"If you have a dozen chocolates, and you drop one on the ground, are you going to throw the other eleven chocolates out? Of course not! So don't let one bad moment ruin your day."
A year ago, I was working as a fisheries biologist. I had spent two years studying for and passing the exams that I needed in order to obtain my teaching license, and I decided that I was finally ready to take a leap of faith and start applying for teaching jobs. By early May, I had been hired on for the next school year; I would be starting my teaching career at an inner-city school, in a district with a rough reputation. I spent the summer reading everything that I could find, trying to amass as much knowledge as I could before taking on the challenge of teaching middle schoolers for the first time!
The first day of school came. I will never forget my very first class! One student sat at his seat, and slowly and systematically placed one piece of tape after another all over his face. In my head, he was 'tape face kid'. That day was a whirlwind. The kids were all curious about the new teacher, and my fisheries background was quite the novelty to them. A student from another group came up to me before the end of my first week, and asked me if I was 'the lady that wrestles sharks'. I figured it would behoove me to let that reputation stick!
I set mini-goals for myself:
- Just make it to Columbus Day weekend
- Stick it out until Thanksgiving break
- Hold on until Christmas vacation
- You can do this, it's almost February break
- Keep your chin up, March will end eventually
And now here I am, with one week to go until April vacation! I'm hoping that this will become a spot where I can share my successes and inevitable failures; the good days and the bad days, and all of those ridiculous moments that come along with middle school education!
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