Do you love your job?

I have to admit, I really love my job.

While I realize most teachers dread the beginning of the new school year and the time we have to spend preparing for our students, I find it rather invigorating. I get to think about all the new and exciting things I am going to do with my students throughout the upcoming year. I have an opportunity to plan and (if you know me) get organized and really take my time thinking about how I can make things better than they were the year before.

This year is particularly exciting because I just completed the Writing Project this summer (which is part of the inspiration for my blog). We worked all summer on the beginnings of a research project that will continue throughout the course of the entire school year. I was given permission to begin my study today (what perfect timing!) after a grueling process with the Institutional Review Board (IRB) for the Protection of Human Subjects. So this year, not only am I teaching and utilizing children's literature in new ways in my classroom I also get to do extensive research to find out the impact it has on my students. I love it! I love seeing students learn and I love seeing their inquisitive minds at work and the true icing on the cake is seeing how what I do can actually make a difference! This is going to be one of those projects in my career that changes how I view what I do. It is going to challenge me to make everything I do with my students meaningful and worthwhile.

While you would think the students are the only ones that are experiencing new things, the entire year is really a learning process for me as a teacher as well. Every year I create new plans and change and tweak the things I have done in the past. I start with a clean slate and that is why I love beginning the new year with my students. We learn from each other and tread the waters together. That is why I can say that I honestly love my job.