Charging

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome."

-Anne Bradstreet

When I speak with non-educators, and the topic of breaks comes up, I always brace myself for the comments. You know the ones... "Must be nice..." "Jeez, wish I got that many days off..." I generally just nod and agree that it is nice. The truth is that it is nice, but that isn't why I say it. I say it because the bigger truth is something they can't understand. The bigger truth is that without these breaks, educators simply wouldn't be able to do what we do. Few other professions require such an absolute dedication from the minute we walk in the door until the minute we leave. Actually, for most educators, even leaving the building doesn't mean we've actually clocked out.

I know that your evenings are consumed with grading and planning. Sometimes, while the rest of your family is enjoying a nice meal, you are simply nodding along while your mind turns over the strategies you are going to use to try to break through with that student who just doesn't see why any of this matters, or you are sitting in a movie theater only partially aware of what is transpiring on the giant screen because you are wondering if that kid in the front row of your 6th period class is getting enough to eat over the weekend or if they are once again being forced into taking care of parents who can't take care of themselves. The fact is that being an educator means climbing uphill, in sand, with the weight of hundreds of futures on your shoulders. You do this every day. You rejoice in small victories and agonize in countless perceived failures.

Adversity is our business, and business is booming. There is a reason we have a nation-wide teacher shortage. It is a hard job. Not many people are up for the challenges we face every day. Some days it feels like throwing pebbles at a hurricane, but I promise you the pebbles are adding up. I see it in our student's eyes when I walk through your classrooms. I hear it in the words they use in my office to describe the mistakes they have made, in terms of behavior and acedemics. They are listening to you, and you are getting through to them.

When students are amazed to see me out in the "real" world, I always joke that some of them think we are robots who shuffle down to a secret basement to be charged overnight after they all leave. We aren't robots, but we do need to charge our batteries from time to time. I encourage all of you to take this Christmas Break to recharge. Take some time to do something you enjoy with the people you enjoy spending time with. Get as much rest as you can because when we get back, our kids are still going to need us, and we need to be ready to give everyting of ourselves once again. It is a touch profession we have entered into. Those of us who continue to fight the good fight when so many others are shying away do it because we know that the little victories along the way make the adversity worth it. Merry Christmas!