Realization of the Day

I found myself this morning driving past one of the schools I student taught at, while drinking out of a travel mug that the students from that very school bought me, and I realized how much I truly miss being in the classroom.  Don't get me wrong, I love learning and I think teaching is a life long learning process, but that could never compare to the feeling I get from educating young men and women.

I miss the sound of students filing into the classroom. I miss that first hand flying into the air with a question or a comment. I miss walking around the room as students "think, pair, share" and hearing their great ideas. I miss that moment when a student shares a perspective you never thought of before.   I miss that "ah ha" moment a student gets when something finally clicks.  I miss sharing my passion for the written word with a new group of young learners.  Most of all,  I miss going home at night feeling like I did something that truly matters; I missing having that feeling that I made a difference today.  

I need this semester to fly by, not because I am so in debate I can't pay for school anymore, or because I am burnt out and tired of being the student.  I need this semester to fly by so that I can graduate and find a teaching position.  Urban or rural, public or private or charter school, college prepatory or mostly ESL classes... I don't care!  I just need to be teaching.  I feel like part of me has been missing since I left my last student teaching placement.  I have a passion for teaching that runs so deep that if I am not teaching... well, I just don't feel completely like myself.

It is funny how one small moment in time can make a person realize so much.

One down, 111 to go.

Well, day one of my last semester as a graduate student at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania has come and gone.  I only had one class today, History of the English Language, which I know is going to be both a difficult and rewarding class.  I do believe that attitude is everything...

When you have a positive and encouraging attitude, it rubs off on those around you.  From the moment I walked into class today the professor was so positive and passionate about the material we are going to cover this semester. She loves the English Language so much that her attitude encouraged me to read the material right way.  I hope that when I have a class of my own I can have the exact affect on my students.

I know this post is short, but after class today I had to talk to the secretary in records and registration, file my "intent to graduate" card, get my books and parking pass, go to the doctor, drive to Warren to have dinner with my parents, drive back to Erie, and I am just now getting to sit down while I write this little piece of wisdom for all of you.  It has been a busy, tiring, and rewarding day.  I am off to bed.  Goodnight world.

A positive attitude can make a world of difference.

Words of Wisdom from Mark Twain

Unfortunately, I was judged harshly yesterday for creating this blog.  A young women in the teaching profession told me (and the rest of the world) that, "Blogging for a teaching job =lazy. NO school cares that you can type a blog," and many other harsh, discouraging things.  Now, I am not naive.  I know this blog will not magically get me the teaching position of my dreams. 

The truth is, I have created a strong portfolio that highlights my skills, I have obtained letters of recommendation from two co-operative teachers, my student teaching adviser, and my academic adviser (who recently took over the head of the Graduate Program Department at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania), I have busted my butt for good grades, while working to put myself through school.  This blog may just be extra work I am putting on myself, but I don't think it will hurt me either.  After all, it is extra work that I am willing and want to do.

At first, I was very hurt by the things that one individual had to say about my attempts to "put myself out there."  She was suppose to be a friend, and a role model for those trying to enter the teaching profession.  And here she was putting me down for taking a different path, a different route, a different ROAD than she did.  I had three choices: get angry and say rude and hateful things back, walk away with my tail between my legs, or hold my head high and use this experience as a lesson.

I decided to take road three.  I realized that not only can I learn from this encounter, but others could too.  The reality of this world is that everyday someone or something is going to get in your way, or prevent you from accomplishing your goals.  Events happen that are out of our control, but we always have a choice to take the high road.  Mark Twain once said, “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.” I am taking Mr. Twain's advice.  I am going to work to be the type of person who encourages those around them.  That means everyone around me: family, friends, students, colleagues, and even strangers.  

Great things can happen when we help others realize their full potential. 

The Roads We Take

It is the beginning of the end.  Next week I will start my last semester as an Edinboro University of Pennsylvania Graduate Student.  I am excited, but I would be lying if I didn't tell you I am nervous as well.  I know my education at Edinboro has supplied me with all the necessary skills to be a successful teacher, but as soon as I graduate I will be moving to Terrell, NC with my soon to be husband.  New home, new town, new state... that's a lot of "new" and it would intimidate anyone.  However, my "teaching tool belt" has acquired all the necessary tools over the past two years; I am more than ready.

It is my hopes to use this blog not only as a networking tool (to bounce ideas of other educators and find the teaching position of my dreams), but also to document my last few steps down the road of my formal education, as I make the turn onto the road of my professional life; "The Road to Teaching" if you will.  The inspiration for creating this blog came from my "Technology in the Classroom" Professor, but the theme behind it was inspired by Robert Frost's poem, "The Road Not Taken."  My journey has been one of  twists and turns, grass and gravel , peaks and plateaus.  I have made decisions others might not have been able to make, and faced adversity others will never have to overcome. I couldn't have done it alone, but I always did it with my head held high.  

Having said that, I will leave you with Frost's inspirational words about choices:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then too the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim

Because it was grassy and wanted wear,

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I marked the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

-Robert Frost