Write FOR Them

Being a teacher is truly a beautiful thing.  I cannot even begin to describe how amazing it is to go to work every day and never even feel like you are working.  C.S. Lewis once said, "True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it's thinking of yourself less."  Let me just tell you, I have never been more humbled in all of my life.  There is no time to think about yourself when you have over a hundred young people looking up to you.  I think of my students all the time.  I pray for them all the time.  I want their success more than my own.

Last week, I shared a story with my kids.  The story was one of friendship and loss.  It was about the life changing power of having someone believe in you.  The story was my very own.  It was about the loss of my best friend, Caroline.  Sharing my story, I bonded with my kids on a whole new level.  I saw tears in their eyes as I read about the friendship that ultimately led me to becoming a teacher.  I then told my students about the power of writing and the power of believing in one another.  It really hits home to them when you make things up close and personal.  The students begin to see you as a real person, and they begin to open up in ways you could never imagine.

One student shared with me a story about his best friend who survived a car accident but was never the same again.  One student went home that night and wrote a story about a best friend who left her behind for a new best friend and asked me in private to read it. 

Reflecting on the power of stories (particularly the stories that are a part of me), I decided that sharing one story wasn't good enough.  While running 16 miles, I connected the dots of my life in my head.  I spent most of my life chasing after a dental degree (not to mention, I have a dental family) so I know more about dentistry than the average person.  So, how could that knowledge benefit my students?

Easy.  Last week, several of my classes began writing thrillers.  They read Poe's "Tell-Tale Heart" so I wanted them to mimic the suspenseful style by writing thrillers of their own.  They were to pay attention to syntax and incorporate vocabulary words into their thrillers.  Well, my connection came when I remembered that I wrote a dental thriller in college.  I pulled up the thriller and added my kids' vocabulary words to the story.  All this week, thanks to my aunt, my classes are learning about text features and dentistry.  Friday, we will read my dental thriller, and I will come to class dressed as a dentist.  They get to decide on their own who they think is the murderer using clues from the text.  Bam, there's a lesson on textual evidence.

I am an idealist.  Sometimes ideas work out a lot better in my head than they do in reality.  But, so far this week, my kids have responded incredibly well to the dental theme.  They have been so curious about all the supplies I have brought in.  My 7th period kiddos were arguing about who got to keep whatever supplies was leftover from the day.  Let me assure you that it was nothing worth keeping.  But, the fact that they wanted the supplies showed me that they had some special connection to it.

Not to mention, before I walked into 7th period, one of my first period kids walked past the classroom and told the students that they were going to have so much fun in class.

I cannot wait for Friday.  I hope the rest of the week will blow their little minds (in a good way)!  If it does, I have already got some tricks up my sleeve for next week. :)

In Teaching You Will Learn

"In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn." Tarzan

It's Friday.  Fridays are not quite what they used to be.  I used to anxiously await the weekend so that I could be free of work, but I no longer feel that way.  Maybe because I do not feel like I am going to work every day.  Teaching is just too special to be classified as work.

Three weeks of school are gone.  I cannot believe how fast the time has gone.  I wish I could freeze time so that I could spend just a little more time getting to know each of my students.  They all have such special and unique stories.  Some of their stories break my heart into a thousand pieces, and some of their stories absolutely blow my mind.

It amazes me to see just how strong such young people are.  The things they have been through and the things they are going through are sometimes hard to even fathom.  I realize more and more just how blessed I have been all of my life and how blessed I still am.  I realize, too, that all of my blessings were not meant for me alone.  I was meant to pour out everything that was poured into me.  And, as a teacher, I hope to never do any less than that no matter how many years I spend teaching.  I never want to forget why I am in the classroom.

Teaching is the most humbling experience of a lifetime.  Everything I do now is for my students, not me.  I can honestly say I have never been so selfless in all my life.  But, I have no time to think about myself when I have over a hundred students to think about.

In three weeks, I have had the pleasure of watching a shy, new student make new friends.  I have had the pleasure of watching a boy who sometimes sits alone blend into a welcoming classroom environment. 

My favorite part about teaching is seeing my students smile.

The Journey Begins

It's a few weeks into the first semester of my first year teaching.  I want to welcome you into my new teacher world.  Journey alongside me through the hilarity, the heart-wrenching stories, and the heart-warming stories.  Maybe what I have to share won't change you, but I can honestly say that I became a new person the day I became a middle school teacher.  I became a better person.  And I don't say those words lightly.  In just three weeks, I have been forever changed.  Praise the Lord!

I am an overachiever and a perfectionist, meaning I tend to get stressed out in environments where I don't know exactly what I am supposed to do.  But, it was weird, not once did I feel nervous.  I felt completely at peace.  It was then that I realized I was right smack dab in the middle of God's will for my life.  And, I honestly have not doubted that a moment since.

The very first words I heard from the very first student I encountered on my very first day of school (my second first day of middle school) were: "You're gorgeous!"  I was blown away.  Words of affirmation are my love language through and through so the kind words really touched my heart.  I also received an apple in my last class of the day.  If you ask me, I'd say the apple was quite suitable for someone's first day of teaching ever.  I'll never forget it.  That's for sure.

The first week of school I worked extra hard to build a sense of classroom community.  I want my kids to see their peers in a positive light so that they can build each other up and reach goals that they could never reach alone.  So many kids struggle with self-esteem.  They just need to know someone cares.  It makes all the difference in the world.  If you ask me, it's worth putting the work in upfront to get to know your students well.  They're more likely to engage in the content later if you do that because they know you aren't just piling work up to be mean.  If you don't show them otherwise, how are they to know that's not the case?

There's just so much to take into consideration.  For some kids, you may be the only person in their whole life who ever believes in them.  What a powerful thing!  I believe in my kids.  Every last one of them.  I know each of them has something incredible to offer.  Some kids you just have to dig a little deeper to discover what talents they have hidden.  But they are there.  In three weeks, I have already discovered some talented artists, singers, writers and speakers.

It doesn't take much to show the kids you care.  Figure out what you have in common with them, and be honest!  One Direction, Duck Dynasty, and Harry Potter have worked wonders for me thus far. :)

I still stand by my claim: "One of my favorite things about being a teacher is getting to pray for over a hundred kids BY NAME every single day!"