21st Century School Teacher

It’s almost September and I’m reminded--I won’t be teaching—no opening day, no new class of sevies, no action packed, quirky lessons to plan… (tear)

For years my husband and I talked about the “what if” he got a job promotion, which would mean we’d have to move from our home town—and my answer was always, emphatically, “Um, I’m not giving up my teaching position—are you crazy!”  I did have it good, really good—great kids, great school, awesome principal, amazing colleagues—you name it…  What happened?  (The dirty word in our house is “cancer.”)  And if one round wasn’t enough, after I had my daughter, it came back again--argh… After several surgeries and chemo, I got a clean bill of health—but if you’ve had cancer, you know as well as I do that there’s a possibility it will be back… 

When my husband was extended a new job opportunity in a different city, he took the deal so that I could stay home with Katie and be a stay-at-home mommy.  And I love being home with her—who wouldn’t?  She’s the most amazing little creature I’ve ever known. 

Still, as the new school year begins, I can’t help but feel a little melancholy—I love to teach… 

I’ll probably be out of the classroom at least this year—maybe next… To channel some of my “teacher” energy, I’ve created this site and blog—a place where I can talk about education and have a reason to keep abreast of what’s new.  I’m an ardent advocate for incorporating new 21st century literacies into curricula, so it made sense to put some work into defining what 21st century education means to me.  Technology--the internet more specifically, was my best friend when I was going through treatment for cancer... So here I am...

Today, as I was reading my regular list of bloggers’ posts, I realized how much we are all alike—we teachers.  We have our good days and bad days, our victories and disappointments, and through all the B.S. we still manage to remain visionaries—and for who?  For those little critters that grace our classrooms.  Teachers love kids (period).

I happened upon a blog post written several years ago—a professor’s lesson to have first year teachers come up with their own mantras for teaching.  I liked the idea.  What’s my teaching mantra?  And as I post this, I still haven’t landed on it—I’m gonna work on it though…  I’ll make that my next post—and in the mean time, you too might consider yours…  What is the great truth about who you are as a teacher?  Do you have a mantra?

Update: Coming back to my mantra...  I think it would have to be something close to teaching from the heart--for the heart.

I love my profession, and I'll know I'll be back in the classroom soon.