Teaching Excitement

I started out the day with the usual 'manage mop up' tasks. When my e-mails got to be endless I decided to walk around the halls and see which teachers had come in (non-contract dedication) to work in their classrooms. I have always been proud of the teachers in the district who work all summer long on curriculum, classroom environment, and even cleaning. I was invited into a classroom by a teacher who had been busy working on bulletin boards and organizing. Her class next year will be larger than usual and suspected to be very energetic. She explained several classes she had taken during the summer that she took just to target curricular and behavioral needs that would increase student learning. She explained that the behavioral system she used seemed to stress the punitive and she and her team teacher wanted a more positive based approach. As she continued to explain her changes for the year and also how the students motivated her to learn more , I just wanted to yell , WOW! This is what education is all about. This is professionalism. This is intrinsic motivation. This is a life long learner!!! This is just an example of what I witness with the staff up and down the halls. Students start in a week but the opportunity to learn has started !!! Thank you staff!!!