The Conference Blues

Today was day one of two of a statewide literacy conference I am attending with my colleagues. I have been so excited to gain some new strategies to use with my students in the classroom. The speakers were amazing. Too amazing, in fact! Today I walked away with what I like to call the "Conference Blues."

I started off the day all fired up but about midway through started to feel, well....bluesy. I realized that I was obviously a crappy teacher because I could never find the time in a million years to do all these wonderful things with my students! They almost lost me until....

They shared a quote: "The individual relationship between the instructor and the struggling reader is crucial to the success of the reader."

If there's one thing I've got it's that my students know how much I care about their success, their learning, and their lives. I laugh with my students, I work hard for my students, I set high expectations for my students. Most of the time, they do the same for me.

Ya know, I think this can apply to a lot of things in life. Sometimes people just need to know you care. Be there. Laugh. Cry. Dream big.

Stacey