Phew...getting re-energized!

    Today I spent the day with teachers from my county doing a training using the FOSS Magnetism and Electricity Kit for Fourth Grade.  I always love spending the day with educators as they become engaged, curious and meaning seeking students once again.  We laughed, we played and we learned something!  We made new friends, we asked questions and we wondered...isn't that what a quality learning experience should look like  in our own classrooms? 

   So that made me think...what gets you re-energized when it comes to education?  Is it a new curriculum, a new tool, a new book or is it simply the kids and the people you work with?

       For me...it's all of those things.  I love to laugh....and my team mates and I laugh all the time.  We play pranks on each other, share stories and jokes...we genuinely like each other.  Without that support...teaching can be draining!   I also love a new book - I doubt I will ever switch over to Kindle or Nook because I simply love the feel of a new book that I can write in, hold and call my own.   I also love tools/toys!  Nothing excites me more than a new science kit - new scales, magnets, baggies with materials.  Oh..that makes me sooo happy! To top it all off is a curriculum that makes sense...that is research based and content rich.  A curriculum that teaches kids to think for themselves..wow! What a concept!
    But of course, the bottom line is the kids...it all comes back to the kids...Nothing makes me happier than to see the puzzled look on a child's face turn into the light bulb of understanding.  That is the joy of teaching!
     The end of the summer is bitter sweet.  I will miss my lazy mornings snuggling with my sons while I drink my coffee in my jammies.  But at the same time, I am so looking forward to the new crop of students who will become mine for a year (if I'm lucky!)  ,,,,

and THAT's why I became a teacher!
    

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