A Better Teacher

You have to be careful when you pray!

I think God has a strange sense of humor. Sometimes when you pray for certain things, he likes to completely flip your world upside down in relation to whatever you pray about. For example, if you pray for your marriage, he gives you something to fight about! Or if you pray for patience, he will give you the most frustrating day of your life...full of ways to test that patience!

I have been praying for one thing in particular over the past few months. God, please make me a better teacher! This last week He has made something very clear to me: Either I need to completely change the way I do my job or I need to find a new one.

When I get up in the mornings, I am usually happy to go to work. I figured I am lucky because I have had jobs that make me dread getting out of bed. I would rather be at home with my children, but financially my working is a must-do for our family.

But am I an effective teacher? I love my students. I love talking to them about their lives and listening to their problems. But does that make me a good teacher? A good counselor, maybe. But not a good teacher. I love Texas History. I find it very interesting. But hard as I try, I can't seem to get my students as excited as I am about it.

I guess I am just discouraged. I have many very challenging students this year and I think there are a few other teachers that are also feeling worn out...and it is only November!

As I explore my options, please keep me in your prayers. Starting this next week, I am going to try to do my job completely differently. My students may not like the changes, but hopefully they will learn more in my classroom.

God, you have my attention. Please help me to make the changes I need to make in my classroom and to be an effective teacher for my students.