I Love Being in Education Because....

....it's what I've always wanted to do.

Hidden between the buckets and ladders in my childhood home garage lies the evidence of a young girl's free time fun: playing school. With chalk in hand, I used the black drywall paper garage walls as my chalkboard. I was the teacher, and my "invisible" students provided me with hours of entertainment. Although it's been many years, the sight of this garage wall still brings back memories of a simpler time - a time when I realized that teaching was my destiny.

6/13/14 - As I walked through the garage of my childhood home, I saw the wall and immediately
went to grab my camera, capturing the memories of nearly 30 years ago & inspiring this evening's blog post.

....it is new and different every day.

Some days you can't even imagine to guess what will happen within the four walls of a classroom. Even with the most organized, thought out plans, teaching children can be surprising and therefore flexibility and patience is often required. The things children say, do, and need are different each day. My 29 students this year definitely kept me both busy and entertained. It's only been 11 days since the school year ended, and I can honestly say as I do most years that I really enjoyed teaching this group of fourth graders.

I try to always remind myself that each year and each group of students is different, so teaching the same thing the same way is not truly effective. Great teachers don't teach the same year over and over again, they teach each year with a brand-new perspective.

....it allows me to inspire and be inspired.

Who will walk into my classroom this fall? What will they remember the most? How will I touch their lives and what impression will I leave them with? What will they teach me about myself?

I can't wait to find out.