Happy belated Teacher Appreciation Day! As you contemplate your summer plans, remember why you chose to teach. You won't regret it.
Starting last week I experienced a breakthrough of ideas for various articles I wrote including students' gifts, motivating small groups, and party planning which all were part of my own new teacher experience back in Israel. All three of these topics were interesting in terms of my contributions, but the one that particularly spoke to me was a gift I received from a student at the end of the year.
It was a sweet note about how I inspired him and how he had learned so much from the lesson. The lesson was on Elie Weisel's Night and he was so touched and moved from the father-son sequences and he wanted to thank me.
For me, every day was a challenge to acquire the status of an appreciated teacher, from the pay, to the parent-teacher conferences, the quibbles with students, the staff dilemmas and the occasional confrontations. It's easy for a new teacher to quickly feel under-appreciated and want to leave the profession with a feeling of never wanting to return to the classroom.
Yesterday, I looked in my drawer where I keep treasured items and I came across quite a bit of handwritten notes from other teachers, students, parents. The memories quickly came floating by. I was in heaven. Often it is hard for a new teacher to reap up the success in the first year. It took me twelve years to get to a point where I could walk away from the classroom and feel successful and confident about my teaching abilities and my students and what I have done.
So please new teachers, don't give up so quickly. In the education world, patience is a big big word!
Email me, if you need any support or have any questions as you slowly wrap up the school year.
