New Inspiration

So I was somewhat organizing my bookshelf tonight and came across some old textbooks. I pushed aside the Educational Psychology book for obvious reasons, but found a novel I read in one of my education classes that I absolutely loved! 32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny by Phillip Done....If your a teacher you definitely should read it, it's a real fast read. When I was in college and read this book it always got me SO excited to actually have a classroom and be a teacher. Now that I am a teacher and have little squirts of my own it means that much more....I can actually relate to what this guy says. I'm going to share the intro because it's great!

I am a Teacher....
     I read Charlotte's Web and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory every year, and every year when Charlie finds the golden ticket and Charlotte dies, I cry.
     I take silvers out of fingers and bad sports out of steal the bacon. I know when a child has gum in his mouth even when he is not chewing it. I have sung "Happy Birthday" 657 times. ( I'm only at 7)
     I hand over scissors with the handles up. My copies of The Velveteen Rabbit and Treasure Island are falling apart. I can listen to one child talk about his birthday party and another talk about her sleepover and another talk about getting his stomach pumped last night- all at the same time.
     I fix staplers that won't staple and zippers that won't zip, and I poke pins in the orange caps of glue bottles that will not pour. I hand out papers and pencils and stickers and envelopes for newly pulled teeth. I know the difference between Austria and Australia.
     I plan lessons while shaving, showering, driving, eating, and sleeping. I plan lessons five minutes before the bell rings. I know what time it is when the big hand is on the twelve and the little hand is on the nine. I say the r in library. I do not say the w in sword.
     I put on Band-Aids and winter coats and school plays. I know that they will not understand the difference between your and you're. I know they will write to when it should be too. I say "Cover your mouth," after they have coughed on me.
I am a teacher.
     I examine new braces and new blisters and holes in mouths where teeth have just fallen out. I can spell vacuum. I know the magic word.
     I wear four-leafed clovers and dandelions in my shirt pocket that have just been picked with love at recess. I pray for snow days. I pray for Stephen to be absent.
    I spend Thanksgiving vacation writing report cards, Christmas vacation cleaning my classroom, and summer vacation taking classes on how to relax. I know the difference between a comma and an apostrophe. I can say "apostrophe".
    I buy books about cats and dogs and sharks and volcanoes and horses and dinosaurs. I turn jump ropes and am base in tag. I am glad you can only get chicken pox once.
    I correct pencil grips and spelling mistakes and bad manners. I push in chairs all the way, push swings higher, and push sleeves up while children are painting. I can touch the paper cutters.
    I own one suit, two pairs of shoes, and eight boxes of graham crackers. I have every teacher mug that Hallmark ever made and ever Save the Children tie too. I say, "Use two hands!" when they carry their lunch trays. I say, "Accidents happen," after they did not use two hands.
    I wear green on St. Patrick's Day, red on Valentine's Day, and my bathrobe on Pajama Day. I poke straws into juice boxes and untwist thermos lids that are too tight. I unpeel oranges that are too tight too.
    I sign library passes and yearbooks and new casts. I attend soccer games and Little League championships and funerals for guinea pigs. I answer to both "Mom" and "Dad."
I am a teacher.
     I hope April Fool's Day is on a Saturday. I blow up balloons that will not blow up. I always blow the whistle too early at recess.
     I can borrow and carry very fast. I give them more time to answer six times eight than two times three. I never end a sentence with a preposition. I know what a preposition is.
     I draw stars and smiley faces. I say, "Take over," in four square games when I was not looking. Once I forgot eight plus seven.
     I know when to say "can" and when to say "may." I have worn green marker, red paint, yellow chalk dust, glue stick, and glitter all in the same day. I hate glitter.
     I always begin a sentence with a capital and end with a period. I always walk in line. I always loose at arm wrestling.
     I leave "shuger" and "vilets" misspelled on their valentines. I know all my continents and all my oceans. I tape pages back into books. I can find the end of a new roll of Scotch tape. I call on children whose hands are not raised.
    I know that colonel is a really hard word to read, and so is doubt and so is gauge. I know that kids will read started, when it says stared. I have spelled out because and beautiful and friend six million times.
I am a teacher.
    I look both ways before crossing the street. I save balls stuck in basketball hoops. I have given 842 spelling tests and written "Have a Good Summer!" that many times too.

    I can make a telescope out of a toilet paper roll and a totem pole out of oatmeal boxes. I can make snowflakes out of coffee filters and a space shuttle out of a Pringles can too.
    I know my notes because "Every Good Boy Does Fine." I know my directions because I "Never Eat Slimy Worms." I know all my planets because "My Very Elegant Mother Just Sat Upon Nine Pickles." And I can only say my ABC's if I sing them.
    I fix watchbands, repair eyeglasses, and search for lost milk money after freeze tag. I know when their fists will make a rock and when they will make scissors.
    I know when a child does not understand. I know when a child is not telling the truth. I know when a child was up too late last night. I know when a child needs help finding a friend.
I am a teacher.


I know I've only been teaching for a short while but that first part of the book gets me every time. The first time I read it I cried a bit....but I am kind of an emotional person so I'm not sure if that says much. I cry and the most ridiculous things....my sister usually laughs and I just say she is heartless (because she rarely cries during these types of things).  Anyways, if you haven't read this book you definitely should!!! As I read it now, it makes me smile because I picture the little faces I see everyday doing the exact same things he talks about in his book. I may complain from time to time about things that happen at school....but I love what I do, my kids and my job!! Finding this book as I was cleaning gave me new inspiration and has definitely lifted my spirits....just what I needed!


"Do Beautiful things for God, and in the process you will become Beautiful."