:-) School Days

I have to say that I think I have the best job in the world! While the pay could be better (tons better), I have left school every day thinking about these 27 kids entrusted to me. It's so rewarding! I am so proud of the progress that they have made in the two short weeks we have been together. Ashley, my aide, deserves much of the credit for that as well. She's been a great partner who I will be sad to lose next year. While I totally understand that it is in her best interest to look for her own classroom, and that this gig serves merely to help us out and provide her with valuable "experience" for her resume, it is not the reason she put the time in to earn her teaching license.

This past week was the first week of changes within "MY" classroom. The students' play centers were shifted to the end of the day and they were introduced to "learning" centers. While they struggled to be interdependent among their groups the first day, the following days were awesome! I was so proud of them for working so quietly and well on Tuesday especially. The biggest struggle for me at this point is getting them to understand that I cannot have 27 hands tapping me at the same time or shouting out at me for something. As I was telling a colleague just yesterday, I feel as if I have to be the strictest with this right now from the beginning. I don't want to be insensitive to them BUT they have yet to be taught the ways of school or the appropriate means of gaining the attention of a teacher (or adult). Most of my students are either youngests or onlys. You can imagine the dynamic this creates with a class roster of 27 students. I don't mean this to be a negative comment, merely that most of my students are accustomed to having constant help and undivided attention. Obviously, this isn't possible in any classroom because of the normal teacher/student ratio.

We'll get there though. Like I said, they have made a great deal of progress already. I have had three different comments made about how much more they appear to be on-task as other's pass by our classroom!!! YAY! That's a great thing to hear! And I have to say that I have great people in my life- amazing people who want to see me succeed and support me in providing our little youngsters with the best possible education! I have to say that I am loving this more than I had ever thought I would. All of the fear, hesitation, doubts- it's all in the past. I'm so thankful.

It's been a week . . . and a great start!

Well it's been a week since I had first taken on the role as Kindergarten teacher to 27 students in Canal Fulton, Ohio! While I know I am in for much more work, I feel far more comfortable in my position after a week of learning the basic routines and expectations of the school. The high number of students does make my job challenging but I am up for it! The students seem to be functioning as if they were still new to the school year and without the full knowledge of what it means to be a kindergartener. Again, I see this as a challenge and hope to quickly teach them the basic structure and routines of the school day. My major concern is providing each student with the proper education that he/she needs to advance on and be successful throughout their future education. I remind myself constantly that I need to stay consistent in my discipline, yet fun and friendly in my approach. I want my students to enjoy the school day and look forward to seeing me each morning as I do them. I don't ever want to get to a point where I find myself wishing one of the students was absent (as the teacher holding this position prior to me did quite often). Each one of these children deserves to be accepted, regardless of their behavior or educational proficiency. I've always enjoyed being around children, and I hope that my 27 students are able to see that! I am fortunate enough to have an aide with me for five hours out of the school day. This allows me to feel more confident in providing the individualized instruction so necessary in today's classrooms. Ashley, my aide, is a licensed teacher as well. While her licensure is middle childhood, fourth grade through ninth, her ability as an educator comes out quite often and helps our communication process. She seems to be right at the same level with me and understand what I am attempting to do and get at when it comes to the organization and structure of the school day.

After all of that searching, all of that frustration, all of those interviews, I feel more confident then ever that I am in the school that will work best for me! I am in a comfortable, friendly, open environment where I can continue to grow as an educator and further the career I had attempted to begin so long ago!!! Wish me luck and keep the prayers said that I don't encounter too many struggles. God never gives more than one can handle! From this point on, that is my daily mantra!

~Oh MY!~

Yay! I finally managed it! I am finally going to have my own classroom! I am very, very excited, anxious, and apprehensive!!!!!! I am going to Sts Philips and James in Canal Fulton on Monday to meet my little kindergarteners and then will drive over to IPSCO and let them in on the news. I'm excited to meet my kiddos but more than a little nervous to tell me current boss the situation. He, and the rest, are going to be less than thrilled, but I certainly can't put my best interests aside for someone who at the end of the day really is not concerned with me. I'm looking forward to this new chapter in my life and am excited for the opportunity of security and stability that it can bring forth as well!

Wish me luck and keep the prayers going that the students transition well from the unorthodox school year that they've has thus far!

Well, I might be done with you . . . and on to something else!

Well, depending on how tonight goes, I may just be done with Canton City Schools. It's hard to say what the future will bring for me but, if tonight's interview goes well, then in the very near future I will be a Kindergarten teacher within a local parochial school. I think that this possibility excites me more than any of the other interviews I had undergone these past six months. The thought of being in a school setting where the parents are choosing to pay for their child's education eludes to the possibility of having better levels of involvement and cooperation overall from the parents. Also, there is the fact that the class sizes are smaller in parochial schools. This keeps the overwhelmed feelings of a first time teacher down slightly. Who would have thought that at this point in the school year, I would still be scheduling interviews for the possibilty of gaining my own classroom?!

I have been attempting to keep track of the number of interviews I have gone through now, and if I am thinking correctly, this will be my seventh in the last six months. It can definitely be viewed positively and negatively. While I have gained some great interview experience, I was feeling pretty down this past weekend after I got the last rejection phone call. I mean, really, six rejections??! That doesn't sit too well with the old ego. But thinking about this upcoming (seventh) interview, I have a renewed sense of why I went to school to become a teacher in the first place. I can't give up now, even if I am feeling very frustrated with the whole process! Looking through my portfolio this morning helped quite a bit as well. I began thinking about the past interviews and where I may have gone wrong. With each of the Canton City interviews (five out of the previous six), there were a panel of interviewers, each taking a turn asking a scripted question. They told me prior to the questioning that I was to keep the answers as short and concise as possible due to the time limit on the session. I was never really offered a time to display my passion and excitement for teaching. I brought my 5 inch thick portfolio to each session and never once opened it to show off the work I had put into my degree. I was intimidated by the school system and the style of the interviewing process. Without being given the chance to demonstrate my knowledge and passion, I flopped. Well, at least, I left feeling like I had flopped. I was told that for a few of those positions I had landed myself in the top two or three. Overall, for a district as hard to get into as Canton City, that's not a terrible status to have. It just doesn't get me into my own classroom!

If this upcoming possibility doesn't work out, I will continue taking the steps to get on the sub list (which is taking A LOT longer then I had originally anticipated) and make a name for myself within various school districts. I just wish that I had more financial freedom to have more flexibilty! I know that I am not the only one working and striving to keep afloat or feeling strapped to a job, but I hate it!! One day, hopefully in the near future, I will be more settled with my career and where my life is taking me! Within a year's time, everything will be different and changed for the better! That's my goal!