Every Day I Make a Choice

Every morning I choose how I see the day.  I could view it through the lens of most that I will not do enough to help my students, I will not be able to get them where I need them to be because the system is against us.

I could view the students as obstacles that need to be conquered and my colleagues as people who take up too much time or none at all.  I could view my administration as the enemy, and my standards as chokeholds around my teaching.  I could blame the system for my lack of progress and I could feel good that at least I tried.  But I don’t.

I choose every morning to believe in my own abilities as a teacher and as a human being.  I choose to be positive, thinking that today will be the best day I could ever make.  Today my students will conquer mountains and guide me on new paths.  My colleagues will inspire me if I reach out, and then will support me through my journey.   My administration will hold me to high standards because they believe I will soar.  The standards are simply guides and they can be worked with much easier than worked against.  The standards do no tell me that I have to prep my students for tests, or even how I should teach, but only what our goals should be and those can be reached in many ways.  I choose to fight the system from within and change it the way I can.  I do it for my own sanity and for the curiosity of my students.

Every day I have a choice in how I will view the world, and although I wake up grumpy (just ask my husband), and bogged down by all of the forces working against me, I slip on my teacher super power suit and I stay positive.  The last thing schools need is another person bringing it down.  The world is already trying to do that.  So what do you choose?