Attitude

This last spring semester I had the opportunity to teach a group of middle school students as part of on after school program.  I had often heard that middle school is the hardest age to teach, but I had never experienced that challenge.  Throughout the semester I had good days and I had bad days.  Sometimes the students just got on my nerves to no end, and some days they gave me the best hour of the day.  The teacher whose room I used had a habit of putting up quotes on his whiteboard everyday.  This quote really spoke to me as I was teaching these blooming young minds.

Many days, it was hard teaching this group of students.  Looking back, it was the most challenging teaching experience I have ever had.  That's not to say I didn't learn anything, on the contrary, I  learned more about myself as a teacher than I had ever learned before.  Every day I walked into that classroom, I had a decision to make.  What was my attitude going to be for the day?  Was I going to let something that happened at college get me down?  Or was I going to brush it all off and do my best to teach my students?  It's a decision we all have to make, everyday.  We ARE in charge of our attitude.