T is for TEACHING

is

    for

   

         TEACHING!!!

and the teacher got taught!!

This year I promised myself would be different.  I wasn't going to be walked on, I was going to state my case and I wasn't going to be told I was wrong when I knew I was right.

That was at the beginning of the 2014-15 school year!

When I signed up for this challenge I told myself I wasn't going to write about anything related to teaching.  How could I do that when this blog say EDUCATIONAL HOME.

HERE GOES!!!

August:  Fine, I got my classroom ready and all of my paperwork straighten out.  I was so proud!

September:  I got written up for being unprofessional!

October, November rolled along just fine.

December:  I got the worst observation that I have ever received from an administrator, even ones I didn't like.  I spoke with a friend who is politically correct in everything she does and said you are on your way out.

January:  I chose the word integrity and things got worse, much worse at school.

I am not going to go into it, suffice to say I made mistakes and since there was a target on my back I should have known better. I really got zapped for them!! 

I wasn't going to write about any of it until I read another teacher's blog and realized that while I made some mistakes, I also have done a lot of good in the classroom. I have written grants and received funding for a number of things for my students.  I have tried innovative ideas in the classroom.  I have worked with my parents and my students well.  My students have progressed.

I received my 5 year pin, even though this is my 10th year with the district.  My 28th as a teacher, who has taught in eight different school districts.  

The blog that I read advised new teachers how hard teaching really is.  My Dad tried to talk me out of teaching as a career when I was 18.  Looking back I have learned a lot! Some of it not so good.

Now I am at a transition period in my career and I really don't want to go back into the classroom, but I don't want to get out of education.  The devil keeps telling me that no one would hire a teacher who has a record like mine.  What is wrong with my record?  I had a bad year, made some mistakes,  but God will still use this for good!

I learned a lot from this year, I learned how to read between the lines.  I learned that there are admin who don't like teachers who have been around the block and up the creek and back down.  I have learned that even when I am wrong, so is the person across the desk.  The best defense is to stay calm.

Finally, I learned that teaching is something I do well, even when I am the one learning the lesson. 

My hero is Abraham Lincoln who failed and picked himself up 32 times that are recorded.  Some of them were pretty steep falls.  He always had an angel to help him and somehow he didn't thwart God's plan for him. 

Regardless of the mistakes I have made, I have learned, the teacher was taught and God will still use this for his good.