I borrowed this book from one of the other teachers and I was wondering: have any of you out there in cyberspace read it?
read more »I was just reading over some of my old posts from January – June, and it was really bizarre. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about how my life used to be before teaching, but this was one of those occasions. I remember being terrified of Institute. Institute was not that bad. I…
read more »This week was pretty good. I’m starting to become better friends with some of the other teachers, and things are going okay. As always, it’s really hard to focus on the good things I’m doing instead of the things I’m still bad at. I had a “professional learning community” meeting this week, and my principal…
read more »“Everything becomes more and more itself. Here is joy that cannot be shaken. Our light can swallow up your darkness: but your darkness cannot now infect our light. No, no, no. Come to us. We will not go to you. Can you really have thought that love and joy would always be at the mercy…
read more »That’s the best way to describe last week. It was really intense. It started off pretty normal. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were the usual routine. My roommate and I started training for our half-marathon this week, so waking up at 4:45 and dragging ourselves to the gym wasn’t fun. But it’s nice to exercise and…
read more »Was HARD today. I wanted to cry. I don’t know what it is about that particular group of students that makes them all crazy together. What was good, though, was that I didn’t show my emotions (I don’t think), and I didn’t let it affect how I treated my next class. I was calm, I…
read more »“Be not the slave of your own past — plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep, and swim far, so you shall come back with self-respect, with new power, with an advanced experience, that shall explain and overlook the old.” -Emerson
read more »6 weeks down. Where to even start?! I think I’ll do bullets again: I’ve realized that I’m VERY reflective and solutions-oriented. Annoyingly so. I can’t state a problem without immediately going into “I just need to do _____” or “I should start ______”. constant teacher-parent communication is a good thing, but it can really backfire.…
read more »or Friday night as a first-year teacher. Par-taaaay!
read more »Yeah, it needs to start happening. I need to start having a life outside of school, or else I’ll get burned out and stop liking my job and my kids. Reasons #6,353 – 6,355 why TFA makes this difficult: 6,353) The only reason I’m in southern Arkansas is to be a teacher. 6,354) My closest…
read more »There’s a HUGE difference in how I feel about teaching on Friday night vs. Sunday night. Friday night, I think about: -the good and bad that happened that week. -how much I love my kids and my school. -how much I enjoy working with the other teachers. -all of the relaxing and working I’m going…
read more »Another week down. Things are chugging along, and it’s really not that bad. I think I’m doing well. Teaching-wise, I know I’m going to suck at it for awhile, so I’m going to focus on creating a routine for myself and TAKING CARE OF MYSELF so that I still like teaching by the time I…
read more »alarm clock. cardigan. peanut butter toast. sunrise. copies. zen teacher. numb teacher. seating chart. filing. whiteboard. one-step equations. plotting points. sticky notes. behavior narration. Edline. pencils. SLANT. repeat. SLANT. repeat. SLANT. repeat. behavior narration. explain. music video. worksheet. “Math, Math, Baby”. directions. 60% compliance. 70 % compliance. 80 % compliance. 90 % compliance. 96 %…
read more »Being a first-year teacher is weird. You not only have no idea what you’re doing — you also have no idea how you’re doing as a teacher. The learning curve is steep, and I have no idea where I am on it. There are some days that I think I’m really doing okay, then some…
read more »“Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake.” -Victor Hugo
read more »I should really spread out my blog posting instead of just waiting and waiting and then writing 3 posts in one night. Teaching so far hasn’t been easy, but it’s not the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I feel incredible support from my family and friends, and from my new friends here. I’m tired of…
read more »Before I moved to the South, I didn’t think of myself as particularly liberal. I would call myself more “moderately liberal”. After living in Arkansas for about 6 weeks, though, among people that are SUPER conservative, I guess I am liberal by comparison. I’m not too into labels, and I know that these are ever-changing,…
read more »This week was pretty intense. I’m not sure what to say. I’m not sure if things are getting better or worse, but I’m slowly starting to get used to teaching. It’s easy for me to say what I need to change, and to make lists of things to tweak, but difficult to recognize what I’m…
read more »Better day today. I only have time for quotes, though. Abraham Lincoln today, because I love him. “The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.” -Abraham Lincoln also: “Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I have a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.” -Abraham…
read more »Maybe some of the Kool-Aid is seeping in. TFA definitely promotes going BEYOND above & beyond as a teacher in terms of the time you dedicate to your job. That’s probably why so many CMs (and first-year teachers in general, probably) get so burned-out. You hear these hero-worship stories about teachers who spend almost every…
read more »1. leave school by 5:30 pm every day 2. don’t get to school before 7 am every day. I’m not very productive before school anyway. 3. go to the gym 3 times 4. avoid negative people and hang out with positive people 5. circulate when I teach 6. be stricter and more consistent with consequences…
read more »Two weeks under my belt. Woohoo! This week was, for the most part, better than last week. I didn’t have any emotional breakdowns this week, and the positives outweighed the negatives every day, I think. The theme of this week was “My Kids Love Me And I Love Them, But Can I Teach Them Anything?”.…
read more »Another pretty good day today. I’m trying to be more consistent/fair in enforcing consequences. Standing outside for bus duty from 3:15 to 4:00 isn’t very fun, but it’s fun talking to the kids. I just LOVE my babies. Even the ones that drive me nuts. I have a few that I need to build a…
read more »Second week is chugging along. I’m incredibly busy, but I like it, I think. I’m not nearly as efficient as I need to be. It’s almost as if I expect to stay at school till 6:30 every night, and I fill those hours with what I need to do instead of getting the one hour’s…
read more »
Teach For Us thanks our national sponsor for its generous support
