Day 518 -- A Little Appreciation

This week has not been especially kind to us teachers.  It's been the seniors' last days and we have put up with pranks, interruptions, last minute grade verifications, and the like.  I have had seniors in my room every day freaking out about something or another, dropping off books in the middle of my other classes, and demanding to have things graded right away so they will know how their grades are effected (seriously).  It's been an exhausting, irritating, thankless week.

This morning, within 10 seconds of sitting down at my computer, I heard a knock on my door.  I sighed heavily as I imagined a student needing help with something or needing to make-up something they missed.  I was surprised to see next year's student council president standing at the door with a pot of beautiful white tulips.  She came in and said that she just wanted to show me how much she appreciated me helping with student council this year.  She gave me a hug and left.

I thought that made my morning, but it got even better.  The girls' varsity softball coach asked for each member of her team to write a thank you card to someone at school that they appreciated.  I got two very nice notes from softball players today, each expressing gratitude for the things I do as a teacher. 

In the middle of this crazy week, I can't tell you how much it meant to feel this appreciation.

Thank God for a little appreciation!

God, thank you for a little encouragement when I really needed it today.  Thank you for helping me through a very difficult week.  In your name I pray, Amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 162 -- "Showing Us the Way"

Image
One of my favorite things about the spring is the baccalaureate celebration that takes place the week before graduation.  I love the chance to see my seniors in their caps and gowns and to praise God for their arrival to the finish line.  For every year since I can remember, I've listened to Western's Select Choir perform the song "Showing Us the Way" by Michael V. Ficocelli.  When I was a senior, I even got to sing it at my own baccalaureate.  That year, and every year since I have taught at Western, I get choked up listening to the perfectly fitting lyrics of this song.  Tonight, on a perfect evening at the Cascades Falls, tears ran down my face as I watched the seniors I taught sing the words of this song to their classmates, parents, teachers, and friends.  I smiled and cried a little more as I realized that someday there's a good chance I'll be watching my own kids sing it at their baccalaureate. I had to share it with you.  This isn't Western's...
Read more

Day 80 -- Calvin and Hobbes

Image
When I was in junior high and high school, I used to read the anthologies of several comic strips, including Garfield, Fox Trot, The Far Side, and Calvin and Hobbes.  I remember reading them by the light of my bedside lamp, trying to stifle my giggles so that my parents wouldn't come bust me for staying up too late reading (the horror!). Calvin and Hobbes, especially, resonated with my sense of humor.  I found the strip simultaneously witty, funny, thought-provoking and perceptive.  I collected all of the anthologies, but somewhere between then and now, I either lost them or gave them away.  I told my husband about my tendency to read them from cover to cover, and how I was sad that I no longer had them.  Not too surprisingly, for Christmas, I received The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book from Santa. I have been slowly working my way through the book, and tonight I was reminded of Calvin's finicky eating habits and of his gift fo...
Read more

We Dance...and We Sing...When We Play the Drum!

Let it be known that my son gets his money's worth out of his toys. Or, in this case, someone else's money's worth. Whatever. You know what I mean. The toys that he likes, he really, really likes. He uses them a lot for a long time. This particular toy is a drum that was given to him by our friends, The Tappans, at his FIRST birthday party. Needless to say, tonight he was REALLY enjoying his gift.
Read more