Dear Teacher,
For me, this school year has been a little bit of a whirlwind. Each week is like a raging river. Once I step into it on Monday, I am whisked away and before I can catch my breath, it is Friday! I know my posts have been down to once a week, but hopefully there will be more places I can stop and rest in the weekly rivers soon. I hope to find time to post more often.
That said, it is Monday. Click play (get through the ad, if there is one) and read on. Oh, and after you read, go back and watch the video that goes with the song. It is pretty awesome!
As teachers, it is so easy to get caught up in what we do. We plan, we grade, we plan, we work on classroom management issues, we plan, we have meetings, we plan, we have after school responsibilities, we plan, we call parents, we plan, and we plan. Did I mention that we plan?
In all of the busyness of what we do, it is so, so, so very easy to get overwhelmed, over-stressed, and over-burdened. On top of that, so often what we plan seldom works as we planned, and we are constantly monitoring and adjusting. We become tired, burned-up, and burned-out. We forget why we love doing what we do because we are so busy doing what we do.
Today, I challenge you. Take a moment, someway and somehow, and come up for air. Take a breath. Take a look around. Remember why you are here.
Look and see the beauty of the world around you. See the beauty of teaching. See the beauty of learning. See your students as beautiful minds in training for the world of the future. See your students as people. See them as humans. See them as needing you. See them as beautiful.
Forget the stress. Forget the timelines. Forget the ebbs and flows of the day. Remember you are here for one beautiful and amazing reason…to teach, to help your students learn, and to grow and see growth.
The exchange of teaching and learning is a beautiful thing, and it goes both ways between our students and ourselves. Learn something from your students today.
There is also the beautiful world around you. Take some time to enjoy it. Stand in the sun. Watch the rain. Smell a flower. Have a tasty cup of coffee.
The world and teaching is beautiful. Take some time to remember that today and this week, and then share that beauty with others.
You are awesome! You are a beautiful human being about the beautiful business of teaching and learning. Don’t forget that! Keep on teaching and keep remembering to take the time to see that beauty around you, Teacher!
Love, Teacher
Dear Teacher/Love Teacher 
Thanks for sharing. Really nice!
How crazy is it that I just showed one of my classes that shadow puppet video last week??? I’ve had it saved on my computer for years and pull it out at appropriate moments – last week a student was trying to “impress” the class with his shadow bunny using the projector, so I showed them what they could really do with practice.
“Awesome” is my theme for this year, so I can completely relate to your post. Thanks for writing!