My principal quoted MLKJr a couple of years ago at a staff meeting. He was encouraging us to KEEP MOVING (especially on our hardest days). Y'all, today was a barely crawling day. Full of progress monitoring, an IEP meeting, PLC planning, and oh yeah...teaching! With a room full of 5 and 6 year olds, my energy at the end of the day is no where near the energy I have when the day starts. They are so full of questions and want to explore and are eager to learn and I want to answer and lead exploration and am eager to teach, but sometimes it's just plain hard. I am challenged to keep reminding myself that even though they are expected to read and write and add and subtract at the end of the year, that they are just 5 and 6 years old.
I also need to keep in mind that they are learning way more than I am "teaching". They are watching to see how I handle stress. They are observing how I handle confrontation. They are soaking in every word I say and mimicking every move I make. So if I put myself in their little shoes, would I like what I see? I would see someone who is rushing through a bunch of lessons (with 2 classes switching every day in the Spanish Immersion program, I only have 90 days out of a 180 day school year to teach reading and writing concepts to mastery). I would see someone who takes deep breaths when frustrated before reacting too soon. I would see someone who is overwhelmed by assessments, but uses those assessments to teach me better. I would see someone who laughs at kids' jokes. I would see someone who stops to pray over their lunch, even though they have 5 minutes to eat it. I would see someone who is so excited to see me grow, even if it is baby steps. I would see someone who is humble enough to apologize to a 5 year old for speaking out of frustration.
Yes, I'm frustrated that I have to go back to square one and teach my content differently and re-teach what has already been taught ... and that's overwhelming in itself... but I'm confident these kiddos will grow with the appropriate instruction. I'm thankful for a great team who is there to lift each other up. I'm thankful for wonderful administration who provides opportunities to collaborate and allows the leeway to re-teach for the best option.
God promises us that He is by our side every moment of every day. He will not lead us astray. I firmly believe that He has placed me in this exact school with this exact group of kiddos as my mission field. I am leaning on Him and His understanding. I am crawling today, but after a couple of weeks of rejuvination (aka intersession), I'll [hopefully] be flying again.
[2 Chronicles 15:7 "But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded."]
On a completely irrelevant side note.... Is it time to put the Christmas tree up yet? 🎄
