Hope Springs Eternal

I love my job. I do. I honestly think that this was what I was meant to do. That said, there have been days where I have felt like I am teaching to kids I can't reach, with problems I can't solve, in time I don't have. But even when I have days like that, I am ready to try again the next day.

My favorite quote of all time is:

"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow." - Mary Anne Radmacher

I have said this quote to myself many times in the last year.

In my school, some of the grades are expected to do a math book that is called Mac-Ro. They do a lesson each night at home and turn it in at the end of the month. The schools give prizes to the ones who turn it in. I took over this class in mid-December, so December's Mac-Ro was already in full swing. However I told the kids at the beginning of January that I would only be giving prizes to the kids who turned it in on time. And then proceeded to give them a lecture about the importance of timeliness when you are employed, yadda, yadda, yadda. If they did turn it in late, they would still get credit for handing it in, and be able to participate in the end of the year celebration. In order to get a prize however, they had to have it in on time.

I reminded them of this yesterday, since it was due today. Today, I read off of the names of the kids who had handed it in, and announced that those kids would be getting a prize. One student muttered under his breath that he wished he was back in his old teacher's class. She gave them prizes regardless if they got them in on time or not. Another student hearing this replied with: "Mrs. D has higher expectations."

And then I am pretty sure I heard angels singing.