Slice of Life Tuesday: Sharing What We Love to Do

Do you ever experience brain freeze as you consider what topic you have to share on Slice of Life Tuesday? I confess that I do! This morning inspiration came from an unexpected source—the little box (pictured above) with the Stampin’ Up! motto on it that I have propped up on my desk next to me.

Anyone who visits my blog quickly realizes that I LOVE to make things with paper: cards, treat bags, boxes, small books—even miniature fairy houses for my grandkids. I enjoy the entire process: planning, assembling, giving to others, and then sharing pictures on my blog. The last step of sharing with others what I’ve learned and created brings me joy and motivates me to create even more.

As I was rereading that motto this morning, it dawned on me that it also expresses what motivated me to stay in the classroom for 26 years and then work with language arts teachers for another six years.

We teachers love reading and writing, really all forms of communication. We love discovering what other writers have to say and then discussing it with our peers and our students. We enter our classrooms most every day eager to help our students learn to enjoy reading and express their ideas and creativity through their written words for these are some of life’s most worthwhile accomplishments. We work to find ways for our students to share these accomplishments by way of the author’s chair, presentations, bulletin boards, class anthologies, and blogs because we know that the sharing many times makes the difference and motivates our students to see their efforts as worthwhile accomplishments.

To those of you still in the classroom, Thank You! I know how discouraging it has to be to know that you are doing some of our country’s most important work for pay that qualifies many of you as the working poor. As we all keep working toward better pay, work to retain the love for what you do. You are making a difference and changing lives every day in your classroom.