I was lucky enough to show some perspective students around my school last week. It also happened to be my birthday that day! It was really exciting to show everyone around a school I'm so proud to be a part of. When I took the tour to my classroom, my students broke out into song, wishing me a happy birthday. They gave me a hand made card, signed by the students and the staff. It was a day I won't forget because it reminded me how appreciated I am at my placement and how, even though I can't always bring 100% of myself to my classroom, that my students know I care about them. They know I work my hardest to give my best to them,
I'm currently in the process of looking for jobs in Denver, CO. It's much more difficult than I expected. I've realized how important finding "the right fit" is when it comes to accepting a teaching job. I love the culture and the community my school placement has and I feel welcomed, supported and like I have the opportunities to bring in content that I think with best help my students succeed. It's difficult to find a place where I know I'll fit in when I'm searching from behind a computer screen, I really want to feel like I'm a part of a community at the school I begin my first year of teaching, and it's kind of a stress experience searching for that environment.
It's also difficult to grapple with leaving my students and realizing I'm going to get a whole new set of students next year. A whole new group of names to memorize. A whole new group of families to familiarize myself with. A whole new classroom to try to create a caring and space space. There will be a sea of new faces that I need to work my hardest to create relationships with, to get to know, to build trust and respect with and most importantly, to teach. This is a lot to take in. When I try to imagine it, it seems impossible. But I've see the relationships I've been able to build with my students in the past few months. I have strong, trusting and meaningful relationships. And I've cultivated them in such a short period of time. I know I have it in me, but it's just difficult to imagine picking up everything and starting over.
In that past few weeks, I've worked on the first draft of my thesis. It's amazing how terrifying my inquiry project seemed at the beginning. Nothing seemed to make sense and I was terrified that it would never come together. After writing my draft, I realized how much hard work I had already put into my research and data collection. Things really started coming together and I'm actually really proud of the work I have put in.
Feel free to check it out: http://multipleunderstandings.weebly.com/
I'm still very much in the editing process!
3 weeks to go...