New Crayons

One of my favorite things about teaching is the constant opportunity for new beginnings.

A new school year is about to begin and with it a new beginning.  Students are getting new clothes, new pencils, folders and notebooks.  They are excited to meet new teachers and attend new classes.  Even if it felt like last year belonged in the dumpster in Antarctica, students know they have a chance to start over.  Some students are beginning Kindergarten, stepping into school for the first time.  Some are beginning college, entering into an entirely different chapter that will launch them into their future.

Teachers have learned from the previous year and have honed their skills over the summer break.  They are ready to begin their lessons with a new set of students.  They are excited to try to make less mistakes and to take care of themselves so they don't fizzle out in October.  They know they give their heart and soul to these students, but they have to keep a bit for themselves in order to remain standing through May. Some teachers are beginning new teaching assignments.  Some simply have new students.

I daily reflect on how my classroom operates and evaluate what is working and what isn't.  A new school year opens the barn door to more opportunities than can fit under a 20 foot Christmas tree.  I get to try new strategies.  I get to teach well prepared and practiced lessons.  I get to try to make everything amazing.  I get to begin again.

The beginning of the school year is a milestone beginning, but I can start fresh any time I want.

This summer I used all my energy to become the healthiest, well-rounded person I could become.  As this new beginning comes into view I find myself excited.  I am not dreading the long, tiring days.  I am excited to be the best teacher I have ever been and to enjoy each day I get to spend with my students.  No part of my job is easy, but so much of it is enjoyable when I remember I get to inspire young people to be their best.

You don't need a new school year to have a new beginning.  A new beginning can come after a long weekend, in a new morning or simply in a moment when you decide that you will choose differently.

A new beginning is simply a choice to take all your energy and put it into the present with a dump-truck full of hope for the future.  New beginnings mark an end to the past as it tries determining who you are.  The past is essential for teaching us, showing us wrong paths and sometimes right paths.  It is helpful to those who see it and understand, but not to those who continue to live in it.  A mistake is a mistake.  A difficult day is a difficult day.  These moments do not define us.  The choices we make today, the choices we make to move us forward are the most important and precious.

I get to begin a new school year with new smiling faces eager to discover what I have for them this year.  You may not have the same opportunity as I do, but you have this moment.  You have tomorrow morning, you have next week, you have next year.  You have every second of every day.  You may snatch any second that is about to pass you by and make it your new beginning. 

Celebrate what you can do.  Celebrate what you have overcome.  It may still be difficult, you may not feel like a winner. You have already survived so much.  You have already overcome the list of setbacks life has tried to throw at you.  Look at how strong you are.  Look at what you can do.  Forget about what you can't.  Do what you are able over and over and soon, the list of things you can do will grow without you watching.