Take time to...

Today was an open house at my school, which is a private school which has suffered, in part, because of the troubles in the economy. I've been crazy-busy of late, but, like all the staff, I was asked to take a turn giving tours.

I ended up giving one tour to two very lively visitors and a former student of mine, presently a senior and a student tour guide at our school. We spent much of our time in the Upper Elementary part of our school, which follows a Montessori curriculum. I might mention at this point that I am Montessori trained myself, and taught in the same room we visited today for seven years before moving on to Middle School.

It was a marvelous thing to see - lots of students working independently, the visitors very impressed, and teachers giving individual lessons. It reminded me why I went into teaching in the first place. And, although we don't have all the cool-looking materials, much of the Middle and Upper School, although not Montessori, hews to the same idea of 'follow the child.'

I haven't gotten out of my own crazy-busy routine since school began, but it was an encouraging thing to see other areas of the school. It didn't hurt that we had the most families visit us during this open house that we've had in some time.

So, if you're working in a place where you like to work, my suggestion is to get out to areas of your school you haven't seen for a while. It just might remind you why you came to your school or to teaching in the first place.