February: Uneventful

How many times can you invest into a piece of work or creation only to have it brushed aside, complained over, and not appreciated before you give up? It has been hard over the past 6 months to work endlessly and churn out material and curriculum weekend after weekend and only have it met with groaning and moaning, while watching plans that I was excited about fail or not go as the way I had hoped. 

I watched the Cheese Rolling episode on We Are The Champions on Netflix and it has become how I explain to others how I feel my year is going. It feels like I tripped back in October and I've given up on trying to get back on my feet so we're just going to tumble until it stops and hope for the best.

The month of February always seems to be a dreadful one, even if it is only 28 days long. Even though the month has been challenging and tiresome, from switching back to in person and having our March Break postponed, we press on! Unfortunately, there isn't really much of a choice. 

I can't say there's been anything super eventful these past four weeks. Although I am still struggling with all the bits and pieces that come with first year teaching in global health crisis, I will say that there have been little moments of where I changed my perspective and that has been helpful. I really need to cultivate the habit of being thankful for my circumstances to push out all the burdening and negative thoughts. 

What a blessing it is to have a full-time teaching job straight out of Teacher's College. 

What an honour it is to be entrusted with such a calling and with such a class. 

How humbling is it to be considered, chosen and used by God to advance his Kingdom in ways I may not see or even realize.

What an opportunity it is to try new things, to be creative and watch students grow.

What a gift it is to have so many unexpected snow days to simply rest and breathe a little. 

I will say that the past week I had a really good teaching week. Students were engaged and cooperative, things went as great as they could go, the ember that was the joy of teaching was glowing once again. I found myself going home each day thinking "nah, that was a fluke" and yet be met with another great day the following day. I praise God for that! I hope the upcoming week will continue to remind me why I signed up for this profession! 

Teacher Reflections

well

- Contextualizing the Energy Science Unit with the Rube Goldberg Machine. Students are super engaged and excited as they design their projects!

- Trying a new means of spelling instruction - to learn and study the words by spelling them aloud to ensure proper sequence of letters! My struggling spellers are making progress! 

- Giving myself permission to let go of certain things (ex. not being able to meet all the needs of my students, being okay with parts of the class being off task when you are helping someone because you cannot be everywhere at once)

to improve

- Ensuring I live a balanced life and not have planning and teaching consume my life

- Learning the art of using morning meetings following the responsive classroom model

- Not getting distracted from task to task when I plan but focusing and finishing a task at a time