What I've Learned....

2 and 1/2 more days then I am finished with my first year of teaching! I can honestly say that this has been a learning experience. I've learned about the kind of teacher I want to be, and the kind of teacher I don't want to be. I've learned the reality that although I want every child to succeed, some will succeed more than others. I've learned that you can't help a student who doesn't want to be helped, and who has no motivation to learn no matter how hard you try to motivate them. I've learned about each of my students' little personalities and quirks. Things that make them sad and happy. I've learned that even the most troubled of students will find their way into your heart, and then will make you want to pull your hair out the next minute. No matter how mad you get at them because they just won't sit down and stop dancing around the room, you can't help but love them for who they are and the way God created them to be. I've learned how to be more organized. I've learned that sometimes you just have to shut your classroom door and teach the way you've been taught to teach. I've learned that having other teachers who support you and encourage you can make all the difference in your year and how it turns out.

Overall I have had a good year. It's been REALLY tough though. Between teaching to the test and being called in for meetings because things just aren't working the way other people think they should work, I've learned to look on the positive side and still keep my desire for serving the Lord through teaching His children. So I look back on this job with all of its ups and downs with nothing but gratitude, because if I had not had the down parts, I wouldn't have learned so much.