Re-Introduction

In an effort to better my blogger skills I’m giving this WordPress Zero to Hero: Thirty Days to a Better Blog thing a try.  Each day they give you a new assignment, and yesterdays (yep, behind on day 1!) was to introduce ourselves.  I thought maybe I can skip this one, I just have 6 posts so I’m sure that first one introduced me just fine.  But then I would be skipping class on the first day of school, and as a teacher I just can’t advocate such insubordination!! (However, I admit the couch was pretty comfy yesterday)

So here ya go, a *brief* re-introduction!

I am a novice teacher, having not yet gotten a full-time teaching position (but if you know of one let me know, I’m searching!).  I created this blog because I believe teachers learn more often than they think.  We don’t learn just at professional development seminars, weekly team meetings, or from our fellow teachers – though we do learn quite a lot in those moments!  We also learn from the students that sit in front of us every single day.  I learn compassion when one of our students is constantly in trouble at home.  I learn patience when one of my students makes a beeline for me every morning to tell me about Skylanders Swap Force (even though this actually happened, I still have no idea what they are).  I learn to keep my mouth shut when I get stung by a bee twice in less than 30 seconds.  I learn many things from and alongside my students, each of which is just as memorable and valuable as the last.

Here I’ll write funny anecdotes that happen to me on a daily basis, most of which will revolve around children (See my most recent post An Unexpected Thank You).  You’ll find everything I learn from teaching: math lessons gone wrong, investigations gone right, and maybe a funny story or two of a student coming out of our dramatic play restaurant saying, “Phew, that’s exhausting!!!”  Yes, that actually happened, and the next day we caught her and a few friends “taking a break” on the preschool sized couch I hadn’t intended on being part of the restaurant.

These are the primary reasons I created this blog.  I wanted to make sure I was recognizing the learning I am doing with my students, and documenting it online seemed a perfect route (names will be changed and pictures not to be posted without parental consent).  I also started this blog with the hopes of connecting with other teachers.  I want to learn from you all as well!  How do you teach odd and even to your students (for a fabulous take on this, check out Beyond Traditional Math’s post about teaching even and odd to her 5 year old).  What do you do for classroom management?  Why do you teach?  What’s the best I-have-10-minutes-to-eat lunch you’ve packed and taken to school?

Ok, so maybe that wasn’t so brief.  Sorry about that!  But if you made it this far into the post, I hope you will join me for many more to come, both as I finish the Zero to Hero assignments and as I write about everyday learning between my students and myself.

Yours truly,

Miss Teach