Day 253- Picture Day
"Sit up straight and smile big, honey!"
With that, my day was off and away. The photographer let me see my picture right away and asked me if it I liked it or if I'd like to try again. I assured her that it was probably the best we would get, waited for my ID to print (the key to many teacher clothing discounts!), and carried on my merry way.
I will be forever immortalized in this year's yearbook just the way I am... a few drops of awkward with a touch of twinkle in the eye. As cheesy as it sounds, the whole thing just made me think about how I am in a job where how I look in this photo is probably about the least significant thing. Sure, I still fuss over what I want to wear in the morning, and I still brush my hair (most days, not all). However, I don't keep a mirror in my classroom, and none of that ends up really mattering anyway once my students and I are working to achieve something together.
I try to live each and every day inside out.
When students look at that picture smiling back at them from the yearbook, me with my classic someone-hit-her-in-the-head-but-she's-still-grinning-like-a-fool look, I hope that they will remember all of the days they spent in my room with me smiling back at them. I hope it will trigger memories of a place they could go every day to escape some of the turbulence of adolescence, a place where someone liked them and made them feel safe and taught them a thing or two. I hope they'll remember encouraging words and fist bumps/high fives/whatever it was that I was "giving away for free" on their way out the door. And yes, of course, I hope they'll remember how to read and write and think for themselves and that they will thank me in their acceptance speeches.
It is so nice to be in a job where I am valued just for being myself and sharing what I've got... even if what I've got shows up a little funny in a photo.
Thank you, picture day, you made my day.
With that, my day was off and away. The photographer let me see my picture right away and asked me if it I liked it or if I'd like to try again. I assured her that it was probably the best we would get, waited for my ID to print (the key to many teacher clothing discounts!), and carried on my merry way.
I will be forever immortalized in this year's yearbook just the way I am... a few drops of awkward with a touch of twinkle in the eye. As cheesy as it sounds, the whole thing just made me think about how I am in a job where how I look in this photo is probably about the least significant thing. Sure, I still fuss over what I want to wear in the morning, and I still brush my hair (most days, not all). However, I don't keep a mirror in my classroom, and none of that ends up really mattering anyway once my students and I are working to achieve something together.
I try to live each and every day inside out.
When students look at that picture smiling back at them from the yearbook, me with my classic someone-hit-her-in-the-head-but-she's-still-grinning-like-a-fool look, I hope that they will remember all of the days they spent in my room with me smiling back at them. I hope it will trigger memories of a place they could go every day to escape some of the turbulence of adolescence, a place where someone liked them and made them feel safe and taught them a thing or two. I hope they'll remember encouraging words and fist bumps/high fives/whatever it was that I was "giving away for free" on their way out the door. And yes, of course, I hope they'll remember how to read and write and think for themselves and that they will thank me in their acceptance speeches.
It is so nice to be in a job where I am valued just for being myself and sharing what I've got... even if what I've got shows up a little funny in a photo.
Thank you, picture day, you made my day.
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