As I sit here, reflecting back on the past 3 weeks of school since Christmas break I am reminded about the art and craft of teaching. I have a student teacher right now who is trudging along. It has been a good reminder to myself of what a blank slate I was 10 years ago when I was student teaching and a pat on the back of how far I've come.
When a teacher stands up in front of her students, we don't really "think" about teaching as a step-by-step process, for that matter we don't really "think" it just comes naturally. My students know my different tones of voice, they know my expectations, they know my routines, they know all of my favorite things, they know ME!
I have to remember that we, as teachers, had to start somewhere. One day I hope my student teacher will be able to reflect on her career as I have been doing lately and feel successful about it.
Even though I have the frustrations of new expectations, more work load, naughty kids, kids who don't have stable homes, helicopter parents, I can proudly say.....I AM A TEACHER and I L-O-V-E my job!
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Thursday, January 23, 2014
100 Days Smarter!!
I simply can NOT believe that my students are 100 days smarter already! This year I seriously have the best class ever! I'm a little sad that my year is more than half way over. This is the first year in many that I have not had any serious behavior problems. I have a great group of high, middle, and a few babes that we're working on. I have truly been blessed! (Especially after last year was one that made me question my career choice)
Anywho, yesterday was the 100th day. Normally it's a Kindergarten "thing" and first graders just get a little pouty and reflect on how awesome Kinder was and how badly we want to go back to Kinder for the day. Meanwhile Mrs. Burns is usually like, UGH 80 more days!!!! Well this year I have a student teacher so I put her in charge of finding something small to do with the class. They made little booklets about the 100 things they'd do if... We got a surprise visitor at the end of the day. Our principal came around and passed out $100 bill bookmarks and celebrated students with perfect attendance thus far....sad to say, the plague loves my classroom, so I only had 1 child with perfect attendance.
Anywho, yesterday was the 100th day. Normally it's a Kindergarten "thing" and first graders just get a little pouty and reflect on how awesome Kinder was and how badly we want to go back to Kinder for the day. Meanwhile Mrs. Burns is usually like, UGH 80 more days!!!! Well this year I have a student teacher so I put her in charge of finding something small to do with the class. They made little booklets about the 100 things they'd do if... We got a surprise visitor at the end of the day. Our principal came around and passed out $100 bill bookmarks and celebrated students with perfect attendance thus far....sad to say, the plague loves my classroom, so I only had 1 child with perfect attendance.
All in all, I must say, I'm pretty proud of my blooming firsties and how far they've come this year. It was a scary start looking at their test scores coming to me.
Cheers to 80 more day!!!!!
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Resolutions!
Cheers to 2014! WHAT! That's just crazy talk, I can NOT believe it's already 2014! So I've noticed everyone's writing resolutions and well, after a few days debating if I wanted to do this publicly or not, I decided to go for it.
First of all I will do the typical, "get healthy, lose weight, go to the gym more" resolution. I must say that we joined the gym in June and I was great at going during the summer, then school hit and well....I'm lucky to go a few times a week. I am a mom, I have 2 girls in after school and before school dance, AND I'm a firefighters wife....add all of that together and I'm pretty limited on my time at the gym. SO my goal first off is to really get back and focus on my eating, not just shoving food in my face, THEN I plan to get my buns off this couch and hit the gym.
Second, I want to spend more time with my family. I've realized that I'm too "plugged in" and often busy reading blogs and such and don't really listen to what they're saying. I want to "be present" when they're awake.
Third, I really want to work on blogging at least once a week. Again, I have a hard time sitting down and writing my own blog but I love read other's blogs.
I really could go on and on with what I want to do this year rather than what I should be doing.
I really feel that 2014 will be a great year! I will focus on life more and enjoy the next 365 days!!!
First of all I will do the typical, "get healthy, lose weight, go to the gym more" resolution. I must say that we joined the gym in June and I was great at going during the summer, then school hit and well....I'm lucky to go a few times a week. I am a mom, I have 2 girls in after school and before school dance, AND I'm a firefighters wife....add all of that together and I'm pretty limited on my time at the gym. SO my goal first off is to really get back and focus on my eating, not just shoving food in my face, THEN I plan to get my buns off this couch and hit the gym.
Second, I want to spend more time with my family. I've realized that I'm too "plugged in" and often busy reading blogs and such and don't really listen to what they're saying. I want to "be present" when they're awake.
Third, I really want to work on blogging at least once a week. Again, I have a hard time sitting down and writing my own blog but I love read other's blogs.
I really could go on and on with what I want to do this year rather than what I should be doing.
I really feel that 2014 will be a great year! I will focus on life more and enjoy the next 365 days!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)