Saturday, October 04, 2008

Being a teacher...

Christy, my friend Ashley and I went out to PF Changs last night. Christy and I decided I need to write on my blog more often.



This year of teaching has been my hardest, by far. I have an extremely emotionally disturbed student, who has just about used all the energy and will power I have left. We are in the process of moving him into a special ed class. I have another student who is so incredibly spoiled, it is impossible to give him a punishment that works, mostly because he doesn't care. His parents didn't show up for a parent conference yesterday, because they decided they didn't want to. I proceeded to leave a 3 minute message about how their son would miss every recess until they showed up for a conference. If that didn't work, my next step was suspension. His current behavior cannot continue. SO frustrating. I'm at the end of my rope. The majority of my parents are great and supportive. This is the first time I have ever had to leave a message like that. So frustrating. How can people not take responsibility for their own children? I understand we are not perfect, but we can only do so much. So, from this experience, I have composed a list of things I love and don't love about teaching.



Things I love:

1) The kids--they are amazing
2) The opportunities I have for witnessing
3) Watching a student finally understand a concept
4) Getting fun letters and drawings
5) Having students tell me how much they love me...direct quote "Ms. A, you're the best teacher ever. And that's for real."
6)Learning from my students
7) Learning how to teach the "Why do we do this?"
8) Field trips
9) Co-workers
10) Collaborating and helping other teachers out



Things I don't love as much:
1) Some parents
2)the limitations of curriculum
3)No child left behind
4)All of the 239487 meetings I go to a week (ok, exageration, but it's true)
5)Limits on how much you can invest into a child's life
6)The special education process
7)budget cuts

Ok, so that sounded like whining, but it isn't really. Good for you if you're still reading. :)

4 comments:

Christy said...

YESSSSS a new blog! Good job.

Christy said...

ANNOUNCEMENT:
Email updates to the blog are going to be very dangerous. Its so easy it is scary!

Katie Lady said...

Things we love about Tee-Ti
1. we get to play with her
2. we get to send her pictures
3. eating sushi with her
4. her visits
5. her hugs
6. she's a great teacher!

Things we don't like about Tee-Ti:
1. she lives too far away

Anonymous said...

Hi Christal,
I love checking out your blogs (and myspace)when I get a chance....you are such a special person. Your were picked for this so important teaching position. Keep your patience with the frustrating parents - I know it's not easy at times! Glad to see that there are more 'loves' then 'don't loves' on your lists!!

Love ya Chris!!
Bobbi