Relentless pursuit....

Being a first year teacher is challenging. That might be the understatement of the year (maybe the century). After four years in college studying education, a year and a half preparing through the credential program and six weeks of Institute with Teach For America, I still end every day realizing there is nothing that could completely prepare me for this experience. Thankfully, I have many tools and resources available to me. Even still... Teach For America instilled in me (and the thousands of other CMs teaching across the country) the belief that everything that happens in my classroom is a result of my teacher thoughts, beliefs and mindsets.

While this certainly strengthens and widens my locus of control, this belief also means that every day I reflect not only on how the day went, but also what I did or did not do to produce those results. When things do not go the way I had hoped, I have to step back and consider what really guided my actions in the situations and lessons that caused the day to be less than stellar. This also means that when I find myself making excuses for my students based on what their lives are like outside of school, I have to stop myself and remember that while I have no control over that, I do have control over my classroom and how they behave while in it.

Furthermore, by taking on this challenge, I have committed myself to having high expectations for my students; that means I cannot make excuses for them or myself. Add to that sense of responsibility and belief in the power of my own mindsets and thoughts the overwhelming amount of lesson planning, management planning/implementation and copying I have to do and you have one stressful experience. As stressful and overwhelming as this can be, I have to celebrate the things that go well in order to maintain my sanity. Like last week, my students took their math SWYK (Show What You Know) for the week, and all 23 achieved a "Meets!" (At my school we use the assessment grades of Falls Far Bellow, Approaches, Meets and Exceeds which is in line with how the state assesses students on standardized tests.) That Friday night, while grading the SWYK, I was grinning because I realized they got it, and I helped! Other moments that I celebrate and that keep me going are ones like what happened the other day in class: a lot of students were getting chatty and I stopped my instruction to move clips and wait for them to calm down. One of my students said in a frustrated voice, "C'mon, guys, be quiet! You're wasting our learning time and I want to learn!!" The happiness I felt from that one comment lasted for days. I still smile thinking about it.

Those are the mindsets and ideas that I can only hope my students grasp: that our time together is important; that we need to respect our learning time because we will not get it back. If I am going to relentlessly pursue Meet and Exceed results for my students, they need to be invested in our learning time; otherwise nothing I do will help them succeed. I feel so blessed to be a part of my students' lives. In spite of all that many of them have going on at home that could drag them down, for the most part they show up every day excited and they are eager to do their best. I only hope they know how much I care about them and their futures.

On a personal note: I finally finished unpacking all of my things and my room is completely set up! I really feel like I live here now. I even went on an excursion on Sunday to find a Dunkin Donuts because we actually have them here in Phoenix! I was so excited. Also, my roommate and I found a discarded futon frame and lugged it up to our apartment (it is a beautiful cherry wood frame with only a few scratches), leaving only a mattress to be purchased. Last weekend we got one, so we finally have a couch in our living room. This apartment is really starting to feel homey.

 I try to always have music playing in my classroom, and recently I have been playing a lot of Jack Johnson (it's like magic music). Every time I hear his duet with Ben Harper - "My Own Two Hands" - I feel inspired.
I can change the world 
With my own two hands 
Make a better place 
With my own two hands 
Make a kinder place 
With my own 
With my own two hands

 Much love!