This Time of Year

This is always the time of year when I reflect on what happened throughout the school year and what I want to do different for next year. I get excited to think about what new challenges will come next year, but also look forward to ending the year and relaxing over the summer. There are always new ideas I want to try, ways I want to improve, and things I want to do differently. Big changes are happening at our school, and I am excited to be a part of them!

Self Reflection

I started teaching 14 years ago, and for the first time 2 weeks ago, felt old. I had a student from my first year of teaching find me on Facebook. He is now 26 and living in Korea. He wondered if I remembered him (of course I did), but still pictured him as a 12 year old. He emailed me and asked me, "What's new?" How do you answer that when 14 years have gone by. It made me realize how much has happened in the last 14 years of my life, and it made me think how much has happened in the lives of my 312 students.

Teaching children always came naturally to me (not that I didn't have to work at it), but it was something I was comfortable doing. Now being an IRT, it doesn't come as naturally. There is still the teaching part of the job, but teaching adults is a lot different that teaching children. I think I have learned more about teaching and education in the last 2 years than I did in the previous 12. One thing I have definitely learned is that I have to stay current. Technology, best practices, research, assessments are constantly changing and I have to stay up to date. This job has helped me realize that I am capable of learning lots more and that it is important for myself, my students, and my colleagues.

I have very interested in learning more about technology as it fits into the classroom. I live in a tech savvy household, but our technology is more about entertainment, than education. My husband is glad I am learning how to do a blog, because he wants me to teach him how to do one.