If you and I share that meaningful bond of being Facebook Friends, you may have noticed over the past month that I've been posting brief stories on my timeline under the heading of "Today's Moment of 5th Grade Zen."
This is something of a reference to Jon Stewart's Moment of Zen at the end of each episode of "The Daily Show," when they show a short video clip of something that ranges from the comical to the comically absurd to the head-shakingly ridiculous. As anyone who has spent any real amount of time in an elementary school can tell you, we experience several comical little moments throughout a typical day, and some of them are just so entertaining they demand to be shared. My 5th Grade Zen posts are only brief celebrations of the some of the moments that can make teaching so rewarding and enjoyable.
There are a lot of things about working in education that can be frustrating and overwhelming. But I would imagine there aren't many professions out there that can provide as many touching and hilarious moments as teaching does. For all the pros and cons that come with my job, I know how lucky I am to live inside of that world. Here's hoping these occasional posts will help people on the outside understand why, and remind people on the inside of why we do it.
