Week 1 Recap

It's official! I survived my first week of teaching. The week was extremely busy and I thought it was the best idea to save all of my blogging until the end of the week. This way, I can sum up all my emotions from the roller coaster week. I will start by saying that the week is long, but the days are longer. It is incredible how long I am gone for the day, and how much of my time I spend preparing lesson after lesson. Unfortunately, I only get 2 hours in the classroom actually teaching. The first hour of the day is called Academic Intervention Hour. During this time, my groups rotate and I teach different individualized plans. For the first ten minutes, it is character building. This is by far my favorite part of the day. I have an amazing group of students in my group and I am watching them truly get to know one another. We have a routine where we go around and answer a simple question, like what is your favorite candy/toy/color. Next, we all go around and share ANYTHING that we want. This can be good stories, bad stories, or just something simple that we want to say. Sharing is voluntary, and they don't have anything to say, they don't have to. Luckily, all my kids love sharing. After a student shares, the rest of us have to say "Thank you for sharing." Then the student responds with "Do you have any questions?" We are working hard on asking questions vs. giving a statement. They are getting so good at this! I am so proud of my students and so happy to learn so much about them. There was one day where everyone shared a story about death. It sounds scary, but many children don't ever know where to talk about that, so I am happy that they felt comfortable to share it with each other. One student said that her Grandma opened the front door only to be shot in the head and killed. It was so amazing to see the other students listen to her, and no one made it a big deal. They just answered with "Thank you for sharing." Another student shared that his brother hits him and slams him against the wall. After he opened it up for questions, a student raised his hand and said "Did it hurt?" I was so amazed by this, and watched them interact back and forth. They are genuinely invested in each other, and I love watching them become a team. I am working to promote team work between us and every day after our meeting, we end with a team cheer. This is their favorite part of the morning and their eyes light up! Wow, they are amazing!

Monday through Thursday, I taught Expository Reading and Vocabulary. I LOVED this and my hour of teaching seemed to go by way too fast. We read a book about gardening and I shared a story with them about my mom. They loved hearing about it, and half of the students ended up writing about their mom. They love writing stories, and I loved talking with them about it. 

On Friday, I taught math for the first time. I had to teach greater than, less than, and equal to, which was a very abstract concept for some. Not everyone understood it, which made me become discouraged about my effectiveness as a teacher. Knowing that they didn't understand what I taught them ate away at me all weekend, and it was on my mind from the very end of the lesson. It made me think about the best way that my students learn and what I can do to get through to every single student. After a lot of thought, I went through and revamped every lesson plan to benefit each and every student. I hope that this works!

I am so ready to see the kids tomorrow. My time with them is going to be way too short and I want to make sure that I am using every second that I have to build relationships with them. No matter how tired I am, or how much I have to get done, seeing their smiling faces makes it all worth it.

I am so fortunate to have this opportunity. God has truly opened the doors for me, and I know I am going to find something so specific that I am passionate about. I have already realized how much I care about Special Education and I know there will be so much more that I want to fight for or want to change. I am humbled by the fact that I am here in Arizona. I wake up in a post card, and I am doing what I love. There are so many teachers that I look up to, including my amazing aunt, and I hope that I can mimic their passion in my classroom.

On Friday, my best friend got married and I wasn't able to be there to watch her walk down the aisle. It was definitely tough and for the first time, I realized how many miles away I am from everything I love. Today was another reminder of that. Today is the day that the world appreciates the beauty of a father. Having a father is such a special thing, especially in a girl's life. My dad is such a protector. He cares about complete strangers, and he cares about them with all he has. He is extremely selfless, and is always looking to please others. My dad always makes sure that there is food that I can eat, anywhere I go. At home, I never woke up on a Saturday morning without chocolate almond milk waiting for me in the fridge. If only I could wake up to that here! To sum it up, my dad has taught me to love everyone, with everything that I have. He has taught me to help complete strangers, even if I get nothing in return, because that is what being on this Earth is all about. We are not here for ourselves. I am in Arizona teaching complete strangers and working to close the achievement gap because my dad taught me that life is to short to not give it all you got.  Happy Father's Day, Dad! I miss you more than words can describe!

All my love from Phoenix,

Jacey xxo