I have come to fall in love with teaching in Catholic schools. What are YOU in love with?...

"Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evenings, how you will spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything." - Pedro Arrupe

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Only as a Teacher...

I came across the following reflection on teaching that I had written during my time in ACE. (I did take a few lines out, but mostly this remains in tact.) Some things never change...

Only as a teacher does one find time and derive pleasure from curling up with a good children's book for most of a weekend afternoon...  
Only as a teacher is it possible to get children so worked up about a crazy dance with singing and body movement (darn you banana dance!) that they ask about it all the while they should be focusing on something else... 
Only as a teacher is it possible to admire and be frustrated by a single child's actions at the same time... 
Only as a teacher is it likely to both long for summer with open arms and feel bittersweet about the ending of another year... 
Only as a teacher can one feel like a mom to so many children at once... 
Only as a teacher does one tie (and re-tie) so many shoelaces... 
Only as a teacher does one's actions truly speak millions of times louder than one's words (kids see everything!)... 
Only as a teacher is it routine to rise before the sun (even when it wakes up before 5:30!) and head home after the sun sets... 
Only as a teacher do corny humor and crazy read aloud voices/enthusiasm never get wasted... 

Yes, as as another year gets ready to begin, I am convinced that only a teacher can feel this way and experience these things... And this fourth grade teacher surely does.

(And I came across this "poster" on Pinterest - it sums up some truths about teaching as well - see below.)

POSTER: I'm So Much More Than Just A Teacher!

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