Always Another Beginning

The beginning of the school year is always exciting! Your classroom is newly decorated, pencils are freshly sharpened, and the hallways are quiet as they anticipate the new feet that will walk them. You look at your roster and wonder how to pronounce some of the names and what faces match these names. You put the names on desks and tables and wait. Wait for the first day of school. The first day finally comes and even though you’re prepared you have first day jitters. Students and their parents start to arrive. Some children are excited and come right in with no problem and some children are scared and cry and plea for their parents not to leave them. As you go through the day and begin what may be a life-long relationship, the children become a bit more relaxed and you’re confident that this will be a successful schoolyear.

As days turn into weeks and weeks into months, the everyday challenges of being a teacher begin to arise. Some days you don’t know how you can make it to the next and some days are picture perfect. Some days your planned lessons are implemented like a charm and some days no matter how much you explain, reword, reteach and give examples, they just don’t get it. Some days you feel like a champ and others you feel like a failure. Through all the ups and downs one thing is for certain, there’s always another beginning. You can always start over. There’s always a chance to get it right. There’s always a chance to turn failures into successes.

If we as teachers have a determination to win and help our students win, we will always be on the right track. If our students trust that we will lead them in the right direction and no matter how many detours or roadblocks may come, success is always the goal, then together we can reach it; even if we must begin again.