Exciting Time
What an exciting time of year for teachers and students alike! New challenges face us just as they have every year as we start another school year. Of course, having our schedule changed at the last minute just added to the number of challenges, but the truth is each year brings something unexpected. We just found the unexpected a little earlier than usual in 2009!
I hope all of you had a mixture of a productive time as well as a restful break over the summer and are ready to start anew. No matter how you feel about how the year is starting and your assignments for the year, you must remember that the children you teach had little to do with setting up the year. Your job is to help all of the students have the best, most productive year possible.
I have for a long time depended on a quote by Haim Ginott to revisit when I get frustrated with challenging situations. That quote often helps me put my focus once again on what is truly important in the classroom. When I was in the classroom, I kept a copy of this in my desk drawer. (I would never have found it ON my desk.) I hope you will read it and think about what it says.
I’ve come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or de-humanized
I’m looking forward to getting back to working with all of you. I will email you soon about coming to visit. I am purposely staying away during preplanning since your time is so short, but if you have questions before I get to you, please just email me.
