This is what it is all about.

I love my "job."

The good, the bad, and sometimes ugly.  There is much that influences what I do in the classroom--at the school, district, state, and national levels.  Sometimes it is overwhelming to see all that is required, and know that it is nearly impossible given the six hours a day i'm with my kids.

I have 25 kids on 25 different levels in math, reading, and writing; as well as, 25 different personalities and behavior issues.  I have students in resource, and students that are gifted.  I have students that think they are dumb and are not capable of ever achieving anything academically (or socially).  Regardless of this, they are still all expected to be tested given the exact same test.  Their scores will determine how i'll be paid.

Forgetting the test, did they learn anything?  Did they progress academically?  Did they have fun doing it?  Are they going to remember what I taught?  

Did they learn to get along with their peers?  Did they learn the importance of being kind to others?  Were their emotional needs met?  Do they know they are loved?

It is a daunting task to say the least.  However, you couldn't pay me enough money in exchange for the email I received tonight.  It is as follows:

"Hello!

In school, we had to write an essay about one of our heroes in life.  Your name popped right into my head, and since I love you so much, I decided to write about you!  If we did this, we would send our papers into a contest.  In March, you would go to a building, and they would pick 7 essays that they liked the best, and give those 7 people, $100.00!!  I sent mine in, and hopefully, I will win, but I shared my essay with a couple of my friends, and they think that you sound extremely nice!!  I can't even tell you enough, how amazing you are, and that without you, I would not have made it through school!  I hope that the judges read this essay, and pick it, not only because it is good, but because you stand out so much, even though they haven't met you, but because they would pick my essay, because of how amazing you sound!  I hope you like it!!!!

December 19, 2014

                                                          My Teacher, My Friend, My Hero

    Heroes are all over the world helping others, but they aren’t Superman and Batman.  My hero is my fifth grade teacher Miss. Shumway.  Some people might think of her as just a teacher, but she’s more than that.   

First of all, she helped me overcome my fear of Math. I wasn’t very good at it, and I never got high grades. When the Math test would be set down before me, I wouldn’t remember the formulas.  Immediately, sweat would leak down my face, and I would feel tears well up in my eyes. For a lot of the problems, I would write question marks, or write a note saying I didn’t understand.  The next day, I would find the test sitting on my desk and my heart threatened to jump out of my chest.  When I turned it over, the horrible score stares back at me. Miss Shumway offered  to help me improve my grades. Throughout the year, she would have me come in early, and we would go over my homework assignment together.  Before I knew it, my grades had improved so much. Ever since I have met Miss Shumway, she has helped me overcome the fear of math, and it has become easy.

Next, she promised us the best of herself. On the first day of school, she explained to us that she was not going to be mean, or rude in any way, and told us that she would never get upset, unless we did something wrong, that we knew was wrong. Throughout the year, she kept her promise.  She never yelled, or grew angry, and she was one of the happiest teachers I had ever met. Best of all, she helped every student so much that parents were begging her to move up to sixth grade. There was something about her that no other teacher had.  She was able to work with children in an amazing way.  Children understood her, and she made children’s lives better.

I thought myself lucky to get the best teacher in the world. Miss Shumway’s last words of advice to me were to not give up, and to know that school was going to be easy if I made it easy.   Without those words, I would not have made it through school.  Clearly my hero, Miss Shumway, has helped me so much through my life, and I am grateful for her sacrifice.  

The End

Thanks for all you have done, and for making me a better person!  You mean the world to me!  Have a great rest of your day!" 

I sobbed.  This is why I teach.  I love this student so much.  I don't know if I would consider myself a "hero," but I love knowing that I made a difference to the one.  It makes it ALL worth it.