1 Month Down

When I first started this blog, I thought it would be pretty easy to write a post here and there about how my first year of teaching was going.... Now here I am two months after my last post about my curtains and I have been teaching for a little over a month. I quickly realized within my first few days with students that being in a classroom teaching every day is nothing like what they teach you about in college. I have never felt so unprepared in my life. Now I'm not saying that my professors didn't do a good job of preparing me for some things that I would face inside a real school, but what I am saying is that nothing they could have done would have readied me for the day I met my first class of high school students. NOTHING. 

The first two to three weeks of school, I cried nearly every single day, whether it be from doubting myself to my legs hurting so bad I thought they might fall off (that last one hasn't gotten any better even a month later). Even to this day I still wake up with nervous jitters that I might mess up, do something wrong, or say something wrong. I firmly believe now that the saying "You are your own worst critic" is true. I have yet to have confidence in my ability to teach my students math, even though deep down somewhere I know that I can do it. There is some good news though. I am slowly but surely gaining my footing and starting to develop a routine for myself. I still struggle with making sure my lesson plans are up to par and that I submit them in time, but I'm learning. I've begun to see that completing what would normally be morning tasks the afternoon before makes for much more time to do nonroutine tasks in the morning times. This year is going to mean a lot of learning for me...... and hopefully my students :)

I originally made this blog to write about my "realizations" during my first year of teaching, and now that I have been in my classroom with my kids every day for about a month, I feel like I can give an accurate list of some things that I have realized. So here goes.............. :)

1. Even high schoolers like getting graded papers back with stickers on them. 

2. Dum Dum suckers are an EXCELLENT way to get all students involved in the learning process. ALL of my students have become more eager to answer questions since I brought Dum Dums into my classroom. 

3. Make sure you have a friendly relationship with the school custodians. They will get tired of sweeping up the trash your students leave on the floor from their Dum Dums. 

4. Follow all the school rules. If you don't follow the rules, how can you expect your students to?

5. Care about your students. I truly feel that all of my students know that I genuinely care about their well being and their activities outside of my classroom. I try every day to find out something new about my students. I want to know who they are and watch them grow into young adults. 

6. Take advice from others as "constructive criticism". When others say they are just trying to help, thy really are. 

7. Let your students have some fun in your class. If they don't enjoy being with you, they are not going to work for you.

8. Don't be to relaxed and laid back. If students think you are a push over, again, they will not work for you.

9. Have school spirit. Students these days could care less about their schools. If you show that you care for your school and are supportive, your students will follow in your foot steps. 

10. Treat yourself to that shirt you've been wanting, or those shoes, that purse, or that watch. You are a hard worker and deserve to splurge on yourself every now and then. Plus, it gives you something to be excited about when all you really want to do is scream because your students bombed a test that you were sure they would pass. 

11. Make time for your loved ones. They will be the most important people to help you forget about all the stress you are bringing home from school.

12. Get plenty of sleep. I used to be a night owl. I would stay up until all hours of the night just cleaning or doing random organizing of my closet. As a teacher, I have realized that sleep is hard to come by, so try to make an effort to get good rest. I am ALWAYS in bed by 10, and usually asleep by 9:30. :)

13. Every Monday you will be sore from being on your feet after spending the entire weekend sitting down. Go buy you some IcyHot, a heating pad, ice packs, or whatever it is that works for you to get your aching legs ready to go for the next day. 

14. Take bubble baths. I used to be the type that just went to bed after a long, hard day, but now it is absolutely mandatory that I take a bath, not just to be clean but to have some peace and quiet. 

I guess I'll stop there for this post... lol It is starting to get kind of long. I hope you all enjoy reading about my thoughts during my first year of teaching. It has been an adventure to say the least! I can only hope and pray that by the end of the year I will have become a better teacher than the day I started and that my students will have become more knowledgable about math than they were when they first stepped foot into my room. 

God Bless :)

Lindsay <3