1 Down 3 To Go

It’s been a good chunk of time since my last blog post. To me, however, it doesn’t feel that long, but it’s been over 9 weeks. 9 weeks… How has the first 9 weeks of school already come and gone? It seems like yesterday that it was the first day of school, and I was getting nervous to start the year. The days are just flying by!

The reason I haven’t really been blogging is I didn’t really know what I wanted to talk about. I’ve said that before, but if you know me, you know I’m not a huge writer. So, great ideas don’t just come to me to write about. I figured with the 9 weeks ending, I could kind of recap the couple of months of school.

My biggest takeaway from the beginning of school is… I was not a very good teacher the first few weeks of school. I remember coming into this year thinking I’m set because I’ve got all this stuff that I made from last year. I won’t really have to make anything! Boy, I was naïve. Everything that I made at the beginning of the year last year was just terrible. I remember looking through it thinking oh wow there’s no way I used this. Trust me, it was bad. I was a rookie. I didn’t have anything, and I was just starting out. I am glad to say the rest of the year was way better. So, the thought that I wasn’t going to have to make much stuff ended very quickly.

I think it’s a good thing, though. As a teacher, you don’t want to become complacent and do the same thing over and over again. I feel that I should always strive to become a better teacher. Is there going to be things that I do multiple times? Yes. But, there’s also going to be things that I’m constantly changing for the better. I’ve always heard that self-reflection is huge. I need to really to do that after each unit. I need to think about what worked and what didn’t. If something worked, I should do it again. If something bombed, I should definitely try something else. Regardless, I think it’s important to look over everything you did, and see if there is any way to improve. It’s important to keep the mindset that, as a teacher, I never stop learning. I’m still a student just as much as my kiddos are. I learn new things every day.

My second big takeaway is that each group of kiddos is different and unique. The group of kids that we have now is completely different from the kids we had last year. There’s a whole new realm of strengths, weaknesses, and challenges, but I love this new group. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know all of them these past 9 weeks. Has it always been rainbows and butterflies? No, but overall it’s been great. Don’t get me wrong; I totally miss my old kiddos too. I’m very fortunate that they are just down the hall. It’s an awesome feeling when they’re still so excited to see you and want to say hi to me in the hallway. I love those kids. They will always hold a special place in my heart with them being my first group. I’m just glad that they still want to talk to me ;)

One really cool thing that we did this first 9 weeks was the Menu Project. I did this project last year, and I loved it. More importantly, the kiddos loved it. So, I decided to do it again. Of course, I went through it and made some necessary changes to make it better. In a nutshell, the kids are in groups and they are challenged with creating a menu for a restaurant that they create. They can pick any theme that they want, and they come up with the food choices for their restaurants. They make menus, and at the end we have our “dinner” session where the groups “dine” at other restaurants. Each group has to calculate the total bill and change for each customer. It’s just away to kind of have a real life application of adding and subtracting decimals. The kids loved it, and it was so cool to see the amazing things that they came up with. They were excited to come to class everyday, and their menus they made were incredible. We were also fortunate to be chosen for showcasing for the whole district. McA was the school of the month, and the district chose the Menu Project as something they wanted to highlight. Of course I thought it was awesome they picked it, but I was really more excited for my kiddos worked to be seen all over the district. They’re the reason I do what I do, and for their work to be shown off really meant a lot to them. I was so proud of all their hard work. If you would like to read the article here is a link to it: http://tinyurl.com/hk4mhdu

It’s been an eventful start to the school year. It’s a cliché, but it’s had its up and downs for sure. I love what I do, and that hasn’t changed. I’m looking forward to the rest of the year, and I can’t wait to further the relationships with this group of kiddos. It’s a lot of hard work, but I’m up for it. There’s nothing else I’d rather do.

If you’re still reading this, you rock. Thank you for the support. :)