So here I am. I find myself at the end of my third year of teaching. How can one really describe all of the insanity that occurred in the 2020-2021 school year? Let me see if I can formulate a list that describes my experiences…
- I developed manic behavior and severe anxiety due to being in-person teaching during a pandemic while I was unvaccinated.
- I was so overwhelmed that I actually don’t remember much of the beginning of the year of school. My husband and therapist saved me many days, along with my teaching department.
- I decided to move and am now currently moving to Columbus and getting out of Northwest, Ohio.
- After months of counseling, I was able to finally get to a place of calm, I started working out again, and developed some type of equilibrium that helped me get through the end of the school year.
In the dramatic mess that was this school year, some really awesome things happened that just really brought epic joy into my life.
- I am moving districts and moving closer to family….and Target. Like seriously it is across the street from my house.
- I started working as a social media specialist for Calico Spanish and I LOVE everything about it. I never knew I had a passion for marketing until now!
- I teach kindergarten Spanish on Zoom to a really awesome group of students. My MIL is an online teacher and it has been really amazing to watch them learn Spanish. If you ever need validation that music and stories have an impact on someone’s language ability, you should meet these kids…MINDBLOWN!
So, friends. This is it. In just a 3 short years, I think I have learned quite a bit about what to do/not do in teaching. Below are my goals for for Year 4…
Year 4 Goals:
- Storyask more and reuse those stories in more activities within my own thematic units.
- Go slower and get rid of expectations of where we “should be” by the end of a year (within reason).
- Increase speaking activities for my students (yes, I do believe in speaking practice and the Output Hypothesis).
- Decolonize my curriculum and include more diverse characters and images into my materials.
- Use Google slides for daily slides and activity transitions ( I know…late to the game.)
- Finally figure out how I like to lesson plan and stick to it for an entire year. (always open to suggestions)
- Establish a better absent work system/turn in paper system.
Well friends, if you made it this far I am sincerely so thankful that you were interested enough in my journey. Stay tuned for more!