10 Things I've Learned from Teaching {Linky Party}

Okay, even though I've been taking a hiatus from blogging, I saw Miss Kindergarten's Linky Party...and I HAD to join!  So here goes:

1.  No matter how many trips to wash hands or sanitize, you will NEVER break the unabashed nose-pickers from doing their thing...NEVER...that said, keep trying!

2.  Kids will randomly fall off of their chairs--this is normal.  I'll never forgot how shocked I was my first year of teaching (and I had FIFTH graders) how often kids just randomly "fell" out of their seats.  I had no idea--just PLOP and they'd be on the floor.  Now, after 14 years of teaching, I don't even bat an eyelash!  I just calmly ask, "Are you okay?"  Then wait for them to get up.

3.  It is OKAY to sometimes pitch a stack of ungraded papers...it's hard to do at first, but liberating once you get the hang of it!

4.  You'll ALWAYS know when a full moon is coming...so creepy, but true!

5.  Even if you practiced a skill for months on end, your students will ALWAYS tell the next year's teacher that they NEVER learned it...however, try to show a video they saw three years ago, and you will hear a chorus of "We already SAW this!!"  A simple, "Fine.  We won't watch anything." usually quiets them.

6.  School supplies are always exciting--for both teachers and kids--make sure they have time that first day to ooohh and aaahh  over each other's new things!

7.  No age of students are too old for stickers.  

8.  You must believe that everything you are doing is fun AND cool.  Own it.  Sell it.  They'll buy it.

9.  Nothing beats seeing one of your student's faces light up when they spot you off school grounds.  They may try to downplay it and "act" cool after the fact--but those few uncensored seconds prove you are SOMEONE to them!

10.  There is no better life than teaching.  It is not a job, not even a career...it is your life...and if you see it as anything but...maybe you doing it wrong...