The small things that make a good day!

Well - just one full day of teaching to go and I've reached the first teacher 'landmark' - i.e. this time tomorrow I have a week off work for half-term hols - hurrah!  I've had a pretty depressing half of term so far with lots of changes in my school and subject area and have not had many days I can honestly say I've enjoyed.

BUT today I had a couple of those 'moments' that bring a smile to your face and make you remember what it's all about.  As usual, they came directly from the students.

I always enjoy the 'banter' with my students, especially the older ones - and as the Year 11 students have now returned from work experience, they are still full of stories about that, which is good to hear (although can distract from the lesson at hand!)  Even better, though, I had 2 of the younger students individually thanking me for my help, which was totally unexpected and extremely rewarding.  Both were from my Year 8 French class (aged 12/13) - I am in the middle of conducting speaking assessments - and one lad, who doesn't find French easy, managed to get a good mark, due to his hard work - and he thanked me for his good mark!  I was quick to tell hiim it was down to his hard work and effort - but it's still lovely to hear it and see the beaming face that accompanies it!  The 2nd was a girl from the group who didn't want to wait until after half-term to complete the test - so asked to come in at lunchtime to do it - which she did - and again, thanked me!

I often forget how far the words 'thank you' can go - it's certainly not something I hear a lot of at school - the students often just expect you to give up lunch hours and after school to help them - especially if they're panicking about GCSE exams looming, when they've done no work all year!

Anyway, despite a full teaching day and barely time to sip a coffee, I felt really pleased at the end of the day and can go away for the holidays knowing that I'm still doing a worthwhile job!

To all teachers out there - have a wonderful relaxing week :-)