Working Together

In a perfect world...

Unity
By Cleo V. Swarat

I dreamed I stood in a studio
And watched two sculptors there,
The clay they used was a young child’s mind
And they fashioned it with care.

One was a teacher:
the tools she used were books and music and art;
One was a parent
With a guiding hand and gentle loving heart.

And when at last their work was done,
They were proud of what they had wrought.
For the things they had worked into the child
Could never be sold or bought!

And each agreed she would have failed
if she had worked alone.
For behind the parent stood the school,
and behind the teacher stood the home!

Aaaaaand...it's over.

Tomorrow is the last day of school. There will be graduations and parties, goodie bags and good bye hugs. The students who I have been fortunate enough to get to know and teach will be chomping at the bit to get out of school and set up play dates throughout the summer. Teachers will be packing up their classrooms and getting their mental faculties in order to take on a new class in two months. There is a tangible sigh of relief this time of year on every school campus as everyone is ready for a sybaritic vacation from reality.

I, on the other hand, will be job hunting (as ever) and praying to God that I get a position like the one I had this year. I was very fortunate to have been accepted into this school's family. What began as a six-week maternity leave coverage, turned into a six-month position. I have learned so much and have met many fabulous teachers and I am sad to give it up so easily. There is no position for me anymore because none of the teachers want to give up their classrooms (geeze! the gaul... haha). I thank them for letting me in for just a little while, and hope that there is something for me next year.

xxOOxx

Just Do It

People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered,
LOVE THEM ANYWAY
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives,
DO GOOD ANYWAY
If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies,
SUCCEED ANYWAY
The good you do will be forgotten tomorrow,
DO GOOD ANYWAY
What you spent years building may be destroyed overnight,
BUILD ANYWAY
People really need help but may attack you if you help them,
HELP PEOPLE ANYWAY
Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth,
GIVE THE WORLD THE BEST YOU’VE GOT ANYWAY.

author unkown

I was having a discussion with a few brilliant minds today and I was once again overwhelmed with teaching as a profession. I asked them a simple but unanswerable question: How do you immerse yourself in teaching without it taking over your life and burning yourself out after a couple years? I don't know the answer. Neither did they. They were NO help actually. However, I don't know if anyone can answer it. Teaching is a profession that can consume you body and soul. It takes over your life and before you know it you're looking up play-dough recipies at 1 am because you might want to use it next week. It never ends, but thats the fun of it!

Teaching is a wonderful profession because it can take you anywhere you want to go! The effort you put in is tantamount to the rewards you'll recieve in return. That's what draws me in. Teaching children about the lifecycle of a beetle is fine.. well, kind of boring. If you bring in some little worm looking things and have the students discover the cycle on their own, it's not so boring.

I found this poem online today and it really speaks to me. It gently encourages me to be a good person/teacher no matter what gets in the way. Sometimes we feel like nothing we do will ever matter in the long run, but it does.

So, even when you feel like you don't matter and it's taking over your life...TEACH ANYWAY

xxOOxx