Looking Back and Looking Forward

Alright bloggers so for today I am looking back and reflecting on this past semester. My first semester of teaching is basically under my belt and I feel that I have learned a lot! I hope that any of you who have been following for any of this time feel we have grown together! Looking back on my first semester, I am hoping that next semester will be even better. Looking foward, these are all areas that I hope to continue growing in.

Here is a brief look back at my very first day, which was basically a disaster and caused me to breakdown and reconsider what I had spent the last 4 years working towards!


Here are 5 major things that have been revealed to me this semester:

ONE - THERE IS NO ROOM FOR PRIDE

Over the past several years the Lord has wrecked my heart over and over again revealing my struggle with being proud. I have seen that my pride is ugly. My pride has not served me well, has caused me to lose friends, has created wedges in relationships, and has not given other people an image of Christ.

In addition, when a problem flares up at school, it feels personal. It feels like I'm in an unsolicited fight and the other person has attacked first. Not cool. This semester, I have really had to control my pride, put it aside and try to deal with the problem rather than defend myself.

TWO - LISTENING IS IMPORTANT

All circling back to my pride, when someone states a problem and my response is to defend my own actions, this gives off the appearance that I have not recognized this person's problem or that I deem this person's problem to be illegitimate. Not a good step towards solving a problem or building a relationship with this person.

THREE - TAKE TIME TO LOOK AT THE ACHIEVEMENTS

Often, it is easy to get caught up in where my kids need to be, especially those who came in already behind. This view, while important, has a tendency to make everyone feel frustrated and helpless. Take time to reflect back on how much the child or children have learned this year. One of my students came to me knowing about 3 sight words and had spent the entirety of kindergarten mastering letter sounds. Needless to say I was very worried at the beginning of the year! Now, it is Christmas time and this child is a reader! While they are still not reading at a first grade level, this child is reading successfully. What an accomplishment!

FOUR - SEEK ADVICE WHEN NECESSARY

I am a very sociable person and when I have a problem I am all about seeking advice. But sometimes I have found myself seeking too much advice and then I forget what my own opinion was and become very confused with all of these different opinions running around in my head. I am practicing taking a step back, trying to establish my own opinion and thoughts on a situation and try this first. Then, if I need advice seek out one or two other people to ask.

FIVE - USE YOUR TIME WISELY

I am not always the best with time management which means that a lot of times my downtime at school is not as productive as it could be. I am still trying to practice using my time before school and my planning period efficiently so that I can lighten my load to do after school and on the weekends.

Thanks for reading this post friends and just because I appreciate you, HERE is a little morning work math sheet I made. This is my first attempt at creating anything myself and I have a long road to go so any feedback would be great!