I am a teacher by trade. I love my job; I truly love teaching. I love my students most of the time. When I cannot, there is someone who can, and I love one of his/her hard to love students. Teaching is sharing, a give and take of soul and ideas and time and knowledge and love. Teaching does not occur in isolation. My classroom may be my refuge, but if I do not seek out others, there will be times when I will become overwhelmed, lost, and discouraged. I cannot teach without students. Even with students, I cannot teach without their permission! Yes, I believe that my students give me permission to teach them, and that I gain that permission by respecting them as individuals, and by becoming interested in their worlds. Much easier said than done, but when done, boy, do my students learn. So, I am a teacher by trade, and? I am a poet at heart. What does that have to do with a blog post? EVERYTHING! I am a poet...