National Teacher's Day Celebrating

Today is National Teacher's Day.

There are about a million reasons to celebrate, but I will keep my list shorter than that.

I am celebrating:

*dedicated teachers who arrive early and stay late
*copy machines that work and rarely jam
*a library full of books (that are checked out often)
*school cooks who make a special staff meal on Fridays and deliver ice cream to our rooms to celebrate us (yesterday's fun!)
*Expo markers and whiteboards, even though I miss my good old fashioned chalkboards
*carts of computers and iPads that get a daily workout
*elastic bladders that are trained to wait until the bell and can make a bathroom trip in under 4 minutes
*comfortable shoes and clothes with pockets
*gum, mints, and Lemonheads to get me through the day
*blue jean Fridays
*coaches and sponsors who put in extra time outside of the classroom with students
*and students, lots and lots of students
     *students who try and students who don't
     *students who love learning and those who fight it every step of the way
     *students who make us proud and those that break our hearts
     *students who follow every rule and those who...don't
     *students of every shape, ability, and attitude who fill my classroom with chatter and laughter--
                did I mention complaining? Yes, there is that, too.
*mainly, I am celebrating the end of school year number 37

And that explains the gray hair.