A Teacher's Kit for Living Everyday

TOOTHPICK

Reminds us to look for the good qualities in our students.You may be the only teacher who says something positive to them that day.

RUBBER BAND

Reminds the teacher that they have to be flexible.Things don't always go the way we plan,But flexibility will help to work it out.

BAND AID

Reminds the teacher that sometimes we do more than teach,That we help heal hurt feelings, broken dreams,And lend an ear to a problem.

PENCIL

Reminds us to be thankful and we should list our blessings daily,But also encourage our students to list their blessingsAnd to be proud of their accomplishments.

ERASER

Reminds us to allow students to know we are humanAnd make mistakes just like they do, and it's ok.We must all be able to learn from our mistakes.

CHEWING GUM

Reminds us to stick with itAnd encourage our students to do like wise.Even the impossible task or assignment can be accomplishedBy sticking to it.

MINT

Reminds us and our students we are worth a mint.(We may not be paid a mint, but are worth one.)

CANDY KISS

Reminds us that everyone needs a hug,Kiss, or warm fuzzy everyday.(All teachers, students, parents, and even administrators)

TEA BAG

Reminds us we need time to relax,Go over our blessing, and take time for others.Family, husbands, wives, friends, children need quality time together.

A teacher must be willing to show their students how much they care!!!

Adaptation for teachers by Charles Nelson and his fellow teachersReprinted from MotivateUs.com

How to Tell if You are a Real Teacher

Real teachers grade papers in the car, during commercials, in faculty meetings, in the bathroom, and (at the end of the six weeks) have been seen grading in church.

Real teachers cheer when they hear May 1 does not fall on a school day.

Real teachers clutch a pencil while thinking and make notes in the margins of books.

Real teachers can't walk past a crowd of kids without straightening up the line.

Real teachers never sit down without first checking the seat of the chair.

Real teachers have disjointed necks from writing on boards without turning their backs on the class.

Real teachers are written up in medical journals for the size and elasticity of kidneys and bladders.

Real teachers have been timed gulping down a full lunch in 2 minutes, 18 seconds. Master teachers can eat faster than that.

Real teachers can predict exactly which parents will show up at Open House.

Read teachers volunteer for hall duty on days faculty meetings are scheduled.

Real teachers never teach the conjugations of lie and lay to eighth graders.

Real teachers know it is better to seek forgiveness than ask permission.

Real teachers know the best end of semester lesson plans can come from Blockbuster.

Real teachers never take grades after Wednesday of the last week of the six weeks.

Real teachers never assign research papers on the last six weeks or essays on final exams.

Real teachers know the shortest distance and the length of travel time from their classroom to the office.

Read teachers can "sense" gum.

Real teachers know the difference among what must be graded, what ought to be graded, and what probably should never again see the light of day.

Real teachers are solely responsible for the destruction of the rain forest.

Real teachers have their best conferences in the parking lot.

Real teachers have never heard an original excuse.

Real teachers buy Excedrin and Advil at Sam's.

Real teachers will eat anything that is put in the workroom/teacher's lounge.

Real teachers have the assistant principals' and counselors' home phone numbers.

Real teachers know secretaries and custodians run the school.

Real teachers know the rules don't really apply to them.

Real teachers hear the heartbeats of crisis; always have time to listen; know they teach students, not subjects; and they are absolutely non-expendable.

Teacher's ABC

A is for the abundance of questions and yearning

B is for both inward and outward beauty

C is for creative learning

D is for doing it over 'til it's right

E is for the effort you pour into preparing into each night

F is for watching how far we can go

G is for seeing us blossom and grow

H is for reaching for that star so high

I is for imagination, for the courage to try

J is for joy in touching a child's life in a meaningful way

K is for kindness you bring children each day

L is for the love of teaching we see

M is for the "me" you're helping me to be

N is for never being to busy to pray

O is for overcoming our desire to stray

P is for positives you bring to each

Q is for the quintessential way to teach

R is for your willingness to give us a reason

S is for teaching us to appreciate each season

T is for touching those that sit before you

U is for understanding our fear of all that is so n

V is for the vitality you show each day

W is for every wonderment you bring our way

X is for the extra special teacher we see

Y is for our sense of yearning to be, and

Z is for the big "yahoo" sent from your very own "zoo"!

The Creation of Teachers

While the Good Lord was creating teachers, He was into His sixth day of 'overtime' when the angel appeared and said, "You're doing a lot of fiddling around with this one."

And the Lord said, "Have you read the specs on this order?

He has to:

stand above all his students, yet be on their level, be able to do 180 other things not connected with the subject he teaches, run on coffee, cokes, and leftovers, communicate vital knowledge to thousands of students daily, and be right, have as much, and sometimes more, time for his job as he does for himself, have a smile that can endure everything from practical jokes to pay cuts, go on teaching when parents question his every move and the administration doesn't understand, and have six pairs of hands.

The angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands...not possible."

"It's not the hands that are causing me problems," said the Lord. "It's the three pairs of eyes that teachers have to have."

"That's on the standard model?" asked the angel.

The Lord nodded. "One pair that can see a student for what he is and not what society has labeled him. Another pair must be in the back of his head, to see what he shouldn't, but what he has to know. Of course, the ones here in front can look at a child when he goofs up and reflect, "I understand and I still believe in you." without so much as uttering a word."

"Lord," said the angel, touching His sleeve gently, "Come to bed. Tomorrow..."

"I can't," said the Lord. "I'm so close to creating something so close to myself. Already I have one who comes to work when he is too sick ...can still teach a class when they don't want to learn...loves thousands of children that are not his own...and all of this in both sexes. And wait until you see my Special Ed teacher! He is truly special; he will never take anything his students do for granted."

The angel circled the model of the teacher very slowly. "It's too soft," she sighed.

"But tough," said the Lord excitedly. "You cannot imagine what this teacher can do or endure."

"Can he think?"

"Not only he can think, but he can reason and compromise."

Finally the angel bent over and ran her fingers across the cheek of the teacher. "There's a leak," she pronounced. "I told you that you were putting too much into this model. You can't imagine the stress factor."

The Lord moved in for a closer look and gently lifted the drop of moisture to His finger where it glistened and sparkled in the light.

"It's not a leak," He said. "It's a tear."

"A tear?" asked the angel. "What's it for?"

"It's for joy, sadness, disappointment, compassion, pain, loneliness, and pride."

"You are a genius," said the angel.

The Lord looked somber. "I didn't put it there."