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.)