Thanks (20 little moments of gratitude)

As a person whose job is to support teachers and to promote and enhance learning for students, I have many things to be thankful for. As Thanksgiving approaches, I want to be mindful of those things and name them. At a time like this when the world around us seems turbulent, remembering the reasons we are grateful seems particularly appropriate.

1. I am thankful for the teachers who and professors who believed in me, nurtured the best in me, helped me see possibilities I didn’t know existed within myself, and modeled for me that “Conveyor of Knowledge” is the least important job of  any educator.
2. I am thankful for time to rest, reset, reflect, and reconnect with my pillow and my Netflix account because attempting to do good and make a difference is hard work.  
3. I am thankful for classrooms that are safe places for students to take risks and to be themselves.
4. I am thankful for teachers (and teams) who thoughtfully plan with student needs in mind and remain solution-oriented, when complaining and making excuses would be much easier.
5. I am thankful for difficult students because without challenges, we would never grow.
6. I am thankful for receptionists, office personnel, counselors, nurses, custodians, paraprofessionals, cafeteria workers, and the other vital members of the school team who work tirelessly to make sure school runs smoothly so teachers can focus on the important work of teaching.   
7. I am thankful for professional learning, which helps us understand the “why” behind the “what” and provides us with the “how” to make it all happen.
8. I am thankful for vowels bcs wrtng wld b cnfsng wtht thm.  
9. I am thankful for school librarians who foster a love of literacy, put the right books in the right students’ hands, and teach students to find things in an increasingly messy world of information.
10. I am thankful for administrators who provide the resources, the time, the support, and the vision to help their teachers transform lives.
11. I am thankful that I live in a country that denies education to no child and that our schools reflect the full spectrum of our population.
12. I am thankful for second and third chances because we don’t always get it right on the first attempt and some of us take longer than others.
13. I am thankful for teachers who realize that most of the time they need to shut up and let their students do the talking.
14. I am thankful for visionary leaders at whatever level who make decisions from the heart as well as the head and keep the best interests of students in mind.
15. I am thankful for educators who make their students do the heavy lifting but remain nearby to encourage them and swoop in to support them if they falter.  
16. My gratitude also goes to those who, like this sentence, don’t conform to the conventional patterns set by society. May they find a place, too.  
17. I am happy for reflective practitioners who look back on each day and ask themselves, “How did that go, and how can I improve?”
18. I am thankful for students, administrators, teachers, and anyone else who keeps going even when it seems difficult because we won’t get where we want to be without some bumps in the road (and perhaps a few wrong turns and detours).  
19. I am thankful for the opportunities an education provides for me and for the students I have taught.
20. I am thankful for students who remind us every day why we do what we do.