Teach On

This is my first year teaching. I mean, really teaching.

I was a teacher's assistant for a while, then a long-term substitute, and now I am officially a third grade teacher to a raggamuffin group of 24 8 year-olds.

Yes, 24.

Yes, 8 year-olds.

So far this year has had a handful of awesome days and a majority of so-so days. Oh, and a few want to pull my hair out days. But they say that's normal in this profession.

I'm not going to lie. Teaching is hard. I mean really hard. Some days I'm on top of the world with a killer lesson that has every kid engaged and other days I'm constantly checking the clock to see when the day is over.

But... I'm good at it. I am. I mean that in a non-self-involved-sort-of-way (too many dashes?).

I make kids excited to learn, I somehow manage to get them to listen (some of the time, at least) and I like being the one up there being heard.

So, here I am, 3 weeks into the school year, tired, a bit overwhelmed, and one bad case of the flu under my belt (most likely caused by multiple uncovered sneezes by a student).

And on the days when I want to throw in the towel, I'm thankful for kids like Raul who tell me that the thing they're thankful for most is that their mom hugs them all the time and the thing that makes them sad is global warming.

One word.... Awesome.