Teaching

Growing up, I ASSUMED that teachers had an easy job...off in the summers and holidays, and worked from 8 to 3!  Boy was I wrong!  It wasn't until I became a teacher until I realized exactly what the job entailed.  Recently, our local paper put an editorial that was very negative about teachers in the paper; personally I think it was to stir the pot and sell papers, but that is beside the point.

Teaching, for me is a Love/Hate relationship.  I LOVE my students.  I LOVE watching their growth each year both physically and intellectually.  I LOVE the joy I see in their eyes when I see them master a skill and/or explore a new entity.  I LOVE their innocence on the playground as they imagine they are super heroes or Star War's characters.  I LOVE that I can give them something as simple as an atlas or a rock and we can have a scavenger hunt that will last for hours.  I LOVE the perspective and connections that they can make between texts, themselves, and the world without me even giving them hints.  I LOVE that when we play freeze dance, that we can all laugh and have an awesome time!  I LOVE that they LOVE technology, because I do too and I LOVE all that we can do with our smartboard!  I LOVE them as if they were my own children for at least 180 days and most of the time more!  Last, I LOVE that they can put a smile on my face even at 7:25 in the morning!

Hate...such a strong word, so let's go with DISLIKE!  I DISLIKE all the assessments I have to give, and so do my students...I always apologize in advance!  I DISLIKE that they can only have 30 mins of recess on Non-PE days because I think there is a ton of learning that can happen through imaginative play.  I DISLIKE that I have to assess them ALL the time...did I mention that already?!  I DISLIKE Read 3D, that is a very time consuming assessment!!!  I DISLIKE all the stress!!!

I got into teaching because I LOVED children...that has not changed, nor will it!  My fear is that we have become such a data driven society, that we have gotten away from teaching and more into assessment.