Why I Teach...

Today's post will have no freebies, no pictures, no teaching ideas instead it contains the very reason why I became a special education teacher.
Today we took all of the fourth graders on a great field trip to see War Horse at the KY Horse Park. The program was amazing. The best part came though after the program and after lunch when the kids were playing at a nearby park before heading back to school. One of my friends has some very challenging physical disabilities. She has no arms from the elbow down and no legs from the knee down. She does have prosthetics that she got this year. While we were at the park she asked if she could swing on the swings. Of course I said yes and helped her over to them. Once she was on the swing she told me that she had never been in a "real" swing before!!! The smile on her face while she sat so confidently in that swing could brighten up even the dullest day!!! Beautiful!
There are times when I question why I went into a career that has so many challenges and then God shows me why! The smile of a child (a fourth grader) swinging on a real swing for the very first time...that's why I do what I do!
Amidst new standards, lesson plans, IEPs, behavior plans, and meetings the pure joy of a child can really put things back into perspective! Bless that child. She will accomplish so much!!

Mrs. H