Ups and Downs

I have not done too good with my blogging since I vowed to do better back in January. Between grad school, teaching, and being a wife my life has been a little chaotic. Hopefully, this summer I will be able to get some things done and blogging more frequently will come easier throughout the work year. I have some ideas that I would love to share! :)

This past school year will be a year that I never forget. It was full of ups and downs, but I was able to learn from all the events. Here is a look at just a few of the events:

- My first time teaching special education students. Definitely a challenge, but I have grown to love the experience. I hope I am fortunate to have this opportunity again.

- The first time that a student got his arm stuck on the playground while sliding down the slide on the last full day of school. Yes, I said while sliding and it happened on the last day of school. One of the students came to get me to tell me about this boy, but I thought they were just playing a joke on me. It was definitely not a joke when I climbed up to the slide. The boys arm was definitely stuck and he was holding himself up from sliding with his other arm. It took me holding the child up from sliding while another teacher worked his arm loose. We finally was able to manage to get his arm free.

 - My first time teaching a first grade repeater. I have to admit I was a little nervous teaching the child from the horror stories I heard from the year past, but it turned out to be a huge blessing on my life. The child passed first grade with straight A's.

- The first time that my field trip got postponed due to the school being on lock down. We were all set and ready to go on our Scavenger Hunt Field Trip around Town when the announcement came over the intercom that the school was on lock down. The chaperones watched the students in my classroom while I went to see what was going on. A burglary happened in a nearby town and the criminals had made their way into our town around the vicinity of our school so the school system decided to take precautions. I am thankful for school leaders that do this, but it was definitely a disappointment to my precious students. After two hours had passed and still no release, we decided to reschedule the trip for a different day. We were finally able to get to go on the trip!

- My first time getting thrown up on in class. Yes, it was disgusting! It was small group reading time and I had five students at my table. One of the boys wasn't looking quite like himself so I asked if he was OK. He stated he was fine and that he didn't need to go to the bathroom. We kept on reading our book when all of a sudden the boy starts projective vomiting straight ahead (I know very graphic.). My spot just happened to be right in front of him. Luckily, I was in a rolling chair. When I felt the first of it on my arm, I screamed and rolled back as fast as I could. Let's just say that I definitely go the attention of all my students from across the room. It also just happened to be a day where the District Superintendent was holding a meeting beside mine. The teachers in the meeting definitely had a weird look on their faces when I went into the bathroom. I hope this never again happens!

- The first time my class has won the tug of war challenge. Every year at our field day, we conclude with a class tug of war competition. My class has never won this, and right before it was our turn to compete I told the parents of mine that were in attendance that it would be a great honor to end the year with this under my belt. Well, my class succeeded! We won the first round and kept going forward until it was down to our class and one other. I explained that no matter what we would be good sports and that it would be hard to beat the other class. The other class had some big kids in it compared to some of my little midgets. Somehow, my class pulled it off. It was so exciting to see the class work together to accomplish this. At the end my students went over to the other class and told them good job. This made my heart happy.



- My first year getting a troubled child from another teacher's class. After Christmas, I was asked if I would take a child from another teacher's class that was having trouble. I had an opening and thought it couldn't be that bad. It was bad at first, because I had to reteach the correct ways of doing things. In the end, it was a great experience. The student and I grew a bond during the 2nd semester and you would have thought he had been with me since the beginning.

- The first time I had a student in class who was legally blind. I received a student in my class in the Fall that was diagnosed as legally blind. He could see some things, but he had to be very close to them. The child moved away after being in my class for a week due to some sad home issues. I wonder how he is doing now.

- My first time having student moved from my first grade class to a second grade class. After the student that was legally blind left, I received a student from Belize. Well, Belize has a different school system than the US. The little girl had been in 1st grade in Belize, but after a week we realized that 1st grade would be equivalent to our 2nd grade. The little girl had already read all the stories in our Reading curriculum. Our class hated to say good-bye, but they were excited to know that they would see her again in the hallways and such.

The list could go on and on about the ups and downs from the year. Teaching is definitely not a boring occupation. This is why I want to keep this blog up and running so I can remember these moments for years to come. I hope you join me in my journey! :)