Teachers and Education

School is back in session and everyone is excited about the upcoming academic year. I have always believed that success in school takes teamwork, in particular, a team of three: student, parents, and teacher.

I have been teaching for more than a dozen years. Those years have been filled with stress, lots of work, some tears, many smiles, and joy. At times, I have been frustrated with the system, parents, students, and myself. And yet I have also been elated at times with the system, parents, students, and myself. Teaching is a challenging, stressful, time-consuming career that I absolutely adore.

I have had the opportunity to watch students grow, to experience things they never dreamed of, and to meet challenges they never thought possible. I have shared joys and sorrows with my colleagues, many of whom have become dear friends.

Each school year starts with excitement; new faces, new clothes, new hair. Hopes are high and everyone begins with a clean slate. By winter break, we’re all tired, beginning to wear out, and in deep need of a vacation. The New Year begins everything anew, but the snows of winter and the cold mornings heading out before the sun gets up make everyone wonder if the school year will ever come to an end.

But summer does always manage to show its face and a long respite from school begins. These things happen over and over again, and yet each year it feels so new!

I won’t sleep the night before school, not much anyway. I’ll toss and turn wondering if I have enough handouts for the first day, what my students will look like, how they’ll behave. I lie awake thinking about what types of projects we can come up with, how I can convince my principal to let me try something wild and crazy! I worry that I might not be able to help all of my students. What if they don’t understand and I can’t figure out how to teach them? I try to solve all of the problems of the world that night before school!

I’ll wake up the first day of school with butterflies and I won’t be able to eat a thing for breakfast. As a teacher, I think that I’ll be just as excited as my students. Full of energy and ready to go! Here’s to a great school year!

This blog post appeared in my column, "The Empty Nest," in the Frederick News Post on Sunday, September 2, 2012.