Reflections on Teaching: Spring Edition

Wow. Teaching is probably the busiest job (besides being a mother) on the face of the earth. I can't believe how much time I put into this career and I can't believe how much I love it even though it is so hard at times.

Just to recap from JULY since I started:
*facepalm*
I teach at a year-round school. I have had two off-track breaks (which were much needed). I have had six students move into my class and two move out. I currently have 24 students. While most of my students started out below grade level in reading, they are finally on, above or only slightly below grade level. It makes me happy :)

I started out the school year taking at least five hours to plan lessons. Now I can plan a week's worth of lessons in about an hour or an hour and a half. I can also get my guided reading lesson plans done within 40 minutes before school starts; these used to take me more than an hour over 2-3 mornings to finish.

I used to take I-15 and Bangerter Highway to get to my school and it would take about 50-55 minutes to get to school and an 60-70 minutes to get home. Now I take Mountain View Corridor and it takes 45 minutes to get to school in the morning and 50-55 minutes to get home.

I'm learning so much as a teacher! I'm learning that my kids love me no matter how grumpy I sometimes get. They are learning despite of me. I have an awesome team that helps me so much; they support me and answer any silly little question I may have. They are amazed that this is my first year teaching. My team leader gave me the best compliment when I came back on track last time. She told me that she was so happy I was back on track and that things just seemed so complete and so right when I was back at school. It made me feel pretty important :)

I'm loving school even though this is the most challenging time of the year. It has been hard the last few weeks with coming back on track, Parent Teacher Conferences and my Teacher Work Sample being due. But I'm learning that everything works out. My kids still learn, even if I haven't prepared the best lesson. They are still progressing and still happy and safe.

I was feeling pretty down after this week of teaching because I felt like I hadn't done a really great job at my job. I was stressed with my TWS and thinking that the unit I prepared, planned and taught for it wasn't actually that great. But, I re-read a letter written to my great-great-great-great-grandmother in 1863. You can read more about that letter and my experience here. It really reminded me that no matter what, God loves His children (myself included) and He won't let any of us fail.