time to recharge?

Every now and then, my passion meter gets close to zero. Near the middle of the second semester it can get very low. I use different things to keep me going during the school year. Sometimes I pull out a box of chocolates, buy a pair of shoes or watch “Ferris Bueller’s Day off”. They put a smile on my face and get me through the rough spots of a school year. But by March, the long gloomy winter months just get to me and all I can think is "JUNE". However, there is one thing that never fails to recharge my passion bar; my yearly hiking trip with the students! Some say it’s a punishment to go on a holiday with a group of teenagers, and at moments it does feel like it. However, away from the school desk with no ability to charge your computer (thank goodness they haven’t invented chargers in trees yet) I end up talking to students as people, not as students who must learn something. Result is astonishing, they actually learn something. In some small tiny way, they learn to be young adults. And that is enough to spark a boost of energy which makes me come back for another year.  As teachers, we are so busy inspiring the little bodies in the desks, we forget to keep the fires burning within for ourselves. And hence, today as we move into the semi- “spring-ish” month of March and I still have two more months before the trip I just need to check my passion meter – as it just might need a fill up… and today a chocolate bar will do just fine.