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Having a Bad Day? Not feeling too well? Suck it up!

Hello all,

Nice title, huh?

Let me explain.

I was talking to a friend of mine who has a daughter enrolled in my school. The daughter is not one of my students, but she attends the same school on another track.

My friend was telling me about one of her daughter’s teachers who she’s a little upset with. When I asked why, she told me that this teacher has the habit of coming into class in a bad mood or not feeling well, and she’ll tell the students, “I’m not in a good mood today, so just do some homework or something.”

I was a little surprised to hear that one of the teachers at my school would do this often.

It more than surprised me; it kind of upset me.

We all have bad days. We all come in not feeling our best. Maybe we’re under the weather or perhaps we’ve just had an argument with our spouse or maybe we’re tired from a rough night.

I’ve had bad days. I’m just recovering from a bad cold that I should have taken a day off for, but I didn’t.

It’s normal to have bad days.

What bothers me is that in the case of this teacher, the students are having to suffer along with the her. Why?

I would like to encourage new teachers out there who are reading this to not let your students suffer because of what you’re suffering through.

Suck it up.

Suck it up for the kids’ sake.

We need to make sure that each day that the students are in our classroom is a day where they are learning, receiving, growing, being enriched. We need to make each day a day of value for our students.

We need to do our best for the kids. The students shouldn’t know that we’re having a bad day. They should see a teacher who is excited about the subject, excited about learning, excited about what the student will take from the class.

We need to ask ourselves, “Did my students leave my class with something of value today? Did my students leave my class smarter? Did my students leave my class wanting to come back?”

Can you imagine if we did this in the business world?

“Hey boss, I’m having a bad day. Don’t expect anything from me.”

We wouldn’t last too long at that job.

Why is teaching any different?

Our students come into our classes expecting to learn something new each day. It’s our job to make sure they get a quality education – every day, not just on those days we feel good.

So to all you new teachers out there, having a bad day?

Suck it up and teach.

The kids deserve our best.

Thanks,

Sam

Photo by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/photographerwannabe/

2 Comments

  1. March 2, 2011    

    Suck it up buttercup!!! What are we teaching kids?

    • Sam's Gravatar Sam
      March 3, 2011    

      Now that’s a good title for a post – “Suck it up buttercup!!!” Thanks Elona.
      Sam

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