In a million words or less....

why I love my job, even on the crummy days:

-My job is never ever boring.
-I love seeing the light bulb moments that my students have
-My co-workers ROCK!
-I like kids.
-I like watching my students grow and change in the 9 months I have them
-I like being in control. I can decide what I teach and when, I can decide if I want to stay late or if I want to take work home, I can drop all plans and change my mind at the drop of a hat. (there aren't many careers where you can do all that).
-I get to work with books. I LOVE books.
-I 100% believe that teaching is what I was born to do and that the big guy upstairs really does have a plan for my life.
-I love acting, my classroom is my life's stage and in the course of a single day I can get boo-ed or applauded based on my performance. I am truly a performer.
-I love to mess with kids heads.
-I like that I play many roles in the lives of my students: teacher, comedian, cheerleader, confidant, coach
-I love, love, love when my students reach success, no matter how small, I feel proud of them, and proud of me too!
-I'm sorta, a little bit, good at this gig.
-I'm a nerd, I enjoy sharing with my kids a LOVE of learning
-Every so often I have a student who is excited about a good book. This makes me elated. I feel like dancing. (Sometimes I do).
-I love listening to kids' ideas, and seeing how their minds work. They are cool people.
-I feel smarter every day. I learn stuff too. This is a neat perk.
-ummm....don't tell my boss, but I get paid to play and hang out with kids all day long, every day.
-I get Christmas cards from former students. I got a letter this year from a college freshman telling me how thankful he was that I taught him how to write a good paper. I cried. It's all worth it.
-I like to read. Sometimes we spend WHOLE DAYS reading in my classroom. Nice.
-Kids are hilarious. There's humor in every moment.
-I get a real sense of accomplishment when a lesson I have planned, and prepped, and slaved over goes REALLY well.
-I get all holidays off to spend time with my family. This is fantastic.
-I like being able to interact with my students who are generally, mostly, good and try to do what I ask of them.
-I feel happy when I make a connection with a kid who is otherwise intolerable with other teachers but who works his butt off in my class.
-I like an excuse to wear high heels once and a while.
-I'm a writer by nature, I like to show my students how and why to write.
-I love to feed upon my students' energy. They have alot.
-I enjoy embarrassing and otherwise finding ways to irritate my students.
-I like candy. So do my students. Its a great relationship.

There are more. But I have papers to grade.