One of the nicest things about the month of November is that even the most jaded teacher can take a moment or two to look around a classroom and feel thankful.

First of all, we can be thankful that we are employed. Moreover, we are employed in a profession that does good in the world. Not every professional can claim that.

We can also be thankful that there is so much information available to us as teachers. The electronic resources that we can access with just a click of a key are astonishing. Even if there are never enough computers for our students, if you are reading this, at least you have found the time and the means to search for information that will help you be a better teacher in your classroom tomorrow.

We can also be thankful that no matter where they are or how tough they seem, most children are just that—children. The mistakes they make are not evil ones filled with malice (even though you may have a really rough bunch this year!), but are almost always the mistakes made by a very young person who is trying to find his or her way in the world.

We can be thankful for our colleagues—the ones who take our duty stations when we have to attend meetings, the ones who have a cheerful word in the lounge, the ones who offer tried and true lesson plans and sensible advice. We are fortunate to have coworkers who choose to make a difference in the world—one classroom at a time.

Finally, we can be thankful for those teachers in our nation’s past who have paved the way for our twenty-first century careers—the teachers who met their students in a one-room schoolhouse, the scholars who founded our nation’s colleges, the educators who strove to convey the importance of learning during wars and depressions and epidemics and times of great trouble. We rise today because of them.

Be full of thanks.