Anticipation

Means many things in life, the anticipation of love, birth, children growing up, spring; the list goes on and on. For me aniticpation means counting the days until I can go see my son and his new wife which brings with it the close of another semester of Grad. classes. With all of the anticipation comes the end of the semester stresses, trying to finish or start projects that should be finalized soon. The anticipation of acceptance of a job well done, and the all mighty grade. Something else comes with all of the anticipation of completing another semester, to me it’s sadness. I have really enjoyed my classes this semester; they have been more than classes, they have been “fun” and a great ease of learning comes with that. Just what I want my classes to be, fun while learning takes place. My tech class has brought another dimension of learning, a new level of learning in that I have learned so many new techy things i can utlize in my class, this makes me happy. Teaching is one of the most challenging jobs I have ever had. It is an enormous responsibility that we hold in the palm of our hands. We owe our best to our students and through my classes I feel i have some new tools to use. This is good.

Reflection of thought

When I reflect back on last weeks class, one thing in particular stood out. Dr. Ransom mentioned that “we” are the future for our students, that “they” need us. We are no longer (and probably haven’t been for quite some time) “just” educators, we are educators, mentors, councilors, coaches, advisers, and surrogate parents to many. When I think about the students I have taught this past year, I firmly believe that we are much more than educators. We are the things i mentioned and much more.

Families today are torn apart by so many factors, whether divorce, death, or never were together to begin with,, etc. The core families are rare anymore and I find that incredibly sad. I am a single mom of 19 years now and found that if I could have I never would have been divorced. It was a really rough life in so many ways but a blessing in so many more, I am blessed to have a solid family structure that gave me allot of emotional support. Raising my children was the greatest accomplishment in my life. They always came first, i was told by a very wise man that by the age of 6 I would have spent half of my childs life with them to that point, that by the time my children turned 12-14 they would be with their friends more than me so I had better make the early years count. I was so surprised but incredibly grateful. I devoted myself to my children, they deserved that much. I knew raising them would be hard, but I had no idea how hard. Don’t get me wrong, we had many more terrific days than bad, but it was hard being mom and dad, disciplinarian all of the time, i had to make tough decisions and make sure I always followed through or stuck to my guns.. Anyway.. this isn’t about me, but I think in raising my children by myself, I know the plight of single parents and I have great respect and compassion for them. It is tough, yet incredibly rewarding.

When I applied to teach in over sixty different school districts in and out of NYS, I never thought I would land a good job. I was told “its who you know”.. Well, I can be the first to say “its not”. By God’s good graces I was called to interview and really let myself “be myself”, I talked about my teaching experiences while Student Teaching and the LTS job in another district. Mostly I talked about the few instances I knew i made a difference in my students and how much I loved them all. I show honest compassion for my students. Well, again as God granted i was offered my job and feel incredibly blessed. I asked one of the teachers that interviewed me why I was chosen over so many and she replied “We just knew you were meant to teach Middle School”, that you had sincere compassion and understanding. My principle has told me “I was his test case” that he knew that caring for students was something he couldn’t teach me and that it came natural for me to care. He said he could teach me “how to teach” but I had the qualities he was looking for. i was stunned and never thought for a minute that I was anything like they said. I knew how much i loved children, but never thought that would be a deciding factor in landing the job of my dreams. I don’t think about how I am towards others, I just know how I like to be treated and I do the same for others, with love and compassion. I was brought up well.

So, with all of that being said my advice to all new teachers — show compassion, take a minute with your students to get to know them — given them a pencil and don’t make them feel bad for not having one — is it really that big of a deal? Above all just love them, remain in control, and remain calm. If they get smart with you, carry on — do not react. Just show them you care, they will come around, caring might be new to them.  I have had a really great year teaching, I have definitely had my challenging students but through it all I grew and am becoming a better teacher every day. I love teachiing, it has been a life long dream. I am blessed.

Time Fly’s

When I start a project, I find it hard to stop and come back to it later. Mostly I feel I have to “go for the gusto” when I have the energy to do so; or as an artist when the time strikes. I started working on our next project (non-lineur power point) this morning, I could not stop. I found that i needed to sit and map out my plans before creating it in powerpoint. That worked much better. It is 11:30 pm and I just finished. I am certain I will look at it a million more times before it is turned in.

I am estatic for the time off this coming week, i can get things done around my house, catch up on projects and maybe relax. I went to the MAG Gallery Opening tonight on Expressionism, which to my surprise was the American version. Although i found several painting very beautiful, they do not compare to European Expressionistic painters such as Monet. Such a critical eye I have (as if i could do any better). Are there any original ideas any more? I relish the days when creativity comes naturally, one becomes excited about doing something different. Those are few and far in-between it seems.

Falling off the wagon

OK – so being a new teacher has many perks,,, I am finally in a career I have waited for for a very long time. I am surrounded by adults who value education and are not complacent (most of them). I am teaching students who mostly love art and want to learn,,, I work for an excellent school system and have a principal who really values every member of his staff.. The downside is that I have been sick for about 5 weeks now.. Recently my illness turned into bronchitis and along came the fever, aches, ear infections…goodness will this ever stop. I have been told the 1st year is the worst, that my body needs to build up the immunities to these viruses.. Well it’s not as if I just walked into the world.. I have been working for along time, I guess the key here is that now I am subjected to over a 100 students every day who carry a varying degree if illness wit them.. I am so ready to be free of this stuff… I am tired.