Summer break for a teacher is nourishing for the soul. I could go on and on about the difficulties of teaching, especially during a pandemic, but unless you are in the trenches and experience the physical and mental work that it entails, the description of each battle does not do justice to the magnitude of effort involved. Each grade has its own set of challenges, and this year my challenge was kindergarten. What a blast, day in and day out, seeing those beautiful young faces light up to learn new things each day. Seeing them grow as readers and writers was remarkable. But to get them there required undivided attention to every detail all day long. It wears on you and tires you out like nothing ever will. People who spend a few hours with a five and six year old can only fathom the energy it takes to be with twenty!
This is not complaining, this is simply drawing attention to the importance of the work that we love so much. Just because a teacher needs a break does not mean they do not love what they do. It means they worked harder than anyone can imagine and they put their all into these little lives, teaching, nurturing and protecting. And now they need recuperation, to build up the strength and energy to do it all over again!
Now back to our regularly scheduled programming…
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