****I wrote this two years ago and choose to repost it in honor of my dear teaching friends!  Hang in there!  Only one more day for some, or maybe three!

Teaching and Christmas is like…..

….. putting mustard on a peanut butter sandwich.

It doesn’t mix well.

Year after year the day we came back from Thanksgiving weekend, it began.

The chore of trying to make the students concentrate on learning rather than Christmas, cookies, trees, toys and Santa. And I used to think their sleep patterns were bad throughout the year? Try the week before Christmas.

Lack of sleep does not equal a healthy learning environment. Ever.

And the desire to let them enjoy themselves always clashed with the need to teach. So many times our lessons needed to be planned around the Christmas theme. Unfortunately, it became increasingly difficult with all the federal, state and locally mandated items. This made me sad.

So what is a teacher to do?

MY sage ADVICE~

~Hang on.
~Break is coming.
~Do your best.
~Try not to stress.
~You are awesome and doing the best you can do.
~Do what is best for your class, and try to give yourself time to breathe.
THEN
~Enjoy your well deserved break.

Unlike some members of society, I know that you don’t go home at 3:40pm everyday, take 3 months in the summer to lay on the beach, and get paid for not working. I know that you spend your own money by the boat loads, take work home with you every night or stay at school until 6, or even go back. I know that you cry over some of your kids’ home lives and pray for them all daily. I know that you are spent, wiped out, frazzled, stressed….all the while trying to keep it together to take care of your own family.

YOU are incredible my teaching friends.

Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise.

Enjoy these next couple of weeks….don’t worry….some kind of testing practice will be waiting for you when you get back, as will RtI meetings, progress monitoring, IEP conferences…etc. (I always worked on IEPs during break.)  

Sorry…just speaking the truth friends.

Now go ahead…eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, with a cup of coffee….and lots of chocolate!

Love you all!

~Be Encouraged Today~

Tammy