Proud Moments

I have to brag..... my kids are the best... I mean I love all kids, but these 8th graders have my heart. This has been the best 1st year of teaching! I've always heard that your 1st year is the worst and some people don't want to come back... That is crazy to me. I guess I have been blessed with a wonderful group of kids because I LOVE LOVE LOVE my job! Teaching is not easy and any of you teacher friends can back me up on this! We have over 100 lives in our hands for atleast 45 minutes each day.. and that doesn't count all the times they come to you in between classes, before school, and after school needing help with their homework (sometimes in a different class), because they are having personal problems, or just needing to talk. We have the ability to make a HUGE difference in their life! In these last few weeks I have realized how attached I really am to these kids. I am starting to get really sad thinking about letting them go in just a few weeks. They are off to high school, but I'm going to try my best to keep in touch. 

Anyway.. back to the point of this post.. The end of the year is crazy and there is a lot going on. Yesterday we had teacher appreciation day. Student Council and BETA Club puts this together every year so our Stuco and BETA kids teach our classes all day. Each student wrote their teacher a "thank you" note. Well, I had two boys teach for me and I sat in my room crying at the end of the day reading my thank you cards. As a teacher, you put all this work into trying to make each day exciting for them so that they really want to learn and sometimes you wonder if it pays off or if they realize how much work is put in it. Well, let me tell ya... they know! They see how much work goes into these lessons, they see how much time you spend up walking around helping them out instead of sitting at your desk, they see the extra time you put into extra curricular activities, and most of all they see how much you truly care. I've got some really sweet notes from some of my kids the past couple of weeks that I will keep forever. One of my co-workers handed me a paper a few days ago that one of my students wrote about me when asked to write about their favorite teacher. I would have NEVER guessed. I am so hard on this particular student, I have pushed and pushed everyday and worked one on one with him/her when I know they wish more than anything I would just disappear. It made my heart drop. I couldn't believe it. Earlier in the year, I was nominated as teacher of the month, by two students who also would have never imagined would nominate me for such a thing, much less write a speech and present it to the school on behalf of me. I'm a really strict teacher.. sometimes they even joke around and call me Sergeant Ivo, but we have fun and at the same time they know I have high expectations of every one of them so, it's times like these that make everyday a joy to get up and make a difference in their lives. It makes me love my job and love these kids so much. Sure, I want them to know how to write a chemical forumla or how to draw a pedigree.. but at the end of the day, I want them to know that they have someone who believes in them and truly cares about them and their future. That's what it's all about. 

I keep getting off track. I'm so passionate about my job and these kids that I could just go on writing forever, but now for the real reason of the post....  Today on the agenda trip, we took about 50 8th graders to Ben Geren park to ride go-carts, play putt putt, and have a picnic. Well, some of these kids didn't bring money to play.. Our kids took it upon themselves to get together and buy tickets for anyone who did not bring money. Everyone played and rode go-carts the entire time and instead of getting in their little groups (that we all know 8th graders have), they all played together as one group. Everyone was so kind to each other and it really just warmed my heart. This is a tough age for these kiddos and a very transitional period in their life, but when you get down to it, they all have really big hearts. I love each and every one of them and I'll be sad to see them go.. but I'm thankful to have had such a great group to welcome me in my 1st year of teaching!


Until next time... Goodnight! =)
Kristen