My Hopes for the Second Part of Year One of Teaching

I may be a few days late to the new years resolutions but I am a reflector who goes at her own pace!

With the first half of my first year of teaching under my belt, there are some hopes that I have for the next half that will hopefully keep me focus on what I want to accomplish for the next five months.

1. Be present and patient with my students. 

There are times where I feel like the only thing I hear being said is my name over and over and over. Are there times that my tone in my response becomes a bit tougher than usually? I own up to it, yeah it does. I apologize for it. My hope the second half is to be patient and more understanding of why they are saying my name so much. Did I go through directions too quickly? Did I assume that they would just be able to pick up and go? Do I need to review a procedure? Find the root and address it.

2. Become more efficient with my time. 

This first half I really haven't set myself boundaries with how long I should be doing school related activities, such as grading, planning, and prepping. This second half of the year I want to be more efficient with my time. I don't want to come home from school anymore, take a hour break and then jump into another five or six hour work time with school related activities. I want to plan out ways that I can prep to get ahead, not bring home as much grading, stay on top of grading in general. To get to the point where I don't feel guilty for not working on school work.

3. Begin developing my own materials to help other educators. 

I hope to begin creating more products to share with other educators in the coming year. I have begun listing topics that I have struggled finding materials on, so in the coming months I will try to create products around these topics.

4. Continuing building She Believed So She Taught. 

I hope to become more consistent with posting and interacting with each you. I want to expand content by having more book reviews for books for your classroom libraries, professional development, self-care, etc. Having quick posts about pieces of food for thought. Continuing my series of a First Year Teacher Tips. Exciting things are coming!

5. Creating a more active lifestyle. 

There it is. The cliche new years resolution of exercising more and eating healthier. I make the same resolution each year for the same reason of never achieving it myself. This year I have invested in this resolution by becoming a coach. Accountability heightens when you are surrounded by others who have their goals they want to achieve.

What are your resolutions or hopes for the next five months until summer break or for 2020 as a whole?

Beginning a new year is a daunting task for many. 365 pages to have to get through before the next one. Determine what you want to accomplish - in the classroom, at home, with family, in business - and take the first step. Don't let yourself get comfortable.

My hope for you is that 2020 and the rest of the school year is a time of growth, stumbling, and success!

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Thoughtful Thursday 1/2/20

Dumping Kids with IEPs into General Education Classrooms is not Inclusion

Link: https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/dumping-kids-with-ieps-into-general-education-classrooms-is-not-inclusion-2874f0f657c1

I came across the above article earlier today as I was procrastinating on the grading I brought home with me over break (oops!).

My wheels began turning. As a double major in Special Education and General Education (elementary), to see the difference between the two educators hurt. There's not many educators out there who can play both fields per se. 

I don't know much about either educator in the article. I just know what I read. The main thing I took away from this article though was how the importance to have knowledge in both fields is ever more pressing to have in order to teach the whole child in today's classroom. 

I know in college it was shoved repeatedly in front of us how we need to build an inclusive classroom for each and every student no matter their background, no matter their ability, no matter their economic level, no matter what. 

Teaching and interacting children who have special characteristics, unique struggles, and who are just plain different from us can be intimidating. We think to ourselves how am I supposed to relate to them? How am I supposed to teach them with x, y, and z in the way? Why didn't college prepare me for this?? 

You learn. You become the student again. 

There is  one thing that I always promise myself that I will do no matter how many years I teach. That promise is to never stop learning. I may hold the title of teacher now, but that does not mean I stop learning. 

Does learning take time? It sure does! Does the lightbulb or the method that works happen over night? Most likely not. However, is the success moment after many trial and errors, methods, articles read worth it? Yes, because you had a break through that impacted that child. 

By taking the time to research and be willing to step out of your comfort zone into uncomfortable territory where the learning happens, that is how you can begin relating and connecting to that student. 

Old habits take time to break. Trust me, I have several habits that I wish I could break. Getting into the habits of trying new ways, materials, methods, strategies can be a breakthrough for your student. 

Every child is a different learner. Some may have similarities but most of the time not all of your tools in the toolboxes will work successfully for each child. 

Learning takes that fear away and lets the growing begin. 

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