Saturday, April 28, 2012

Teaching

Growing up, I ASSUMED that teachers had an easy job...off in the summers and holidays, and worked from 8 to 3!  Boy was I wrong!  It wasn't until I became a teacher until I realized exactly what the job entailed.  Recently, our local paper put an editorial that was very negative about teachers in the paper; personally I think it was to stir the pot and sell papers, but that is beside the point.

Teaching, for me is a Love/Hate relationship.  I LOVE my students.  I LOVE watching their growth each year both physically and intellectually.  I LOVE the joy I see in their eyes when I see them master a skill and/or explore a new entity.  I LOVE their innocence on the playground as they imagine they are super heroes or Star War's characters.  I LOVE that I can give them something as simple as an atlas or a rock and we can have a scavenger hunt that will last for hours.  I LOVE the perspective and connections that they can make between texts, themselves, and the world without me even giving them hints.  I LOVE that when we play freeze dance, that we can all laugh and have an awesome time!  I LOVE that they LOVE technology, because I do too and I LOVE all that we can do with our smartboard!  I LOVE them as if they were my own children for at least 180 days and most of the time more!  Last, I LOVE that they can put a smile on my face even at 7:25 in the morning!

Hate...such a strong word, so let's go with DISLIKE!  I DISLIKE all the assessments I have to give, and so do my students...I always apologize in advance!  I DISLIKE that they can only have 30 mins of recess on Non-PE days because I think there is a ton of learning that can happen through imaginative play.  I DISLIKE that I have to assess them ALL the time...did I mention that already?!  I DISLIKE Read 3D, that is a very time consuming assessment!!!  I DISLIKE all the stress!!!

I got into teaching because I LOVED children...that has not changed, nor will it!  My fear is that we have become such a data driven society, that we have gotten away from teaching and more into assessment.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Nine Months

I have been so slack about updating the blog, but I have also been super busy! I'm hoping this summer I can get back into the groove. The boys are doing well...they LOVE to eat! Both boys are loving baby food and we are slowly working on more "real" solid foods!

Coleson, pictured below, has 3 more top teeth coming in. He is definitely using the army crawl to get around and "attacks" any foods put on his tray!
Kipton, seen below, has two top teeth coming in. He is gotten really good at sitting up and loves to smile!
Both boys are happy and healthy and we cannot ask for anything more!