours a day!
2. Knowing that the tiniest, little bit of praise can make a child's day. Think of that feeling when you see their face light up with pride.
3. Your recycling bin takes much longer to fill because you bring all egg cartons, cardboard, plastic pots and punnets in to school. Thank you Junk Art. Winning!
4. No day is ever the same. (Please God, don't let me have a day like today again for a while though!!)
5. You get to read your favourite books and stories. Passing on the love of a story and characters to another generation. Magic.
6. Tea. I'm thankful for all the tea. Especially with this weather! (It's the little things in life.)
7. There is no welcome like the welcome of 28 Juniors every morning. Those happy little faces, genuinely excited to see you. Priceless.
8. The lightbulb moment. When a student 'gets it'. When the penny drops. Mission accomplished. Hands down,
best teacher feeling,
ever.
9 Your colleagues. If you're like myself and lucky to work alongside a fabulous group of people, then that's definitely a huge bonus. Mutual support and teamwork, makes school life a lot easier!
10. You
are making a difference. Sometimes those little structured five hours are the only structure a child may have in that entire day.
You are providing that structure, that security, that safety.
There is not one person in this entire world who could possibly love their job every living breathing minute of the day. I'm thankful I survived today and that my mother in law has the best supplied sweetie drawer in the country, for today I telling myself that I've earned all the calories!
Happy Thanksgiving to all Little Miss Teacher's followers stateside!