This is Why I Do This

After a really hard day I have been known to say things like, "I'm not going back tomorrow!" or "If I didn't have to get ready for a substitute, I would definitely take a personal day tomorrow!" Some days just don't go the way I plan.  From start to finish, a day can just feel like I've accomplished nothing.  Students are misbehaving and plans are not working.  I just want to crawl into a hole and hide until summer!

I was having one of those days recently.  I was ready to go home and rethink my choices about my profession.  Then I had a moment.  I call them "This is Why I Do This" moments.  Luckily, these moments happen often enough that I feel like I'm making a difference in children's lives.  If I didn't have these moments, I would have more time to follow Jon Bon Jovi around the world, I suppose.  But that won't pay my bills.

As my students were working on a project, I watched a student get up and come to me.  She never spoke unless I talked to her first.  She was not outgoing in any way.  She definitely didn't want to be in front of the class.  No one was mean to her, but she didn't have a group of friends.  She reached my desk and asked me for help.  I helped her with what she needed and she went back to her seat.  She got all the way back to her seat and I saw her get up and come back.  I asked her if she needed more help.  She very quietly said, "Thank you."  Not a big deal for most, perhaps, but it was huge for me.  This incredibly shy young lady had taken the time to come back to me to thank me for doing my job.  It seemed like a breakthrough moment and my eyes got a little weepy!  I couldn't help but think this is one of my "This is Why I Do This" moments.  She also wrote on her "What I Want to Be When I Grow Up" paper that she wanted to be a teacher after having me as her teacher.  My heart grew several sizes that day.  

Stay tuned for more of my "This is Why I Do This" moments.  They happen quite often.  That's why they can't tear me out of that classroom.  Sorry Jon Bon Jovi.