Sunday, September 2, 2007

New Beginnings

There are lots of reasons to love teaching: the thrill of watching little lightbulbs go off as an idea finally sinks in, the fun of being witness to the excitement children have as they embark on a new project, the vacation time (we don't always like to admit that but the vacation time is a perk).

But I think the thing I love the most about teaching is getting the chance to start new each year. I love beginnings. I love being able to look back at last year and say, "I wasn't thrilled with how I taught...put anything in here...writing, so I'm going to revamp my program and try something new this year." I love deciding to move furniture because it just didn't work last year. I love getting new supplies to use, finding new posters and books, putting new nametags on desks.

I think, for me, new beginnings means a chance to make things better. Whatever went wrong, whatever didn't look right, whatever I said that I shouldn't have, I get to change this year. And, I get to upgrade those details that worked. Now that I worked out my reading program, I can spend more time really studying each book and finding great sites to coordinate with them. Now that my math program is tight, I can gather more hands-on materials to improve those lessons even more.

So three more days to a new beginning. And the unknown of new students, new supplies, new technology, new ideas...a whole new year! Hooray for teaching!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hello Lisa, it's me again (i've posted in other posts :P )... just wanted to say i love the concept of your site. I also agree with you about new beginnings.. about making things better. I reflect at the end of the day, thinking of the things I did right or wrong and doing something about it so I can improve the following day.

Best wishes!!

-Saedel