Teaching Ingredients

I am linking up on Sugar and Spice's Teaching Ingredients Linky.  She encouraged teachers to blog about the ingredients we need to make a successful classroom and here are mine:

1. Hard Work--Teachers do not work 9-5 hours or 8-3 or whatever hours it is people think we work.  Every time I talk to my friends on the phone I seem to be working on something for school.  At the end of June I told one of my friends I was getting ready for the beginning of school year and I believe his exact words were, "Take a chill pill.  You have plenty of time." It's not that I don't have time, I just have so much I want to do and I get super excited about getting it done.  I'm a little bit of a workaholic honestly.
2. Open-minded--Teachers work with people from all lifestyles and backgrounds and with a million and one different needs.  Plus, teaching requires you to be open to trying new things in your classroom. 
3. Hugs--I work with young kids and whether they are having a bad day or sharing their every little detail in life they need to know that you care. Whether they need a hug, someone to listen to them, a cheerleader, or kind words, there are plenty of ways to show kids that you care.
4. Dedication--There are days in teaching that just don't go so well.  It's life.  It happens.  If you don't love your job and you aren't dedicated to your students you aren't going to make it through the not so great days.
5. Understanding--We have to know what makes our kids tick.  If you can figure out why students do what they do or what causes them to struggle you can adapt your classroom and your lessons.
6. Passion--Passion gets you revved up every day to get into work and help your students.  Without that driving force, we wouldn't do what we do. Passion puts a smile on my face and gets me energized in my classroom so I can do all the silly things an elementary teacher does and put in all those long hours.
7. Experimenting--This probably should have been #1 on my list.  I don't know a single teacher that doesn't spend plenty of time experimenting, even if they don't realize it.  If a lesson doesn't work we change things and experiment.  We go across the hall or to our Pinterest boards to find new things to experiment with in our classrooms.  That's how we become better teachers.  
8. Flexibility--How many times is your class interrupted in a day? How many different students leave your class to see other teachers or have additional classes? What about field trips? Assemblies? Oh and don't forget the student that brings in his pet snake to show off to the class without telling you or anyone else. We have to be flexible to make our days work.  Half the fun of teaching is that it's completely unpredictable sometimes right?
9. Patience--I don't think a teacher in the world would argue with a need for patience.