6 days away...

“You have to be slightly crazy to be a teacher. To be a good teacher, you have to be absolutely insane.”
-my uncle Les, educator for 42 years

“The world already has a savior, and you are not it. Jesus died on the cross for all humanity, not you. So every once in a while, give yourself a bit of a break.”
-Dr. Hartnett

“Teaching is a ministry. It isn’t a job you can stick to if you don’t think of it that way. It’s your job to educate these children, not just academically, but spiritually.”
-Brother Damian (Mentor teacher)

“Do you ever feel like sometimes, it’s only the other teachers that really get it? You go home to your loved ones, and they listen, but they don’t really understand?”
-Speaker in school training

“When they are here at school, we are substitute mommas and poppas for our students. You gotta teach them, but you gotta love them too.”
-Sister Jewel

Yes, you have to be a touch insane to be a teacher. You have to not require much sleep and you must enjoy caffeinated beverages, seeing as you will be dependent upon them. You have to be willing to trade in comfort and relaxation for things like waking up in the middle of the night in a panic over test scores and student learning plans. To be a teacher, you must be willing to be all things to all people. To your principal, you are a professional with a degree. You are an expert on learning, and you show your art through your students. To parents you are a guide to their precious babies. You are one who holds the key to success.
To students, you are even more. To your students you are an endless source of knowledge. You are a doctor when they are hurt, a judge and jury in the face of recess injustice, a counselor in times of trouble and a mother or father in times of insecurity. To your students you are a scientist, a writer, a mathematician, reader extraordinaire and traveled geographer. When they struggle, you are their cheerleader, when they need to be challenged you are their catalyst for success. As a teacher you must nurture but push, challenge but encourage, expect much of your students and give even more of yourself. There is no profession that wears more hats then that of a teacher.
Today, I said goodbye to my class of precious third graders. While I could not be more excited to move to New Orleans and teach, I am deeply sad about leaving this class. It is hard to imagine a group of children who hold within them more life, energy and potential for success. I have seen them learn and grow, not just as scholars but as new humans who are learning what it means to follow the simple but difficult rules of life: Work hard, love one another, love God. I have witnessed these nine year olds grapple with life circumstances that many adults could not handle. I have been inspired by their resilience and capacity for hope. I have felt with them their sadness, and hold that sadness in my heart still. I have felt proud of them, annoyed with them and grateful for them. I have poured myself into them, and now they will be somebody else’s. But they will always be a little bit mine. I can’t help but wonder if every year will feel like this.
As I walk away from my first teaching experience, I also wonder if I will ever feel like I did enough. Will I ever leave a classroom at the end of a year (or the end of a day) and think, “Yes, that was a ten. I accomplished everything I could.” Will I ever give myself an A?
Yes, I do believe, as my uncle informed me, that you have to be crazy to be a teacher, and to be a good one you have to be insane. I suppose I will feel successful when men in white suits come after me J.