...The end of summer is always bittersweet. Long gone are my days of relaxing and being caught up on life, yet I have so much to look forward to- new students, a clean classroom, football, sweaters, boots, soup, changing leaves, etc. I LOVE summer and I desperately need the break by the time June rolls around, but I also am bored half to death all summer trying to occupy all that free time. I like to work and I am always ready to get back into a routine (I hear this will all change once I have babies of my own : )).
Teaching...ah, such a profession I chose. It is probably one of the most demanding and least respected jobs in the world. That is, until someone comes and spends a day in your shoes. We have a Watch DOGS (Dads of Great Students) program at my school where the dads come in and volunteer to spend a day helping out around the school. It is a great program that helps get reluctant fathers involved in their child's life (something men don't seem to do as naturally as the PTA moms). Every time a father leaves our school, he asks how in the world we do it everyday. WHO KNOWS!? The stresses and demands of teaching are more than I even care to start listing right now. The children are why I do it- they (most of them : )) are precious and if you can build a relationship that changes even one kid's life then your whole career is worth it. I know my teaching days are coming to an end as I near the end of my masters degree, which will lead me to ... who knows where! But there are 3 things regarding my career that happened today that made me laugh/cry...
1. The morning radio was discussing how Dez Bryant got stuck with a $55,000 dinner bill after the Cowboys all went out for dinner which is more than a teacher makes in a year. That hit my like a bullet- how incredibly sad is it that they can blow that kind of money b/c they play football, while some of us are shaping the future!?
2. While studying inherited traits and working on a project in Science today, I was helping one of my students brainstorm an inherited trait that would help him survive if he was stranded in the jungle. He said "building a fire" (clearly a learned behavior for those of you who don't know 4th grade science). I asked him, "hmmm, did you come out of your mom's tummy knowing how to do that?". His reply, "Well, no, it took me a few days to get it down." (If you didn't think that was funny, then sorry, but it was the highlight of my day!)
3. There was a Kindergartner on the playground with a hoodie over his head and his teacher noticed he was just hanging by himself so she asked him what he was doing. He said, "I'm the unibomber." No, for real, that's what the FIVE YEAR OLD said. He then took his hood off and said, "Now I'm Daniel again." (At first that made my laugh too, but then I started to really worry about the safety of our school.)
Okay, completely random blog, but just things I felt like sharing. Plus I hadn't blogged for a while. I leave you with some pictures taken over the past couple months.
At Fin, my favorite sushi restaurant, with one of my favorite friends.
Jared and I in front of Josh's mural at Park 17.
More mural in this picture. Josh is an AWESOME artist and uses his talent to minister to others. Here is his wife's blog...and his website.
And the girls. We had a great night looking at art and eating sushi!
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