Meeting Mayhem: What makes it worthwhile?

Today I sat in a meeting with my amazing teammates. We talked about data, and what we are doing to support our kiddos. It was a bummer to watch the sun come out at the exact same time that "2:30 feeling" hit... You know, the one that you get when you are thinking about the afternoon Starbucks run? By the time the meeting was out, the rain had returned and my head was MORE than full. Often times, I find when I walk out of meetings that I feel inadequate - that I could never possibly do enough to make a difference in my kids' education. Or I'm given a ton of new ideas that I have no time to plan for or implement. Between this, writing sub plans and being away from the students, meetings are just plain not my favorite thing. Most teachers will probably say, "Yes, you're preaching to the choir...We all feel that way." The reality is, however, that meetings are inevitable, and some are better than others. Just like in any job. 

But here's the kicker: I got an email at the end of the day from a colleague saying this:
Claire,
As I was walking up the hallway, I was following Luis and Ishan carrying the lunch basket. Luis: "I wish Miss Steadman was here this afternoon." Ishan: "Yeah, everything is better when she is here." Just had to tell you!

I just had to remind myself that the kids don't care what I teach or how I teach it. They don't care about that bulletin board that I put up yesterday. They don't care whether my plan book is full or empty and they don't care that I have a graph of their growth in reading comprehension in my gradebook. They care that I care about them. They care about the story I told about my dinner last night with Mitch (we split a mini pizza in half and I used it in my fraction lesson this morning). They care that I showed up and hugged them, that I laughed with them, that I listened to them. That's it. And that's what they'll remember: how they FELT when they were in my class.

So as I go to bed tonight, I will remember why I'll roll out of bed tomorrow morning. I am so thankful to be where I am, even on days that are difficult.