Success! I did so well as a permanent substitute that I was hired as a full time 5th grade Reading/Language Arts teacher. I was so elated that when the principal offered me the job I jumped up and down like a child and hugged her.
Last year was my first full year of teaching. I had many ups and downs...more ups than downs thankfully. I struggled with finding my confidence as an educator. I was surrounded by such great teachers that I really felt inferior...when I was far from it! I taught 50% of those 5th graders and they scored 2nd in the county on FCAT! I am extremely proud of that! I made some amazing friends and had some phenomenal mentors. I learned a lot from my first year. I learned that my administration is very supportive and encouraging. I was so scared of them when I started. The way I saw it was that they really held the power...they could tell me that I was a horrible teacher and that scared the living daylights out of me. I was so afraid that I was going to royally screw up some poor child and I would have some Donald Trump style firing! Now, let me tell you, those women are incredibly talented, loving, and encouraging, but they mean business! They have high expectations and I did NOT want to fall short. That's great...I probably made them sound like Jekell & Hyde. They are far from it. I lacked so much self-confidence that I just lived to please. I wanted to be told that I was a good teacher and that I was doing my job correctly. Since I was 30 and I had taken quite a while to become a teacher I felt that I had wasted so much time. In reality, the path that I took to becoming a teacher made me a well rounded individual. I am an intelligent woman with a good heart...those are great ingredients for one amazing teacher! Watching my sweeties soar from scoring 14th to 2nd was the boost that I needed.
The thing that I loved most was how much my students loved me. I taught most of them for two years and they were all asking me to move up to sixth grade with them. That would have been fun! In the end I felt that I wanted to spread my wings and try out working with a younger group of students. Fifth graders are fun, but seriously hormonal! I preferred their more angelic personalities from 4th grade! They were definitely more focused on pleasing the teacher than who's dating who. In 4th grade they still have cooties. Not so much in fifth.
Well that's the short version of my lengthy road to becoming a teacher. From here on out you will hear about my life as a first grade teacher! That's right....from 5th to 1st. I've lost my mind...and I'm loving every minute of it!
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