Today sees the 1st of September but also the first day of a whole new year.
Those of you not in education wont have a clue what I mean. But I know so many of you will.
As teachers (and parents and pupils) we have two new years ... two cracks at a fesh start. January 1st and also the start of the new school year - today.
I love the start of the year (OK I love the holidays more ... but all good things have to come to an end) I love the new beginning, the new challenges, new books and pens, new pupils, new timetable. New everything but nestled within the familiarity of the old.
A whole new year with endless possibilities, challenges, successes and joy ... and yes endless stress and heartache too but you can't have one without the other.
So to all of you who teach and to all of you who have children starting back, have a wonderful year, enjoy every minute. Life is precious and we are lucky to be doing what we do.
I have a new page to share today and news of a great offer. Check it out here
The collection is beautiful and this is a page I made with it last week.
This September 1st marks another 1st for me too. The first time in eight years that I am not doing LSNED. I don't know how I used to fit it in. I really don't get to do what I used to do - I don't klnow if it is because I am older and work so much more slowly - but I know my limitations.
Today I am thankful for
- Having had an incredible summer - I am truly thankful
- A school I love with people I enjoy working with and delightful children to work with
- new starts/new years
I want to share this that I have up in my office
The Teacher's Prayer
I want to teach my students how--
To live this life on earth,
To face its struggles and its strife
And to improve their worth.
Not just the lesson in a book,
Or how the rivers flow,
But to choose the proper path,
Wherever they may go.
To understand eternal truth,
And know right from wrong,
And gather all the beauty of
A flower and a song,
For if I help the world to grow
In wisdom and grace,
Then I feel that I have won
And I have filled my place.
And so I ask your guidance, God
That I may do my part,
For character and confidence
And happiness of heart.
and finally I know I have shared this before but it merits sharing again
We pray for the children who sneak Popsicles before supper, who erase holes in math workbooks, who can never find their shoes. And we pray for those who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire, who can't bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers, who never "counted potatoes," who never go to the circus, who live in an X-rated world.
We pray for children who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions, who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money. And we pray for those who never get dessert, who have no safe blanket to drag behind them, who watch their parents watch them die, who can't find any bread to steal, who don't have any rooms to clean up, whose pictures aren't on anybody's dresser, whose monsters are real.
We pray for children who spend all their allowance before Tuesday, who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food, who like ghost stories, who shove dirty clothes under the bed, who never rinse out the tub, who get visits from the tooth fairy, who don't like to be kissed in front of the carpool, who squirm in church and scream in the phone, whose tears we sometimes laugh at and whose smiles can make us cry.
And we pray for those whose nightmares come in the daytime, who will eat anything, who have never seen a dentist, who aren't spoiled by anybody, who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep, who live and move, but have no being. We pray for children who want to be carried and for those who must, who we never give up on and for those who don't get a second chance. For those we smother and...for those who will grab the hand of anybody kind enough to offer it.
Have a good year everyone and remember - we are teachers, we make a difference. let it count!
Thanks for the reminder, Karen! We DO make a difference, but at times it is hard to see in the everyday! Hope you have a really good year, too! :)
Posted by: Sara O'Shea | September 01, 2014 at 08:10 PM