A Time to Be Thankful

The official kick off to the holiday season is here...Thanksgiving.  It is time to feast, sleep and spend the day with family.  While it sounds relaxing, it can sometimes be stressful....the turkey isn't done...someone didn't show...someone makes a comment about your cousin's new boyfriend.  It can be a recipe for disaster.  Hopefully that stress doesn't cause your feast to end like this:

Do you pause on Thanksgiving (or any day) and REALLY think about all we have to be thankful for?  Kid President has a great list of things he is thankful for.

You may leave the school on more than one occasion this year wondering why you do this...what is the reason you keep coming back to the classroom...what are your thankful for about being in education?  There are days when it feels like a thankless job, but by being a teacher you have much to be thankful for.  Some days you are thankful for that kid who made you smile...other days you are thankful for a great lesson and "They all got it!"...some days you are thankful for just making it through the day!  You are blessed beyond belief by choosing to be a teacher.  Need more proof?  Check out these blogs:

http://www.teachhub.com/12-reasons-be-thankful-you-are-teacher

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2013/11/top-5-reasons-im-thankful-teacher

Know that I am thankful for each of you and the great job you do here.  You care about kids and making an impact in their lives.  Thank you!

Just Keep Swimming...

So this was released today:

 And I thought...how can I write a blog post and share the awesomeness of this clip?  I mean...we have waited 10 years to get to see Dory again!  This is a BIG deal!

For those of you who have seen "Finding Nemo", you know that Dory has the best mantra..."Just keep swimming...just keep swimming..."

Are there not days when you feel like this is all you are doing...treading water...trying to keep your head above water and NOT fall below the surface?  It doesn't matter if it is your first year or your twenty-sixth year...there are days when you feel like all your energy is consumed in just treading water.

Keep swimming.  You will swim out of it.  You will rise above the water and be stronger for those times.  There are times you will need those words more than others.  If you give up, you have given up on your students and yourself.  Keep swimming.

While this is written for first year teachers, it is applicalbe to any teacher:

http://blog.kipp.org/teamandfamily/first-year-teachers-pause-and-just-keep-swimming/

JUST KEEP SWIMMING!