“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” 
― William Arthur Ward

Over the past few weeks I’ve had the opportunity to visit multiple schools across Oklahoma.  Each school had a different atmosphere, different style of teaching and numerous children in various stages of life.  But, OMG, the biggest difference was the front office location! LOL. I think I circled every school at least once before figuring out which door to enter. I’m surprised no one called the cops on the crazy lady casing the school!

I was homeschooled until the 10th grade, so walking the halls of an elementary school was a new experience.  How did these kids find their way around? I just had to make my way from my bedroom to the living room every morning for class.  These kids have to get on a bus, get into the school (we’ve already discussed how challenging that can be), find their classroom and worry about who they are going to be friends with that day.  Whew!

During the readings, I love watching how excited the kids would get.  So excited, in fact, they would start yelling out answers to questions and raising hands left and right.  When I asked if anyone had any questions at the end of the reading, hands shot up, I would call on someone and they would say “I had a dog that was sick this one time and…”.  Lol. Ummm…. and your question is...?

My biggest take away from this week was the amount of patience that teachers have.  It is pretty unbelievable.  Many of the teachers that I met showed so much compassion, patience, understanding and love toward their students.  Even to the more…er…challenging ones. 

Teachers MUST have a big heart.  I feel teachers, in a way, are somewhat like veterinarians. We go to work every day ready to tackle whatever may come our way.  Sometimes though, we have that one patient or that one student that gives us fits and brings our spirits down.  These students or even those cases can deflate you and discourage you.  But, the next day we get back up and do it all over again. Why? Because we LOVE what we do.  AND I know that God plays a huge role in being able to get me over those hurdles.

What a great opportunity to be a mentor, be that light, encourage a child, help develop their thirst for knowledge and inspire them to go after their dreams.   I know I am only playing a small role in that capacity at this point, but I hope I can continue to inspire children - through my books - to be whatever they want to be. Like a veterinarian. :)

If you are a teacher, thank you for what you do.  I know it can be challenging and frustrating some days, but you are making a real difference in those children’s lives whether it feels like it or not. 

If you know a teacher, you should really give them a GREAT big hug today. They totally deserve it.

I can’t wait to visit more schools! If you’d like Rosie and me to visit your school, contact me here.