Awesome Moments

Recently my daughter’s teacher let me borrow The Book of Awesome.  As a hopeless optimist, I found it a very entertaining read.  If you've never read it, the book is an adaptation of the author’s blog about the little, ordinary joys of life that we take for granted.  So after going through all those “awesome” entries, I was prompted to think about all those little pleasures in my own life as a wife, mom and educator.  Here are a few in random order:

• Reading aloud with my 6th grader.  Regardless of who's reading, it just brings me back to when she was a sweet little kindergartener.  
• A student's aha moment.  It's a way of being thanked for all I do.
• My ESL students exiting LEP status.  While I love having them in my class, the huge smile on their face when they learn they have achieved proficiency scores on their ACCESS test is truly awesome.  
• An administrator drops in at the best possible moment when your lesson is going exactly as planned and students are responding beautifully.  
• A Friday afternoon when you can leave school with all planning, grading and copies done for the following week, leaving you free to enjoy the weekend with family and friends.  Rare but totally awesome.
• Receiving positive news about my own children.  Whether it’s about behavior or academics, a teacher always wants her own children to be the "good" students.
• A parent’s reaction when you make a positive call home, especially when they don't usually hear good things about their child from teachers.  
• A cancelled faculty meeting.  It’s awesome to have some extra time to get work done in your classroom.
• Finding clothes in your closet that you forgot you had, still fit and are still in style.  It’s like having gone shopping but not spending a dime.  For a teacher on a budget, this is really awesome.
• Date night with my hubby on a Friday night, after a long, stressful week. Totally awesome!
• Social media notifications. Let’s admit it, it’s nice to know that someone is reading our posts and likes them, shares them, retweets them or marks them as a favorite. 

I’m sure I can come up with many more.  The book is going back to its owner tomorrow morning, but it made me reflect on all those little moments that add up and make my life truly AWESOME! 

#BestYearEver