On my way to work this morning, I was thinking about you—about how you make a difference in your students’ lives each day. Wow. I drive by two elementary schools on my short commute, and I often find myself imagining students’ arrival in each classroom.

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And happy new year! I can’t believe it is actually 2010. Like many of you, yesterday was my first day back to work after a short vacation. For me, it was a conflicting day. While I was eager to get back to work, getting out of bed was very hard to do. Even my dog---my trusty backup alarm---was perfectly content to keep snoozing.

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I’m hunched over a grid, sweat furrows my brow, and my brain aches with the agony of indecision. What could possibly be causing this intense stress and concentration? Why, I’m trying to decide what themes to put in next year’s issues of The Mailbox® magazine preschool edition! I’m only making the process sound stressful to garner your sympathy. I actually enjoy it very much.

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I commuted to work in the driving rain yesterday morning, and when I arrived at the office, I found out that we didn't have any power. There were no lights, no heat, no computers. We were left with nothing but pencils and paper. It reminded me of many days in the classroom.

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It seems as though everywhere I go these days, I see tissues and hand sanitizer. In fact, at a recent dinner, a friend offered me a squirt of hand sanitizer. She didn’t even have to open her purse: the sanitizer was connected to her purse by a small cord. I couldn’t believe it—there is a special purse attachment just for combating the nasty germs that are going around! How convenient!

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I love routine. I love to follow the same schedule, eat the same foods, and even drive the same route to work every day. Other than my love for working with children, I think that's one of the things that helped me most in the classroom. A lot of children thrive in an atmosphere of routine, of knowing what to expect.

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Because my dad was in the air force for 30 years, I changed schools many times. Being the new kid was always a challenge, but I was fortunate to have friendly, understanding teachers to make me feel welcome and help me find my way. And, because my family usually lived on or near a base, there were a lot of other students who understood how I felt.

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When I was teaching, our district set aside one week in the fall and in early spring for parent-teacher conferences. During those weeks, we taught in the mornings and met with parents in the afternoons. Before each conference session, I set two chairs and a small table or desk outside my door. Despite careful scheduling, [...]

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During a recent conversation with my brother, he mentioned that he was in charge of getting my third-grade niece, Carly, to school by 9:00 the next day. Since I’m settled at my desk by 7:30 most days, 9:00 seemed like a late start to me. But then, thinking about my teaching days, my start times definitely varied.

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As I drove to work one day last week, I passed an elementary school with a sign out front signaling that open house was scheduled for that afternoon. It caught me by surprise because school has not yet started here. I always thought of open house taking place a few weeks into the school year.

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