My students rock!

I am a 1st grade teacher in South Central, and have had the same class for 2 years now (I used to be their K teacher). Up until the Landmark Forum, I viewed my job as thankless, frustrating, annoying, depressing, and every other negative word you can think of. I hated my job. My students were headaches and I felt like no aspirin could take care of the pain that I endured everyday.

That Monday morning, after my weekend forum, I went to school just like I normally do. I was happier than usual, but still not understanding what exactly I got out of my little weekend excursion. I went out to pick up my class and much to my surprise; I felt nothing but love for this great group of kids. They were so happy, cheerful, and...they were children. They were little human beings who were at school to begin their journey to adulthood. Honestly, I always had a tough time keeping in mind that they were only children. They will do childlike things and say childlike stuff. That's what 5 and 6 year olds do and for some reason, I never got that. Thankfully, I do now. We walked to our classroom and I was feeling great! I felt so good that I sat my students down in front of me to apologize for my "grumpy" behavior and promise that I won't be like that ever again. It's been an easy promise to keep. From that day on, I have been teaching my students how to take responsibility for themselves and not worry about others and what they think. Because they got it so easily and understood what it all meant, our classroom is much more relaxed and full of energy. Of course it's all a work in progress, but for the most part they instantly correct themselves with a little direction from their teacher. They love to impress me and I eat it up every time...laughing and smiling.