10 Reasons Why I LOVE my Job!

1. I love being part time. I get to be home in the mornings to take the kids to school, and I get to come home in time to pick them up from school (at least in the case of Will. Helena gets out of school too early now, but I still am home within 1/2 an hour of her).
2. I don't have to bring home papers to grade.
3. As an Art teacher, there is no pressure to make sure I am teaching the same thing as the other teachers on my team, because I AM the team!
4. There is no end of the year test for Art, so there is no stress or pressure to make sure the kids can regurgitate what they've learned onto a bubble sheet.
5. I know my subject matter so well that I can 'wing it'. That means that any given Monday morning at 7:30 a.m. I have no idea what I am going to teach that week, but by the time I walk into my classroom at 8:30 a.m. I know exactly what I want to do and am ready to do it!
6. No matter how abused and unappreciated I get at home (living with 2 teenagers sometimes takes its toll), there are over 1,000 children at school who love me! That is sometimes overwhelming, actually... I don't like going into the cafeteria during lunch if I can help it. I get instantly mauled by dozens of grubby, sticky hugs and cries of "Mrs. Watson!" I end up doing the celebrity duck and wave, then get out of there ASAP!
7. I can literally teach whatever I want to the kids. No one checks up on me because the kids, teachers, parents, et al. are so very happy with what comes home with the kids! I guess that is because they trust me not to teach anything inappropriate or lame.
8. I truly get to spend my day playing with art supplies.
9. It is a massive ego boost to be thought of as extremely talented. I try not to let it go to my head that a room full of 6 year olds think I am the best artist in the WHOLE WORLD!
10. I get paid to do something that I find very easy and pretty darn fun!