on gratitude.

One of my favorite students, (yes, non-teachers, we all have them) enlightened me yesterday.  In prompting students to identify themes in Out of the Dust, one of my faves shared her thoughts.  

“The theme is appreciate what you got.”

“I hadn’t thought of that one, what makes you say that?”

“Well, Billie Jo and her family were covered in mud and dust.  The cattle was basically bones and so were the people.  Billie Jo’s ma died, her brother died and all of this while in the Great Depression and trying to survive in the Dust Bowl.  Billie Jo loved playing music but now her burnt hands barely worked for her.  Oh, and her and her Pa barely speak anymore.”

“Well said.  How does this show appreciation?”

“I guess I just think that we’re always complaining about stupid things, like having to do our exit ticket and having to take off our hoodie.  I mean Billie Jo had to take her state test during a dust storm.”

“So you’re saying that by reading this book, it makes you appreciate what you have?”

“Yes, I think we kinda have it pretty good sometimes.”  

So you see why I love this child so much?  She really got me thinking that day about gratitude.  Beyond being grateful for moments like that, I needed to remind myself of a few of the many perks of teaching.  

What am I thankful for?

1. Unpredictability. I spoke to a friend recently who was considering leaving teaching for something that required a little less mental flexibility.  She described the emotional toll that managing thirty personalities at once, for four hundred minutes a day took on her happiness, and that all of the moving parts leaves her head spinning daily.  I. Hear. That.

In some professions, you may juggle thirty things at once, but they aren’t likely to be human beings with feelings.  Coupled with the fact that these human beings have feelings that they are still learning to self-regulate and we are the people to teach them how to cope during this eight hour per day period (plus the academic part).  Although I can understand the desire of a less mentally taxing job, part of what I love about teaching is it’s unpredictability.  

Teaching is anything but mundane.  It puts a whole new twist on “every day is a new day.”  Sometimes each day you feel like you’re transporting to a new galaxy. You learn your students were replaced with three-headed aliens who don’t know how to raise their hands before speaking and think that backing up their “claim statement” means explaining how their “momma told them, that’s why.” And then there are those days where you get "schooled" by a kid, and then it all makes sense.  

2. Becoming “well-read” on the job.  Do you ever notice that most of the contestants on Jeopardy are educators?  Somewhere along the road of leading deep dives into text and facilitating investigative research projects, we realize how much we never really knew about World War II, the impact of figurative language on a poem, or how lightning forms.

Experiencing life with these little add-ons of knowledge and perspective helps us understand people and appreciate each day a little more.  I mean, I still can’t get over how FDR was elected four terms of presidency.  Four terms!  Why don’t more people talk about this?

 Education is the name of our game, teachers.  Not just for our students; we are all a little knowledge hungry.  And let’s be honest, sometimes it just feels good to beat your friend with the six figure job in Jeopardy.  

3. The kids.  Their love, curiosity, willingness, compassion, sense of humor and feistiness...they really are the reason we do this.  Enough said.  

Sometimes it takes a reality check from our students to remind us how cool our job really is.  And on those awful days that bring us to indeed.com, with the two glasses of wine instead of one, and the flashbacks of the day haunting our me time, we can allow the crappiness marinate for a bit before referring back to #3.