Teacher Appreciation Week should be at the beginning of February.

Hear me out on this:

Yes, we’ve just had a break for a couple weeks, and if your school is like ours, you’ve probably had a few weather days as well.  But there’s something about this time of year, something sort of depressing.  It’s cold. It’s raining or snowing. It’s dark all the time. Everyone seems antsy and disgruntled.  I don’t know about you, but it wears me down!

I mean, the rest of the year is tough enough, right?

There are days I’m not sure if I can keep doing this job.  It’s hard.  So, so hard.

There are nights I can’t sleep because I’m stressed or overwhelmed by school or because I’m thinking about that one student who needs [fill in the blank with any number of potential things].

There are days I think these kids don’t care what we do. They don’t care that I’m working my tail off. They don’t care about what I’m trying to teach them. They don’t care that I have sleepless nights trying to figure out how to reach them.

There are days I cry at my desk.

And then there are those moments that make it worth it.

Like when you receive an email with a message like this:

This came from a sweet girl I had in Public Speaking for ONE semester. That’s all. But she reminded me that I have an impact, even when I don’t realize it (or when I just forget).

I am so thankful that our students mature and move on and that some of them look back and think, “geez, Mrs. Louden really tried to help me, I should say thanks” because where would we be without these little notes? (I also love it when they come back to visit! Or when I invite my past students to come speak to my juniors–we have so much fun catching up!)

I browse through my physical and virtual happy folders a couple times a year. I need that reminder. I need to see the evidence that even though they don’t (or at least rarely) express their appreciation while they’re in my class, many of them recognize the passion, hard work, and love I put into teaching them.

So, press on, friends through these dark and dreary days of January and February. You can do it! You do have an impact!

Struggling?

Check out this Unslump Yourself challenge from Pernille Ripp and sign up for the Phooey on February group with Besty Potash from Spark Creativity.