Dear Teacher...You Matter

So tomorrow is the first day of school for teachers in my system. Yep summer is a thing of the past for this year and exciting days are ahead to welcome in an multiple opportunities to make a difference. I've been thinking about this blog for a couple of weeks now and what exactly I wanted to say. I thought about doing two separate ones...one for my tech blog and one for my devo blog, but what I have to say fits with both. So if you follow both you will see the same post.  Tomorrow starts my 9th year of teaching. What I have learned in the last year and half could more than fill a book about teaching, sadly most of you would question whether some of it is true or not. So here is my dear teacher post to start the year. My hope and prayer is that EVERY teacher regardless of what they teach will know at some point each and every day how much they matter.

Dear Teacher,

I know you are sitting there thinking where did summer go and how quickly the time has passed. You are also sitting there questioning how it will all get finished before the students walk through the doors on their first day of school. Rest assured it will because it always does. By now your dreams have been filled with lesson plans and designing your classroom in your head, that was how I always knew the start of school was soon ahead.  Get to know your students that first week. More than everything you will study for the year, they want to know how much you care. Give it your all during the day, but remember to take time for you. It's about balance and giving to yourself allows you to give to those precious kids you impact every day. I know you will have days when things do not go according to plan. You will feel stressed at times, frustrated at others, and some days may just leave you feeling wore out. It will happen, but those days and moments will pass. On those days though remember this...YOU MATTER! What you do is important and you are making a difference in lives. Don't let the feeling of stress or frustration cause you to doubt this important truth.  So teacher reading this, take those two words into your room this year and into your school. Share them with a colleague and your students. Thank you for doing what you do, for giving your heart to those kids, and for loving them for who they are. You make a difference, what you do matters, and most of all remember YOU MATTER. 

Sincerely, 

A fellow teacher

So where is this coming from? I am on a mission. I can be pitiful about some stuff this year or I can do something about it(aka powerful as Joyce Meyer always says).  My words for the school year for me personally are intentional, determined, and discipline. I'll blog about more of that later, but I have decided to look for ways to be intentional with encouragement. I know who I am as a teacher (finally) and regardless of the actions of others, I have to move on from that. That being said, I've learned from past experience that sow into others and God will sow back into you. Have a wonderful school year teacher friends and everyone! I wish you the best. I pray your year is filled with moments that make you smile and love what you do. Don't let anyone make you feel like you aren't enough or that you don't matter, because you do! 

~Melissa