smile plz
I've been trying, since the inception of this blog to incorporate more "teaching" stuff into my posts. It's hard... for many reasons... but honestly I just don't know how much I'm willing to share about my classroom just yet... especially from this year. I'm very protective of my students. Especially the tough ones.
My students generally come first. They take all of my energy.. Every.Single.Day. I laugh with them, I cry with them, I tell them stories, and they tell me theirs. In all cases, their stories are gut enchantingly honest. I think about my students 100% of the time I am not with them. This year alone I have given them my lunch on more occasions than ever before, given bags of clothes, and shoes, baby clothes, maternity clothes, bought notebooks for an entire class, done laundry for them, called aunties and grandmothers, and probation officers, written letters to court houses, called DCF, and worked my ass off to make sure these same students know someone cares about them.
These are my babies. They come to me as 9th graders and it a very long year of maturity.
I have this philosophy. I've had it since day one of teaching. It's not the most popular philosophy, but it is mine.
See, I'm 100% sure that the majority of my students are smarter than me. I KNOW they have better street smarts, and almost all of them speak more than one language, fluently. I also know that for most of them it is most important that I teach them Respect, and Honesty. How to show gratitude, and be thankful. I want them to be able to laugh through the tough stuff and not get discouraged. It is more important to me that they understand how to accept not getting the answer they wanted. Of course it's my job to make sure they improve in their reading and writing. That they understand the difference between Their, There, and They're. That stuff happens... that's what you'll see when you walk in my classroom. But when you "read between the lines" of the dynamics we build in each 45 minute period... THAT is what matters.
My students generally come first. They take all of my energy.. Every.Single.Day. I laugh with them, I cry with them, I tell them stories, and they tell me theirs. In all cases, their stories are gut enchantingly honest. I think about my students 100% of the time I am not with them. This year alone I have given them my lunch on more occasions than ever before, given bags of clothes, and shoes, baby clothes, maternity clothes, bought notebooks for an entire class, done laundry for them, called aunties and grandmothers, and probation officers, written letters to court houses, called DCF, and worked my ass off to make sure these same students know someone cares about them.
These are my babies. They come to me as 9th graders and it a very long year of maturity.
I have this philosophy. I've had it since day one of teaching. It's not the most popular philosophy, but it is mine.
See, I'm 100% sure that the majority of my students are smarter than me. I KNOW they have better street smarts, and almost all of them speak more than one language, fluently. I also know that for most of them it is most important that I teach them Respect, and Honesty. How to show gratitude, and be thankful. I want them to be able to laugh through the tough stuff and not get discouraged. It is more important to me that they understand how to accept not getting the answer they wanted. Of course it's my job to make sure they improve in their reading and writing. That they understand the difference between Their, There, and They're. That stuff happens... that's what you'll see when you walk in my classroom. But when you "read between the lines" of the dynamics we build in each 45 minute period... THAT is what matters.
And when the 2:00 bell rang on Friday and I saw this on my shelf I knew I did my job.
Alli can attest -- this message would NOT have happened in September, not in December, not even in April... this was a year of hard work and determination. And as I go into my last 8 days of work, I think I can finally breathe.
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