Thoughts for Teaching This Year

Every summer I think about the up-coming school year and decide what I'm going to do differently. This summer I decided to buy a book that would give me some fresh ideas and a new perspective. The book is What Great Teachers Do Differently by Todd Whitaker. This book is really good. As I read I think about how great it would be for everyone in my school to read this book - it's a quick read, only 128 pages. I already have a list of things I'd like to do or do better when school starts. I also have a mental list of what I'd like others to do better. If they only did one thing better, I would say they need to be more positive. I think my school has a culture of complaining and negativity that I would love to see go away. I'm guilty of complaining, but when confronted with massive complaining this summer, I found out how unproductive and detrimental complaining is. I won't say that I'll never complain again, but I think after reading the book and my summer experiences, I'll complain less. And what's to complain about really? We have the best jobs on the planet (hello, summer break!) and we get to help influence future generations to hopefully be better than past generations. Every day is different from the one before and every set of kids is a chance to get to know new people and solve new problems. If you are a teacher and don't love your job (most of the time) then maybe you're complaining too much :-)