Turkey, Students, and Summer Break!
I am already deciding which of my favorite foods and desserts I will be having this Thanksgiving. As far as I’m concerned, Thanksgiving isn’t complete without green bean casserole and a dark chocolate pecan pie!
While I’m always thankful for delicious meals at this time of year, I am even more thankful for friends and family. For me and for many others involved in education and teaching, family includes the students and parents that make up such a large part of our lives. In the spirit of the upcoming holiday, here is a list of things to be thankful for when it comes to teaching and guiding students, which we have collected from educators and administrators.
Enjoy these 25 tidings of thankfulness. Some are fun, some are touching, and some are similar, but all will put a smile on your face:
- Seeing the “Aha – I got it!” moment in students.
- Experiencing students’ excitement when we work on collaborative projects, meet with other schools across the country, and partake in video conference sessions with museums and organizations.
- Being told by my Kindergarten students every week how nice or pretty I look. :)
- Learning something new with technology.
- Learning from others and being around positive teachers!
- Being an educator! I enjoy working with children, appreciate their outlook, and love to see them learn. It is also fun, with all the new technology in the classroom, to see them engaged and having fun as they learn.
- Having a great team of teachers to work with, who share the planning responsibilities.
- Having sick days.
- Having summer break.
- Having a supportive administration – this is a huge asset!
- Having students who are excited about learning.
- Having classroom technology that rocks.
- Getting planning time during the school day.
- Finding money in the budget for purchasing needs AND wants.
- Spending lunchtime without students. After 15 years of eating with students almost daily, I now have no lunch duty, and have learned to get a ton of work done while eating. I’m enjoying the peace in the process!
- Having a candy stash in my desk, which is shared with students on good days, and is just for me on bad days.
- Seeing the glow my students radiate when they 'get it.'
- Having the opportunity to empower my students with lifelong learning skills.
- Being around 9-10 year olds who laugh at my jokes.
- Seeing the light bulb come on when the concept finally “sticks.”
- Being able to do many different things in one day.
- Being challenged to figure out how I’m going to do a project when there is no money. It makes me VERY creative!
- Meeting and sharing stories about the little ones with caring parents.
- Hearing students giggle.
- Experiencing joy!
We hope you enjoyed reading this list as much as we enjoyed putting it together. Please comment and add your notes of thanks. And have a Happy Thanksgiving!
