List of Loves

There are so many reasons I love teaching. After being out of the classroom for a week and a half, being back today was wonderful. So, here are a few of my favorite things:

• when students ask a question I don't know the answer to (happened first thing this morning, what a way to start the day!)
• learning for the sake of learning, not for grades or approval, but simply because they are fascinated by a topic - somehow we manage to stifle that as students grow older (great teachers rekindle it, but it is less natural as students age)
• students getting so engaged in a discussion or project that we're late for lunch (or music or PE or art or library...)
• unexpected words, phrases, or ideas that come from students - you never know what you'll hear in an elementary school
• family atmosphere - we spend so much time together we become a family, with all the positive and negative aspects
  
• being a rock star - elementary age students get shockingly excited to see teachers, their own or ones they recognize from around the school and they greet you as if you are famous
• the growth we get to see - students change so much, so quickly in elementary school - it is encouraging to see how much they have learned and developed over time

I'm so lucky to have a job that adds to my quality of life (as a friend said).