A Day Off

Today I went to this New Teacher workshop instead of going to school. My lit facilitator arranged the sub and everything, so it was essentially a little break from having my kiddies. As I was driving through probably one of the nicest sections of Charlotte, a few things dawned on me. And when I say dawned on me, I mean literally because it had been awhile since I had seen the sun in the morning.

There are some things I really don't like about teaching. See following list:
1) Getting up before 5 am. In the dark. In the cold. Yes, COLD. I know, I thought I moved to the south, but apparently it's going through a spell where it likes to FROST. IN THE SOUTH. What the heck.

2) The pressure... now, hear me out on this one. There is pressure at every job. There are things to be filed, paperwork to fill out, accounts to close, things to do... but these things will not vomit on your shoes or pee on your rug or give you swine flu because they want to whisper something in your ear at lunch and they sneezed instead. These things will not have their parents call you about their behavior. These things will not grow into real, functioning members of society who may continue to do things like vomit on people's shoes and pee on people's rugs if you do not stop and redirect them.

3) The inability to wear things that are fashionable or attractive. Please see the part about the pee and vomit.

But then I realized there are things I really like about teaching...
1) No monotony. Every day is different, for better or for worse. And when they're for better, it feels pretty good.

2) Kids are funny. I overheard one of my kids at lunch expressing a lot of enthusiasm for joining Boy Scouts because he would finally be able to "kill a bear." Another kid called me Mrs. Bologna. Another knows Beyonce's Single Ladies dance, but assures me she won't do the dirty part in school.

3) The kids... period. As much as all the work stinks and is stressful, at the end of the day it's pretty fulfilling to see a little kid walk out the door doing the trapezoid/hexagon dance instead of the Single Ladies Dance. It's fulfilling to see them learn how to read, or remember how to add, or become a better, more helpful person. Even if it's just a little, teeny tiny, still growing and learning person.


Short, and not well-written, but I thought I'd blog on it anyway.