In it to WIN it!!

My life in North Mississippi has been wonderful so far. I love this area and the people. I would love to stay in this area for a while. At my school there is a first year teacher who is going through everything I went through last year. It is so hard to see her struggle. I see myself a lot I her. The last week for her has been hell. She has cried everyday. Crying because she is coaching her first year, because she feels unappreciated, and because she feels she has no control of her class and no administrative support. She is crying for all the reasons I cried last year. Everyday I try to give her advice about how to improve classroom management and what to do about coaching and other issues; after all I just went through that last year. But no matter what I tell her, she is the only one who can change her situation. The first year of teaching is all about seeing what works best for you in your classroom. It is about trial and error. It is almost like you are supposed to fail. But you have to get up and keep going. You have to try new things. You have to take and use advice from others. I remember last year people tried to give me advice, but all I thought was that they do not know what I am going through. But I have realized that no matter what school district you are in your first year, teaching is really, really hard. You can only make it easier on yourself. It is important to stay positive and to try new things. My heart really aches for her. She is having such a hard time. But it is up to her to change that. Sometimes we have to become different people to survive, which in my opinion is fine, as long as you don’t lose sight of who you truly are. I know that my senior year of college basketball, I had to become an assertive, outspoken leader. For me being assertive and outspoken are the hardest things to be, but I had to change for myself, the

The Decision

The decision to change school was a very hard long thought out decision. If I can recall it took me about a month to make the decision. For me it turned out to be a great situation. That is at least so far. I really enjoy the people I work with. Last year I felt so alone as if I was the only one going through the first year and the only one in teacher in my school in a new place and new culture. Last year was so hard and depressing. At this time last year, I was beginning to cry everyday. I am proud to say that I have only cried one time this year. Also I have much less feelings of anxiety and frustration. I really feel as if I am making a difference. At the new school I still have the chance to work with at-risk students. Although these students are in a better situation, they are still being left behind. Many of them end up dropping out or receiving certificates of attendance. I am happy that I have gotten the chance to see both sides of the spectrum. I have worked in a bad and in a good school district. I now can see why the bad school district is bad. And in my option it was not the leadership, at least not at the middle school level. There so many little things that go into running a school. This experience has given me the courage and desire to continue teaching after the two years are over. I would like to take the things that I have learned from the good school district back to a bad school district. I would love the chance to be an administrator one day. I feel that if I would have stayed where I was at last yea, this year would be the last year that I taught. I have realized that just maybe I do want to spend my life teaching.