You Might Be an Elementary Teacher If.....

In honor of back to school season, I set out to write a Top 10 List of how you know you might be an elementary teacher (or a teacher of any grade, or a teacher at heart), and the ideas just kept flowing. Cheers to you, teachers! May your kids be excellent, your teams be supportive, your classroom parents willing, and may you always end the day knowing you make a difference.

You might be an elementary teacher if:

-You're usually up and at 'em before typical morning traffic begins
-Target has a great selection of "teacher clothes"
-You can eat at healthy lunch, pee, fill up your water bottle, file some papers, and chat with a colleague in 20 minutes flat
-You always forget how immature your students are at the beginning of the year
-It's so fun seeing former students around the school all grown up
-A kind word from a parent in your class can keep you going some days

-You know a lot about your students' families: from the silly things their parents say, to whose dad is sleeping on the couch, to what they had for dinner
-You watch Rita Pierson's Ted Talk, "Every Kid Needs a Champion" a few times a year to get fired up
-Parent volunteers are a lifesaver. You can always find something for a volunteer to help you with
-Freshly sharpened pencils bring you joy
-You know the underlying cause for "Can I go to the bathroom?" is either "I want to go to the bathroom just to leave the class for a minute" or "I needed to go to the bathroom about 5 minutes ago and I'm currently doing the potty dance."

-You've ran across the room to a dry heaver with a trash can in hand
-You know it pays to be extra kind to maintenance people and secretaries
-You know your mailbox (email and the one in the faculty room) will almost always have something inside
-A 2:00 Hershey Kiss can be a lifesaver
-You've rearranged big cute patterned lunch boxes in the faculty room fridge to fit yours in
-You know using glitter in a project is an amateur move
-Data can be helpful but you know you don't need mounds of it to know who's getting it and who's not: you know your kids
-You could really use your own secretary
-A new month means switching up the room: the class calendar and seasonal decorations
-You have tied wet shoelaces before (ewwww!)

-You get notes and pictures from your students all the time (you save the really meaningful ones)
-You sometimes throw things away in the staff room so a student doesn't see you pitching the 14959th drawing they made for you that week
-If it's not laminated, you might as well throw it out now
-Caffeine and chocolate get you through Parent-Teacher Conference week
-You could never survive without your teammates' support
-Seeing Back to School store displays in July is both really terrifying and really exciting

-You succumb to the less cute but comfy shoe
-You don't want to terrify next year's teachers but sometimes you really feel you need to warn them (as a friend)
-You have an "island" desk away from all others for those moments when it's best for that kiddo to be alone for a bit

-You countdown to all breaks, especially summer break
-You own dozens of tumbler cups and mugs and your desk usually has at least 3 cups of some sort on it
-Some of your best lesson ideas occur in bed right as you're drifting off to sleep
-Post its, post its everywhere
-You usually wake before the sun
-You know the Common Core Standards and which biggies are essential
-You have bags and bags going into school many Monday mornings

-You know there's more curriculum, resources and content than you could ever touch in a year. Pick the "big rocks" and feel okay about it
-You can appreciate the joy of a Teachers Pay Teachers freebie that matches exactly what you're teaching
-You have hundreds and hundreds of "your kids"