a snow day short

" Your job is what you do, not who are"

Not true for many educators. Teachers seem to be different. Most often times we are the job. We take it home, live it- every minute of every day. When we first start teaching it consumes us. We spend hours in our classrooms planning, prepping, and creating. Then we continue to plan, prep, and create at home. Obsessing even, if you will, about our class, a conversation we had with a parent, or the next day's lesson. I know I obsessed over classroom setup, meeting standards, and anticipatory sets. I thought about teaching all the time. The drive to work or the middle of the night is when I came up with my best ideas.  

As true and fulfilling as that all sounds, we need to take time to do things that feed our passions. Doing the things that make us more than a teacher, makes us better teachers. Being a whole person helps us draw inspiration that we can funnel into our teaching. I'm more than a teacher, but it took several years to be comfortable with that.

I am a writer. 

I can model best practices while writing with my students.

I'm a traveler. 

I can use my experiences to make assignments real world applicable. 

I am an obstacle course race enthusiast.  
I bring movement and exercise into the classroom. 

I am an animal lover.

I hope my stories inspire kindness and empathy. 

I am a builder of lego-like models. 

 I bring that element of maker-space into projects. 

I am a teacher.