It has been such a long time since I have posted I know! A lot going on. Still working on my dissertation, I have hit a bit of a wall and I am not working as fast as I had been or as I would like but I am getting it together! Trying to do that while I am teaching in a state take over is a real pain. My dissertation chair has been very understanding about me slowing down. Really I am just frustrating myself because I am working on a timeline that I created for myself! Haha
We have all new admin and they came in guns blaring and are just now, 7 weeks in, trying to build relationships. The pressure the district is putting on them is crazy so in turn the pressure they are putting on us has been just crazy! I will say as a non-tested subject life for me is not nearly as stressful as some of my colleagues. However, don’t get me wrong, it is still a beat down. I got an evaluation with a score of 25%. I know I am a better teacher than that! They want us to set up our boards with very specific things and they want us to teach very specific ways. I mean in general most of these things could be great teaching practices, however, giving us no time to master them then expecting them to just be done correctly and flawlessly is not best practice. The lessons are created for us in a sort of “teacher proof” script. However, they are done poorly. There are misspellings, there is misinformation, they send us things to print in color with no access to color printers. Then we are told we should be fixing them ourselves! You can’t “teacher proof” the curriculum then expect me to fix the problems! We are printing packets after packets and moving way too fast for the kids to really wrap their heads around what we are learning. It is rough for sure!
All that to say this year has been rough and stressful! If you know me you know I have a gift for pulling people together. At least I think I do! Haha I have been working really hard this year to pull the teachers together. I have curated a pretty good circle that lean on each other when we need to vent, let off steam, cry, or just be angry! It has been very helpful and I know that I am grateful for them!
One of the things I told myself at the beginning of the year is “none of this is the students fault.” I have worked really hard to be myself with them, to continue to joke around them, to create opportunities for them to be the kids they are! I have really enjoyed them this year! We are dealing with all of this together. I asked a kid “you know what I mean jelleybean?” and that child calls me jelleybean now! Haha its cute!
I have also stepped up my clothing game. Haha I tend to dress very much like a child! Haha I bought some work pants and some more blazers and brooches. then I have decided that I am going to really lean in to scarfs. I found a bunch on clearance and then I have started just adding to my collection. I am looking for different and fun ways to wear them. Some in my hair, some as clothing accessories. It has been fun to add a little extra to my wardrobe! Apparently the kids are talking about my scarves in other classes, and one group of them asked how many brooches I have. So if you have brooches or hair scarfs laying around and you want to get rid of them I would take them off your hands!
Ok, back to the reason for the blog! So today I am wearing these colors.
And I was standing on morning duty, and one of my kids came up to me and handed me this bracelet.
She said that she makes these bracelets and she wanted to give it to me because it matches what I am wearing so well! I was like OMG! Thank you! I love it! And she is right, it does match pretty well! IT was also just the reminder I needed that they are still kids and what I am doing does make a difference. I told a kid I was proud of him yesterday and he got so excited and surprised and I said what no one every told you that before and he said “no”. Broke my heart! But, it is such a reminder why I am here! Why I became a teacher.
So if you are wondering how to support your teacher friends, send coffee! Or chocolate! I hope that all of you have a great day! My lunch is just about over, Then I teach the rest of the day none stop! Have a great rest of your week!
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