Power

"With great power comes great responsibility."

-Peter Parker (Spider-Man)

"I've come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom.
It's my personal approach that creates the climate. It's my daily mood that makes the weather.
As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal.
In all situations it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or dehumanized."
-Haim Ginott

M is for...

M is for Management. I've been struggling with this part of teaching lately. Well, okay, I've been struggling with it all year, but I've reached a point where I don't know what else I can do. The problem, I know, is that I was too nice/lax in the beginning, thus setting the stage for the kids to walk all over me for the rest of the year. Trying to be tough after being nice is like pulling teeth. Next school year, for my student teaching semester, I am going to be super tough at first so that I won't have to deal with as many discipline problems later on! I do have a good group of students though-their main problem is that they like to talk, talk, talk (which is good for ELD kids but bad when you're trying to walk quietly down the hallway, read a book aloud, or teach a lesson).

M is for Monolingual. We got a new student in our class yesterday. She's monolingual-she only speaks Spanish, although I did find out today that she can count up to 6 in English. I also found out that it is very hard to teach/communicate while following Arizona's "English Only" mandate. I wish lawmakers would get their butts into a classroom every so often to see what education is really like.

M is for Motivation. I've been lacking in this area as well. I am nearing the end of my fourth year, or eighth semester, of undergraduate studies. I am SO READY to be done!!! Only a handful of assignments, half-day summer school teaching in June, and a semester of student teaching + a 3-credit course stands between me and graduation!!!!!! Wait...that's a lot. Better to just see it in terms of months-8 more till I am faced with the Real World!  =O  =D

My First Class

I've been interning for the past school year in a first grade ELD (English Language Development) class in a Title I school. I have fallen in love with this class. Every single student, even the troublemakers, are sweet at heart. They have brought me so much joy (and frustration!) on the Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays that I have been in the classroom all day with them. They have taught me so much more about pedagogy than any of my college courses. I love every one of these kids so much. They say you never forget your first class-usually that pertains to the first class you teach on your own-but I think this current class is that first class that I'll never forget. Some of them have tough home lives, most of them are economically poor, and all of them are still learning how to speak the English language fluently, but none of that matters when they step through those school doors. To me they are the future of our world, and I have so much hope in and for every one of them.

So here's to the kids who inspire me to be a better teacher and a better person :)

Down from the Door

Here I am, creating another blog. It's been awhile. I intend to use this blog for myself, to be able to look back and see how far I've come, and for others, to accompany me on my journey, if they are so inclined.

Thus marks another stage in my journey to the future, that big unknown. I will know I have arrived when I secure a permanent teaching position with my own classroom.

Until then, hang on; it's going to be a bumpy ride!

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.

-J.R.R. Tolkien