You know how I always say that I'm going to try and be better at posting about my trip here....I'm a liar. I haven't posted in a month. Not because I don't want to but because I'm swamped with things that need to get done. I'm just trying to survive as a first year teacher.
Things in Kinder have been going really well. As usual I love my kiddos. They always are finding a way to challenge me but I wouldn't trade it for the world. Today was a new experience for me...I had one of my kiddos throw a chair and a tub or crayons across the room. I wasn't very happy with him but he picked them up and apologized for not listening. Each day brings something that needs to be dealt with. This month has been a HUGE month of firsts for me.
-First parent teacher conferences as a teacher. I had about 22 out of the 33 show up. They were short and sweet but it was so nice to meet parents and share the successes that their child has had.
-First book drawing. Most of my kiddos don't have books at home, as a part of our class wide behavior program we decided they could earn them. Every time the class gets 10 stars we'll have a book drawing. It's an all or nothing plan...all of them have to have a good day. Last week we finally got ten stars so we had our first book drawing. It was so exciting to see their faces light up. They really couldn't believe that I was letting them keep it forever.
-First awards ceremony. Honoring attendance, attitude, academic and improvement. They looked so cute getting their awards. We have another one Friday : )
-First call to OCS. Not something that I enjoyed doing but it was definitely a learning experience.
-First pen-pal letters. Now, they weren't happy with me when I originally told them that they were going to have to write a "lot" but they soon got over it. All 33 of my students wrote a letter to their new "friend" my morning class wrote to my mom's class and my afternoon class wrote to another friend of mine's class. I'm not so sure they really get that their friends are going to write them back so I'm excited to see their reaction to that.
(Side Note- I got to hand deliver the letters to both classes and got to talk to those kiddos about Chevak. I was able to go home for the weekend and surprise my mom.)
-A HUGE LEAP. Each of my kiddos gets tested every week to help make sure that they are making adequate progress. I'm looking at where some of them started and where they are now and it makes me feel like I might actually be doing a good job for my first year.
Tomorrow if the first time my kids will use labtops as part of an reading extension. Let's hope they don't break any! :S
Monday will be the first Halloween party. I don't really know what I'm going to do but I'm excited to wear my costume!
I haven't posted pictures in a long time...I'll have to post some very soon : )
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Saturday, October 1, 2011
33 Blessings!
I've been meaning to write about this for a long time but I've been so busy and swamped with work that I haven't had a lot of free time. Now the long wait has come to an end...
We're going onto week 7 in the school year and each day I feel more blessed with my decision that I made to be a teacher. I'm not even going to begin to tell you that it's been easy for me but I wouldn't trade this opportunity for the world.
There are days when I do question this decision. To give you a little taste of my "situation"...I have 33 adorable kiddos. They each come with something different to bring the the classroom. They have each gone through their own trials and are stronger than I probably have ever been. Some have lost parents, some have parents that are in jail, many of them never got new school supplies/clothes, some of them are in the care of their grandparents, all of them are excited for the 1st of the month (Food Stamp Day) and all of them have showed me how truly blessed I am.
There are many times when I wonder if I'm making a difference or if I'm actually being a good teacher. I mean, I am asking a lot from them. I want them all to learn what they need to know and in a way leave whatever is going on at home outside of the classroom. Well let me tell you that is NOT possible. Some of my kids are worried that I'm just going to leave them (there is a HUGE turn-over rate in the bush) There were even tears when they found out that I was going to go by plane for Christmas break. I know that it may not seem like any of what I just said would play any factor on whether or not I'm being a good teacher. However, it has pretty much everything to do with it. It took me over 2 weeks for some of my kids to even talk to me or make eye contact with me. Many of them were very un-sure of me for a while.
I have big goals for my kiddos. I want each and every one of them to achieve this year. I want each of them to know that I'm not going to leave them. No, I don't think that I'll stay here forever but I'm not just going to up and leave them because things are "tough".
Nothing makes me happier than walking to the post office or grocery store and having my babies run and give me a huge hug, then having them follow me the whole way there. I use to wonder if I made a difference in their lives, but when things like that happen, I know!
I am also the 11th grade advisor. It's kinda nice being around the young kiddos and then getting to work with highschoolers. I'm getting to know them as the weeks go on. They are hilarious and really determined to get things done! I'm sure that I'll have stories about them as the time goes on.
I'm going to work on sharing my stories with you more often. I think I'm finally getting into the routine of things and should have more free time now. However, my co-worker and I are in charge of putting together the Halloween carnival (with my 11th graders and her 9th graders) so things could get busy again. I'll work on it though.
Thank you for the support! To all my family and friends- I love you and miss you! Please keep my kiddos in your thoughts and prayers as there are rough things going on in some of their lives right now.
We're going onto week 7 in the school year and each day I feel more blessed with my decision that I made to be a teacher. I'm not even going to begin to tell you that it's been easy for me but I wouldn't trade this opportunity for the world.
There are days when I do question this decision. To give you a little taste of my "situation"...I have 33 adorable kiddos. They each come with something different to bring the the classroom. They have each gone through their own trials and are stronger than I probably have ever been. Some have lost parents, some have parents that are in jail, many of them never got new school supplies/clothes, some of them are in the care of their grandparents, all of them are excited for the 1st of the month (Food Stamp Day) and all of them have showed me how truly blessed I am.
There are many times when I wonder if I'm making a difference or if I'm actually being a good teacher. I mean, I am asking a lot from them. I want them all to learn what they need to know and in a way leave whatever is going on at home outside of the classroom. Well let me tell you that is NOT possible. Some of my kids are worried that I'm just going to leave them (there is a HUGE turn-over rate in the bush) There were even tears when they found out that I was going to go by plane for Christmas break. I know that it may not seem like any of what I just said would play any factor on whether or not I'm being a good teacher. However, it has pretty much everything to do with it. It took me over 2 weeks for some of my kids to even talk to me or make eye contact with me. Many of them were very un-sure of me for a while.
I have big goals for my kiddos. I want each and every one of them to achieve this year. I want each of them to know that I'm not going to leave them. No, I don't think that I'll stay here forever but I'm not just going to up and leave them because things are "tough".
Nothing makes me happier than walking to the post office or grocery store and having my babies run and give me a huge hug, then having them follow me the whole way there. I use to wonder if I made a difference in their lives, but when things like that happen, I know!
I am also the 11th grade advisor. It's kinda nice being around the young kiddos and then getting to work with highschoolers. I'm getting to know them as the weeks go on. They are hilarious and really determined to get things done! I'm sure that I'll have stories about them as the time goes on.
I'm going to work on sharing my stories with you more often. I think I'm finally getting into the routine of things and should have more free time now. However, my co-worker and I are in charge of putting together the Halloween carnival (with my 11th graders and her 9th graders) so things could get busy again. I'll work on it though.
Thank you for the support! To all my family and friends- I love you and miss you! Please keep my kiddos in your thoughts and prayers as there are rough things going on in some of their lives right now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)