Watching students learn is fascinating. While I am a teacher and feel like I constantly facilitate and monitor learning, I didn't truly see and appreciate the process as much as I have this semester as I have focused on student learning during my classroom observations. While the month of February is always a difficult time to stay motivated, various classroom situations energized me this week and provided a much-needed reminder of the importance of the work we do. Here's the breakdown... I found joy and energy in watching students find happiness when they figured things out in class. In every class I visited this week, students were critically thinking and creating. Every class. And I would also argue that a majority of students were fully engaged in their work. As I watched them work either individually, collaboratively, or with their teachers, it was really awesome to see how they worked through various activities and how they asked questions, persevered through challe...