I just finished the first round of parent-teacher conferences for this year.
They went really well. For the most part, families and children are happy at school and the children are excited about the activities I am inviting them to engage in.
An increased or new-found interest in reading and writing were high on the list, which always warms my heart as that is important to me as a teacher: we read and write all across the day as well as during workshop times.
The fact that all of the conferences were so positive has given me the energy I need to push ahead through, what has so far been, the most exhausting and challenging year I’ve ever experienced as an educator. Seeing my students’ happy faces, sans masks, was a treat in itself. It filled me with joy and reminded me why I do this job in the first place.
Yesterday was Thanksgiving in Canada. It’s a time to reflect on everything we’re grateful for and, for teachers, to rest and spend time with family. But it is also a time for me to re-energize, reflect and plan ahead.
Where a few weeks ago I was feeling defeated, I am now feeling hopeful as I gradually regain the joy I’ve been missing every time I step inside my classroom.
Cross posted to The Two Writing Teachers Tuesday Slice of Life Challenge.
Elisa Waingort 
I’m holding out hope the joy returns for me, Elisa. I have my fingers crossed! I’m thrilled for you it has. Little masked faces and so much distancing definitely is a downer.
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Hoping it does for you, too. I can do hard things, but I’d there’s no joy in doing them it makes it that much harder to keep going. Good luck!
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May you find more and more joy each day! I know being back in person with my k-2 students brings new energy to my days. Those little ones help me reconnect with my joy.
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Yes! And we all need energy this school year more than at any other time.
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This was the post I needed to read to today! Love hearing how you’re finding these wonderful moments that bring you more and more joy each day.
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Thank you, Vivian. I hope your year is full of joyful moments.
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Elisa, what a great boost to your hope and joy in teaching. I am watching so many teachers bend under the weight of the extra stress of this year, the masks, the distance, the fears, the loss of so much learning. I’m not teaching full time for the first fall, and I’m not sorry to be missing it. However, I continue to pray for all of you as you go through it. I’m so glad parent-teacher conferences were so hopeful and rejuvenating.
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Thank you, Denise. I hope your fall helps you find the joys you need for when you return to teaching full time, if you do.
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