Looks like it's that time again

I have avoided reality as long as I could. It seems that whether I want to acknowledge it or not school is starting back. Last year was a very, very hard year for me and I am determined that this year will be better.

I love teaching. Let me repeat that I LOVE TEACHING! I am not very fond of being part of ‘the educational system’ however. I am required to spend so much time ‘documenting’ what I am teaching and how I am teaching I sometimes feel teaching gets lost in the shuffle. New programs are forced on us continuously. They aren’t bad programs. It’s just that there are too many, too many ‘new programs’ that will ‘just take 5 minutes a day’ or ‘you’ll just need to fill this out and keep a record for each student’. When over the years we are given dozens of these great little programs, well you can see that the ‘5 minutes’ and the paper work add up.


Last year I let all this get to me. Not this year. I am doing everything I can to change my attitude. I was in tears many, many days from feeling overwhelmed and uncertain of how I was supposed to do all these new programs. I’m a good teacher and I have to remember that the focus is on teaching the children they put in my classes. I will do the best I can with everything that they ask me to do but I am not going to stress like I did last year.

This year I have thought it through and I think I have my priorities straight.

1. Take care of the kid in my class. They are my number one priority! I will teach them, protect them, push them, joke with them, encourage them and care for them.

2. Listen with an open mind to all the new programs for this school year and do the very best I can with each one.

3. Remember that a stresses out, sad, resentful, angry, unhappy, discouraged, overwhelmed teacher will not do my students one bit of good. So while I will try my best with the non-teaching ‘stuff’ I will not let it upset me like last year. And finally…

4. Separate my job from my real life. I have to remember not to let worries from my job keep me from enjoying my life and family!!

So there you have it. That’s my plan for this year. If I start complaining you can direct me back to this post and I’ll get focused again. So here we go – it’s going to be a great year, it’s going to be a great year … and I am going to keep repeating this to myself until I believe it!! And BTW folks, I’ll take any prayers or good thoughts you have.