Dear Sam,

Just read your post about being a fraud and you hit the nail on the head.  But you may not have hit the nail you were aiming at.  You a fraud?  Come on!  I have never met you but I can hear your voice with every sentence you write.  You can't fake that.

You know what I'd expect if I came to see you teach?  I'd expect to see a guy who cares about his students both in and out of class.  I'd expect to see a teacher who does his best to reach his students where they are, lift them to where they need to be and encourage them to become what they could be.  I'm pretty sure Socrates didn't have lesson plans and we're still talking about him.  All he did was ask questions. I'm pretty sure you do that too. 

Don't worry about putting your best stuff out there for all of us to see.  We all clean up the house when we have company over.  Every time you post,  you are inviting us to your classroom.  Thanks for that. 

So before you beat yourself up about not being where you want to be, remember this: None of us are!  That's the nail you hit.  We all keep striving in this game and none of us has completely figured it out; we merely get glimpses of what could be.  And anyone who tells you otherwise is the real fraud.  It took me 14 years of teaching to get to where I am and I still make rookie mistakes, have lessons that flop, get irritated with kids who won't engage and still don't exactly know what to do with kids who are bored.  

So thanks for the honesty, but sometimes we get tangled up in the accidents and forget the essence.  At your essence, you're a teacher; plain and simple. 

Best to you this year. 

David

p.s. Now if I find out that you're not really a teacher and all you did was stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, then I'm gonna be pissed.