Teacher Reflection

1. I know the importance of saving everything like egg cartons and paper towel tubes, because they just “might” come in handy for a project.
2. Your friends automatically know not to call you or make plans in the month of November because it is report card/ conferences season.
3. I have accepted the reality that no matter how much I plan, some lessons don’t go the way they should.
4. Some lessons I have learned the hard way-no teaching can occur on Halloween, desks swallow paper, at any given moment a child could announce something random, instructions should be given before handing out manipulatives and clothes just attract paint.
5. I know teaching is asking questions when you already know the answers, laughing at jokes you don’t understand, correcting papers while watching Jon Stewart, making doctor appointments after 3:00 p.m., counting kids’ heads on a field trip, sweating over not being able to get the DVD player to work while twenty plus kids offer to help (bless their hearts), having butterflies the night before school starts, and understanding that a person (or a child) may forget what you say (teach)-but will always remember how you made them feel (this last part is borrowed from a quote posted in a colleague’s classroom).
6. I have learned to politely dispel the assumption (of “significant others”) that motherhood will come naturally to me since I work with kids. Although I must add, my niece has been a great learning opportunity.
7. After three years, I have realized that wearing heels and “nice clothes” are not worth the knee pain and high dry cleaner bills.  I have begun to cherish my jeans and flats. On a side note, Uggs are a Godsend.
8. I need to stop giving adults directions slowly through hand movements or sketches. They are not 4^th graders.
9. I still don’t understand why my married friends continue to ask me for advice on child rearing. I am no expert (trust me- I am far from it).
10. I am proud of my acquired skill of making a game out of any situation-from who knows the most basic facts to who can find my keys the fastest.
11. After years of trial and error, I have perfected the “look”.
12. The school secretary can fix anything- from a broken copier to a stomachache.
13. Smiling and nodding are dignified responses to the comment,  “Oh, you are a teacher. It must be nice to have summers off.”  
14. I understand that band-aids can fix any minor injury.
15. No matter how much I detest this fact, I still get my best lesson ideas in the most random manner- right before going to sleep and when I am driving (Don’t worry, I am being careful!)
16. My favorite ritual of back to school preparation is opening the cellophane and smelling the aroma of new notebooks and stationary.
17. I still secretly love when my students accidentally call me “mom”. I am dreading the day they accidentally call me “grandma”.
18. A teacher wears many hats-a communicator, a disciplinarian, a conveyor of information, an evaluator, a classroom manager, a counselor, a role-model, a surrogate parent, a student cheerleader, Technological Know-It-All-Who-Does-Not-Know-It-All-But-Is-Someone-That-Students-Think-Can-Solve-All-Technological-Issues and many more.
19. No matter how many gift cards I receive, the most cherished gifts are the cards and letters written by my students. I read them whenever I need inspiration.