A Teacher's Journal 26: Thanks-Giving

1. I am thankful for my 6th grade students who amuse, baffle, inspire, frustrate, enlighten, challenge, delight and, most of all, teach me every day. Those relationships are what it's all about for me and make me wonder, "How could anyone NOT want to be a teacher?"

2. I am thankful for supportive administrators who promote teacher leadership, innovative teaching, and professional growth.

3. I am thankful for the students who have become friends and the ties that we continue to have with each other. I feel rewarded every time they consider me an important enough part of their past to keep me informed with emails and notes about their latest milestones.

4. I'm thankful for a highly motivated group of colleagues on my professional learning team. Each challenges my thinking regularly and has influenced my instructional practices significantly. My classroom today looks far different than it did two years ago because of my exposure to them.

5. I am thankful for MY family whose love and support enable me to freely offer love and support to others.

6. I am, of course, thankful for my students but I am also thankful for my students' parents. As a teacher of young children I am constantly reminded that I am my students' second teacher even if I am their "first" teacher.

7. I am thankful that no one in the realm of "powers that be" has yet realized we have the greatest job of all, where we get to learn, have fun, and tell kid jokes all day FOR PAY! We get to watch children's faces as they reach "ahah!" We get to bring communities together by cheering for our kids at ballgames and meeting parents in grocery store parking lots for a little 1:1 conference time. We get to make Goop, draw spewing volcanoes, and write silly poetry, all in a days' work.

8. I am thankful for finger-painted pictures, snaggletooth grins, and kindergarten hugs that carry the aroma of peanut butter and playground mulch. Is there a better existence in this world? I think not!!

Reading these responses reminded me of hundreds of teachers that I have gotten to know throughout my career. Most are deeply committed to their profession and deeply aware of the difference that they are making in the lives of others. They willingly give of themselves each day, supporting, guiding, and loving -- and are openly thankful for the opportunity to do such powerful work.

As a community, let's be sure to "give thanks" for them!