For all my teacher friends, whether finishing their first year in the classroom or their thirty-first… Have a wonderful summer holiday.
I Didn’t Know
I didn’t know that years of school and a university degree would be of little consolation when facing a room full of bright little eyes on the first day of school.
I thought I was ready.
I didn’t know that five minutes can seem like five hours when there is idle time and an eight hour school day, far too short for a well-planned day of teaching.
I didn’t know that teaching children was only a fraction of my job.
No one tells you about the emails and phone calls, staff meetings and committees, paperwork and paperwork…
I didn’t know that it took so long to cut out letters, draw and colour pictures, laminate- all for those display boards that were always “just there”.
I didn’t know that I would become such a scavenger, and that glue sticks would feel like pure gold in my hands,
I didn’t know that a headteacher and colleagues that support and help you could make such a difference.
I didn’t know that there would be children that I loved and cared for and stayed up late worrying about, who, one day, would simply move on to a new school.
And that I would never see them again.
I didn’t know that I can’t always dry little tears and mend broken hearts.
I thought I could always make a difference…
I didn’t know that the sound of children’s laughter on a playground could drown out the sound of all the world’s sadness.
I didn’t know that children could feel so profoundly. A broken heart knows no age.
I didn’t know that a single “yes sir” from a disrespectful child or a note on my desk that says “Thank you” could make me feel like I’m on top of a mountain and forget the valleys I forged to get there.
I never knew that after one year of teaching I would feel so much wiser, more tired, sadder and happier, all at once.
And that I would no longer call teaching my job, but my privilege.
(Author unknown)
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