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Teaching is stressful. Teaching is tough. Sometimes, it is difficult to be thankful for anything in your elementary music job.

And that is why it is important to be thankful in you elementary music job.

Yes, teaching is stressful and tough, but it is also fun and rewarding.

With Thanksgiving coming up, I decided that I needed to really think about that I am thankful for in my elementary music job. I find it easy to be thankful in other areas of my life, but in my job it is more challenging.

Today I am fighting the urge to join in with the Debby-downers that plague most schools and am trying to be positive and have some fun! That is why I am talking about a fun Thanksgiving quiz to take your mind off of the craziness of the next few days!

Also: Positive Management Strategies for When You Don’t Feel Positive

Before we get into what I am thankful for, SC Johnson has created a fun quiz to see how well you know Thanksgiving. Sign up and take it here and find out how well you know the Holiday! It is even more appealing thank Thanksgiving turkey when you find out that they are giving prizes– three people a day will get a $5 MasterCard when you take the quiz and upload a receipt with one of their products. Now until Nov. 30, 2017!

PS, this is a sponsored advertisement, and I will receive commission for everyone who does it. So everyone should and help support Becca’s Music Room! Thanks!

How many of these things are you thankful for?

Consistently good classes

As teachers, we sometimes get bogged down with the difficult classes. The ones we dread all week-long. I, personally, have a few of those. Three to be exact.

But I have a number of classes that I truly enjoy. I have about nine classes that I can count on to do a good job.

Nine good classes and three not so good? That is a pretty good ratio!

The rest of them fall somewhere in the middle. Not consistently good, not consistently bad, but a mixture of those.

Not enough good classes to be thankful? Check out classroom management posts here and here.

Fun lessons

Let’s face it—elementary music is fun!

I am so thankful that I do not have to be the one to teach kids to read or do math. I am not in charge of their standardized testing. I am not in charge of testing all of the time.

And I am so thankful. In my classroom, I avoid the word “test”. Even though I test the students, I don’t tell them. I tell them that we are going to color or take a survey. I do most tests through observation, because they get tested so much.

All of that to say—my lessons get to be fun. I literally spend my day playing games, singing songs, playing instruments, and dancing with scarves. I teach kids really important musical, social, and academic concept while doing so, but I get to have so much fun!

And I am thankful that I get to have fun with kids all day instead of having a boring job where I sit around all day.

Check out my animal form lesson here and my rhythm lesson here.

Really sweet kids

Some of my kids drive me nuts, and if they were to transfer tomorrow, I would do a happy dance.

But a lot of my kids are really sweet! They love to see me and love music.

If I ever feel like they are all brats and I can’t stand them, I go walk down the kindergarten hallway. And immediately there are a million adorable little faces waving at me with all their might say, “Hi music lady!”

I have a lot of sweet kids. And I am so thankful for them. Even as I write this, I can see their little faces in my head.

And some of those sweet little kids grow up to be wonderful people.

You can read about one of my sweet kids at the end of this post about ways to destress after a long day of teaching.

Extended breaks

Though it is not the reason that I picked teaching, having summers, weekends, and holidays off is very nice. It doesn’t make or break my job, but I am very thankful for it.

This is especially good if you have kids, which I do not. But one day, when I do, I will appreciate having all of the extra time with them!

Need ideas for ways to destress during break? Check out this post to help you out!

Although teaching is stressful and tough, I really enjoy it. I am thankful for that.

To help it be less stressful, when I have a quote from a kid or a touching moment, I write it down in a journal. when I am struggling to get out of bed, a kid just cussed me out, or I feel like I want to quite, I go back and read that journal. It reminds me that not all days are bad. Not all kids hate you. Not all classes make me want to pull my hair out.

It reminds me why I started teaching I the first place. What drew me to it, what keeps me going on a day-to-day basis.

Here’s a hint– it’s not the kid that cussed me out– even though he did apologize. It’s the kid that is just so excited for music that he cannot WAIT until Friday.

I am very thankful for that kid.

I am also thankful that I have five days in which I do not have to see or correct any of these children. And I am thankful that when break is over, I will be happy to see them again.

Head on over to the Thanksgiving quiz and let us know in the comments how well you scored!

What are you thankful for with your teaching job? Did I miss something? Let me know in the comments!

Happy Thanksgiving!