It’s technically summer break. Time for relaxing by the pool, going to the beach, sleeping in…so why am I still waking up at 3:00am with lesson plan ideas and resources for units? It’s teaching isn’t something you can turn off. Teaching isn’t a job; teacher is an unshakeable identity that follows you to the grocery store, to the gym, to the movies and yes even to the recycling center.
My students are always shocked when they see me outside of the classroom. They are shocked that I don’t live at school and that I actually do have a real life. I knew this was part of the gig going into teaching. I knew that I was going to be “on” even after the dismissal bell rang. I knew that I was going to have to answer emails and grade papers and even dream teacher dreams. And I love it!
It’s a calling that is frustrating, exhausting and often teary, but a calling where I know without a shadow of a doubt that I am doing what I was created to do. In reflecting on only four years in the classroom, I realize that this actualization, this purpose-filled life is what other people are searching for. So often I get criticized or critiqued from others who don’t feel fulfilled. They try to bring me down and knock me off course, and at times they succeed; but only for a moment. When you’ve found that passion, that calling, that thing you know with absolute certainty that you were created to do, it eeks out of you like cherry pie filling after the first piece is cut. You can’t keep it in and you can’t not share it with others. So try if you want to deter me, but I will get back up more determined and leaking more passion than before.