catching up and balancing

For those of you who keep up with my blog, 

1) Thank you for reading.  I write these posts with the hope that people will read but also with the knowledge that I'm not a professional blogger nor am I famous, so the number of people I reach could be very small.

2) I know, I'm pretty behind with my posts.  The whole Advent Photo a Day is a great idea, but between my crazy schedule and my extra challenge of taking the photo that day, I got way behind on things.  Although it's very tardy, it's still my goal to get fully caught up.  Eventually.

And now, a brief thought on my existence as a teacher.

Balancing incredibly strict regimental structure with creativity and grace is one of my biggest struggles as a teacher. It's important to maintain control of the classroom, but it's equally important for my students (and me) to have fun.

I hope tomorrow's balancing experiment works, or (in the words of my mother) I may have to start looking for grey hairs pretty soon.

blessed are the merciful, 
for they will receive mercy.
[matthew 5:7]