I guess I should post something since it's been so long...
Written at the beginning of the summer:
School is over! AND... I survived my first year of teaching!
Overall, I felt pretty successful. I had a lot of challenges and failures, but also a lot of successes and good memories. :D
The GOOD: I had appreciative and successful students. I feel like most of my students learned some Spanish! I received several thank you cards and expressions of appreciation, especially at the end of the year. Some students even wanted me to sign their yearbooks. There were even a few students who brought me a cake and flowers for my birthday. It was probably mostly a ploy to get me to let them waste time and have a party, but I didn't care and we didn't waste very much time... Anyway, I appreciated the gesture.
 |
| It says "Feliz Cumpleaños Señora W." My student said I didn't have to share my chocolate chocolate cake with anyone so I didn't. How's that for maturity? :) |
|
 |
| The flowers 2 girl students brought me. :) |
The BAD: I also had 1 pretty irritated parent via email and 1 pretty irate parent in person. That was fun! (:/) *sarcasm* Among many, many other things, she kept accusing me of
hating her daughter. Really,
REALLY??? And she never really listened to what I had to say in response to her accusations.
Really mature and respectful... Those were the 2 things that really irritated me about my "conversations" with her.
My least favorite things about teaching: grading! ew! and wearing mascara every day! blah!
My most favorite things about teaching: being around students and helping them and celebrating with them when they succeed! inventing or implementing creative activities! looking at my students projects!
Anyway, really there are too many things to say about the school year...
This is what I posted on Facebook and I think it sums it up pretty well:
"The
past nine months have been the most invigorating, exhausting, exciting,
disheartening, fulfilling, depressing, successful, stressful, and
awesome months of my entire life. I'm glad to have summer break to
recover and I'm excited to be an even better teacher next year!"
 |
| Mom and Grandma came to see me at school :) |
So far I am enjoying my summer break by sleeping, reading, watching tv, spending time with Steven and my family, and generally just doing whatever I want. It's been super nice and I really needed it!
_______________________________
Written on date posted:
I
have really enjoyed my break. I got to take naps if I was tired, read
my books, go and do whatever I wanted, cook and make treats, pin awesome
things on Pinterest, spend
every spare moment with Steven, and do a whole bunch of other stuff too
(including house hunting which is a whole other story). I felt like I
got to recuperate, reflect, and regroup.
The highlight of my summer vacation was going to Saint George and the Tuacahn with Steven for our anniversary. We went to three plays, relaxed, and went to Snow Canyon. It was really fun! This is what I wrote on Facebook:
"I love love love plays! Hairspray, Aladdin, and the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at the Tuacahn were so awesome! There were live camels, a flying carpet, vehicles on stage, water displays, a 3D movie, fireworks and pyrotechnics, tons of dancing, and tons of laughing! It was even overcast so it wasn't unbearably hot! Great vacation with the love of my life! :D"
 |
| The only picture we took :) |
Oh! Also, Steven dumped me out of our new canoe into a freezing cold beaver pond! (He got a canoe for his birthday and decided to make a stabilizer out of PVC pipe and pool noodles. A few seconds after we got out onto the pond I asked "Are you sure this is going to work?" And he said "Yeah! See..." As he pushed down hard on one side and we flipped right out. My head went all the way under and upon surfacing I exclaimed "Oh my gosh!" out of shock from the cold about 10 times.) I almost lost my flip flop and I was cold for the next two days, but we laughed about it afterwards though. It was pretty funny. :D
I also really loved swimming with my siblings in the river and going to plays and Seven Peaks with them. I also saw 4 of my students at Lagoon which was weird but cool. :)
I'm excited and nervous for my second year of teaching. Last year I was blissfully ignorant and idealistic about what I was getting myself into. That is not so much the case this year :) which makes me a little more apprehensive... I hope that once it gets started, I won't be so nervous...
One thing that helps me feel better/more confident and makes me smile is that the veteran French teacher at my school has a pretty high opinion of me and acts sort of disbelieving when I talk about how nervous I was last year. She says I was just always so clam and confident and that I didn't seem like a first year teacher. So I'm just going to keep remembering and thinking about that. :D
The students' first day is Tuesday! Here we go!
No comments:
Post a Comment