Finally!

This year marks my 7th year of teaching, and I FINALLY feel like I've found my calling. No, I didn't change jobs or schools or anything. There is just something about this year that has made it special.

I kept telling myself all summer that my 7th year was going to be great. It HAD to be! Seven is such a great number, and this year had to hold good things for me. Without going into specifics, I'm not sure I could remain in teaching if I had many more years like the last two.

Today, I made a student cry -- not on purpose -- and I almost cried with her. I was trying to help make her assignment easier, but instead it just frustrated her to tears. I found out later that she broke down because in the past year she hadn't been treated so well when she didn't understand what was being asked of her. This BROKE my heart, and I just had to go hug on this sweet child and explain that I really was trying to help. Why would any teacher make a student feel bad for not understanding? Isn't it our job to teach them, and do what we can to help them understand?

I've been trying to think back to my first few years of teaching and trying to figure out how many times I was THAT teacher??? How many times did I unintentionally put down a student because he/she didn't understand what I was teaching? How many times did I get frustrated because a student didn't understand my way of doing things?

Being a mother of two has changed my whole being! God has granted me with patience that I never knew was possible. He has made me realize that these sweet babies sitting in my classroom all need me for different reasons. Some can learn 4th grade stuff without me, but there is a reason they are in my class. Being a mom of 2 has made me realize that my students are going to learn at different rates and will, more often than not, need to learn things in different ways. (Yes, I know we've been taught that; but until you can LIVE it, I don't think can you truly understand what it means.)

I cannot wait to find out what this year holds for me!

God bless!

***Just a side note -- I believe in differentiation and have used it for quite some time. I just wanted all the teachers out there to know that this isn't something new to me this year. Ha! It's more that I finally have a full appreciation for it.