See…There Is Hope After All! Inspiration by Joel Wagner - September 28, 2009June 30, 20101 I got an email from a reader this morning and she sent told me that I might appreciate her latest blog post. She writes: I read your blog. I also write my own blog. I started my blog when I wanted to quit. I spent about a year thinking about that. I realize now that I don’t want to quit anymore. I thought maybe my latest blog about why I don’t want to quit anymore would be of interest to you or your readers. So I jumped on over to check it out. What an inspiration it was, too! Her blog Teacher, I Don’t Get It has been up for a little less than a year. I was indeed impressed by her latest post, Hope and the Difficult Journey. In it, she briefly summarizes her first twenty-five months of teaching and outlines how she has hope for the future now and doesn’t want to quit. What I like about it is how she lists some of the things that have really helped her cope with the situation. Don’t give up, even when you feel absolutely useless. We all feel that way at times. Surround yourself with positive people. Avoid negativity like the plague. Learn something from everyone with whom you come into contact. Enjoy the journey. I really think you should check her blog out. It will brighten your day! Joel WagnerJoel Wagner (@sywtt) began teaching band in 2002. Though he had a lot of information, his classes were out of control. He found himself tired, frustrated, disrespected by students, lonely, and on the brink of quitting. He had had enough. He resigned from his school district right before spring break of his second year and made it his personal mission to learn to be a great teacher. So You Want To Teach? is the ongoing story of that quest for educational excellence.