I hope this finds you all well and with many sweet memories of Christmas 2014 . . . and much energy for a fresh start -- though, let's be honest, many of us feel "January blahs" when returning to school after an extended break, and that's totally okay normal!
We're happy to interact with colleagues again, but dread the ringing of the alarm long before the first blush of dawn, especially after a night of school-induced insomnia.
We look forward to seeing our students again, but dread the infinite mountains of paperwork.
We're excited about the awesome plans in the back of our minds for some really super-engaging lessons that will captivate and inspire our students, but the excessive workload between now and state testing seems daunting.
We don't mind the hard work, but we do mind the ever-widening gap between our students as learners (and as people!) and the endless testing, artifact-collecting, assessments and evaluations that are designed to emphasize everything they are doing wrong rather than anything they are doing right.
We relish the time spent actually teaching but would enjoy it a hundredfold without the perverse politics that suck the life and the joy out of our otherwise beloved profession.
To all of us feeling this conflict of emotions, and to all of us returning to classrooms with a bit of dread in the pit of our stomachs alongside the butterflies, I say brava! Let's hold our heads high and remember that we are making our world a better place every single day! We are changing lives for the better, we are empowering our students to believe in themselves and their abilities to reach for the stars, and we are inspiring the teacher down the hall who desperately needs to believe in our profession! We are making a difference! We are teachers!
May your first week back be filled with colossal bursts of sunshine!
Happy Teaching!
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