Don't forget to set your alarms Teachers!!

Oh no, my summer is gone! That is the phrase being said tonight by almost every teacher in Polk County as the realization that tomorrow morning they will trudge, I mean gleefully, head off to their classrooms for the first official day of preparation. It seems that in early June the summer will last forever and then it happens; that moment you realize that your time on the sofa, sleeping late, or whatever it is that you enjoy doing while not standing at the white board is over. Many of us have starts that jolt us back to our norms. Why do they sneak up on us? We know the day is coming but we are still shocked that it actually occurs. Maybe we are not shocked as much as disappointed that our free time is over. Maybe it’s because we had so much fun doing our family outings or traveling to destinations of our choice that we are sad they are coming to an end or perhaps it’s because we didn’t do what we had said we were going to do with the free time we knew we had. Sometimes I think the actual reason is because the teachers are going back to a job in which they are unappreciated, underpaid, and looked at to make miracles happen to kids that don’t care or come from families that don’t care. What ever the reason tomorrow morning is a sad occasion for thousands around the county. A week from now our children will be feeling some of the same thoughts but they seem to go with the flow more easily than their older counterparts. I feel for teachers and understand their pain but also understand they made the choice to do this as a career and understood what they were getting into before they signed their contract. Oh wait, they haven’t had contracts in years. We all loathe parts of our jobs but we must get up and do our best within the constraints we are dealt. It does us no good to complain and make no efforts to make change. When we complain without attempting to effect change we are just whining and then people believe we hate what we do and question why we are in the job in the first place. If you like, or love, what you do show it. Every day will not be great but it is up to you to do the best you can every day with what you are given. As you wake up tomorrow make the commitment to complain less and realize that you chose what you are doing and that you will do it to the best of your ability and if that is not good enough for your satisfaction or those that you answer to you will find another option. The worst thing you can do is to feel that you are stuck doing a particular job because if you are not doing your best you are cheating someone, either the kids, the county, or yourself. Good luck and I appreciate your dedication to the youth of Polk County. Make it a great year.