Year 5 of teaching was a rollercoaster of emotions, and adventures, but in the end was able to provide me much insight into where I need to go moving forward in my teaching practices.
I love the colleagues I have worked with over the years and will embrace the friendships made with them for life. Let’s go party.
I will continue doing what I do best – building relationships with students inside and outside of the classroom – helping to give back to my community through community service projects through Builder’s Club.
I have harnessed and improved my presentation skills in front of students and adults, as well as had a taste of leadership experience in being in charge of the 7th grade team. It was not a hard cohort of students to deal with, and for that I am grateful.
Of course, the highlight of the year was our schoolwide trip to Phil’s BBQ, where we took 100+ 7th graders to my favorite restaurant.
Transitioning into teaching high school gave me the opportunity to see what I liked and didn’t like about teaching. I do like the creative freedom that comes with being able to plan my own curriculum, and was able to improve my ability to connect with English language learners. However, I would much rather in the future work with middle school students in order to be able to have more of an effect on their lives and mold them into good people.
I am grateful for the high school students that brought me positive experiences this year though.
No matter where I end up next, I will use all the skills I’ve acquired in the last 5 years to continue pushing to be a better version of myself. Growth mindset for life.
