Year One in Review

Back in April, after returning from a wonderful spring break road trip (I’m still hoping to make an epic video but my aging Macbook is having some software update issues…), Emil and I were skyping with the in-laws when I excitedly stated that we were just 6 weeks away from the end of the school year. My father-in-law chuckled and said along the lines of: “Isn’t it interesting how you spent your entire college career looking forward to finally teaching, and here you are, wishing the school year away?”

Boom. Truth Bomb. That man always has a way of keeping things in perspective.

So here are a few things I learned as a brandy-new teacher and thought of as I spent the final 6 weeks soaking up every moment of year one:

Field Day 2015

·      There are going to be days when all you want to do is stay locked up in your classroom, lights off, behind your desk, avoiding human interaction.

·      Teaching at the same school as your husband makes 9 out of 10 conversations school related, including those minutes before bed despite being a “school free zone”.

·      The P.E. curriculum makes every lesson sound delightfully exciting and educational, when in reality, you’ll spend half the class practicing the station rotation or how to properly tag a classmate without pushing them.

·      The lunchroom is the perfect spot to decompress but can too easily become a complaint center.

·      Flexibility comes in handy both when you’re demonstrating the day’s stunt and tumble but also when you get kicked out of your gym, classroom, or field without notice. Also handy when half your health class is absent on trip and with no mention.

·      Writing Incident Reports and Pink Slips (for poor behavior) becomes less daunting and more effective, knowing that you’ve done all in your “toolbox” throughout the class period.

·      You will eventually learn every students’ name but still mix up the multitudes of Emma’s and Ava’s and siblings that are in adjacent grades who look exactly alike.

·      That high school students, when approached carefully, are more than willing to chat about abstinence or alcohol use and will find ways to make you think more deeply about waiting for “the one” than you ever knew possible.

·      Asking if/when/why you don’t have your own children is a perfectly reasonable question to most elementary students.

·      Students need love more than knowledge at any age and any day.

 Lord Willing, Emil and I look forward to serving at Joshua Springs Christian School for the 2015/16 school year!