19 December 2009

00:00

See that little title thing? Know what it is?

It's a timer.

It's a time that's all the way down to zero.

It's a time that signals that I am now officially finished with my all girl's school :-(

I possibly couldn't be any sadder to leave a school. I feel I have been truly blessed - possibly more than almost any other event that's happened in my life. I think it might be third on the list, behind my most wonderful boyfriend, and that trip to London I took two years ago that completely changed my life.

Yeah, it's up there.

I have so many good memories of that wonderful school. And I learned a thing or two about teaching! Who knew?!?! :-D

But in all seriousness, I will miss that school more than I think anyone there can imagine. I can only hope that they want me back - because I wouldn't mind at all being back there.

I pray that I can find another school that has blessed me as much as the girls. Thank God that I found them. Thank God for teaching.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

07 December 2009

History Teacher P.S.

Oh yeah...


P.S. Happy Pearl Harbor Day!





To the day which will live in infamy and all the people who died in this horrific event, I salute you and your sacrifice for this country.







(Disclaimer: I promise I am not promoting the attack by using the word "happy")

It's winding down

This is my last week to be teaching at my all girl's school. I'm very sad :-( I don't want to leave. I have met so many wonderful people here and I know my efforts have not gone unnoticed. I have tried by best to be the teacher that the school expects me to be and hopefully I have succeeded in that endeavor.

I know the girls will miss me. I am going to miss them, too. So much! We have made a connection and I think it's one that just might continue after I leave.

*Sigh* I only have one class left today but the rest of this week is going to fly by SOO fast. I have presentations to listen to, quizzes to grade, tests to help prepare for, grades to enter, and going away parties I have to be at ;-)

All in all, a sad week for me. I know the girls are anxious to be getting their regular teacher back after Christmas break, but there will be some who will miss me. They've told me so. Goodness gracious they all have a special place in my heart.

I pray that after I am gone that these girls will continue to grow in every way possible.

I wish the best for them every day.

Aimee

04 December 2009

A new addiction?

Well, it's the Friday before my last week in my long-term position. I know the other schools I sub at are going to really love having me back. I do miss them :-) But the school I'm at now - they're going to miss me, too. Quite frankly, I'm going to miss them. This experience has been simply wonderful and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Time must go on. Things must come to an end.

In other news...

I have a slight new addiction. And a story.

The other day, I was doing some research for one of my lessons. Typically if I don't know the answer to question, I will type it into the search bar and see what my results are. Typical. I've done this for a while. Anyway, on this particular day, one of my questions' answers popped up on Yahoo Answers. I'm used to that - happens a lot. Only on this day, I became rather curious. I have a Yahoo account, so I decided to sign in to Yahoo Answers because I found a question that I really wanted to answer. So I did.

And a whole new world opened up to me! I spent the next two hours in the education or social sciences section just answering people's questions, giving advice, doing some research, and enjoying some of the questions that people have put out there.

I probably answered about 10 questions. All very long and thorough answers. Some were asking advice about school, others about homework (to which I NEVER gave them the answer but I helped them figure out how to find it), still others looking for information about how to become a teacher, etc. Most of the questions, I find, are easily answered by just Googling it. It would be so much faster, but then again, some people don't think. Oh well.

I was feeling pretty good about my place in the world at that point - advisee, teacher, general educator. Yeah. Then I can across a question that asked if it would be justifiable to forge a signature to get out of trouble.

Whoa! Hang on!

Rewind...

Freeze!!

Forge a signature... that didn't sound good. So I clicked on the question and read the predicament. I won't go into details because I'm all about privacy, but I answered her question with a story from my past that coincided with her present situation. I also answered it from a teacher's perspective (which, I find, many people actually appreciate!).

I didn't expect the girl to appreciate what I had said, but I posted it anyways.

Then I got an email.

It said: "Your answer has been chosen as the best answer for this question! Congratulations!" or something along those lines.

I clicked the button to see what question it was. Sure enough it was the girl with the signature problem. Politely, she thanked me for my insight and told me that she had decided to do the right thing and take her punishment for breaking the rules - which is what I had said was the right thing to do, instead of forging her mother's signature to get out of the punishment.

I felt so special!! Someone actually appreciated what I had to say and decided to do the right and honest thing. I was so proud of her - like she was one of my own who had seen the light!

I don't know who this girl is, or what her life's story is, but her comment sort of just brought to light how simple little gestures (like saying thank you and MEANING it) really do make the world seem a little less foreboding. This girl's story gives me some confidence that there are parents out there who raise their children right - to be honest and to be polite, to be good and trustworthy students. She is not my student, but I applaud her parents for raising her right. And her, for listening to them.

But this is what I've learned: There are students out there who, despite the positions they may have put themselves in, are willing to pay for their transgressions even if they don't want to.

I mean, I was that student in high school, but I'm glad I'm not the only one who was/is like that.
There is hope in the future. Thank you, S******** for letting me realize this again.

I love my job and I'm so glad I can have an impact on the world - even if it's small. You can, too. Find an opportunity this week to do so. We can all help make the world a better place.

Aimee

01 December 2009

A lesson

Today I learned I am the Post-It Note queen.

Don't judge me.

:-D

7 months later...

To keep me, myself, and I updated at the moment, here is where I am right now.

I'm sitting at an all girl's school in my hometown enjoying a few weeks of teaching bliss.

Wait, what? How did I get here? Ha! It's funny you should ask that.

Here's the scoop...

I finished student teaching about a week later in Arkansas. Then I walked for graduation. Then I took a class. Then I got my diploma. All without knowing what the future had in store for me. I spent the summer trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my time when I landed upon substituting. You can always get a subbing job at schools in any city and schools are always short on good subs. So I decided to give it a shot. Little did I know the rewards that I would reap from these experiences.

I chose several schools around my hometown and contacted them on how to get on their sub list. I probably contacted about 15 schools and landed 3 of them without much trouble. One of them was my alma mater and a school that I absolutely adore :-) The other two were the all girl's school and another Christian school around the area (except, not really...) Anyway, I got regular subbing jobs at my alma mater and the other Christian school. But I got a long-term position teaching history (yeah!) at the all girl's school taking over for a teacher on maternity leave.

All I can say is that I absolutely love it here!

And that's weird...

Why?

Because I always told myself that I would NEVER teach in an all girl's school because I knew, I just KNEW I would hate it.

Reality check!

It's probably the best place I have ever been privileged to work. Ok, not probably. Is.

The school is very rigorous but the atmosphere is so much more laid back - cause there are no boys here! They're the ones that cause all the drama! No seriously, they are. There is a little drama that goes on in this school, but not NEARLY as much as what goes on in a co-educational school. The girls here don't have to worry about impressing a boy or whatever else girls worry about when they go to school with boys. It's actually very relaxing and laid back. Not that they don't have structure - because they do. They have such structure that teachers really don't have to have a discipline system because the girls don't misbehave. Whoever heard of a school where the students don't misbehave?!? I certainly had not until I came here. The girls know what is expected of them and they do it - no questions asked. They are not argumentative, disrespectful, or pushy in any way. Sounds like a dream, don't it? (there's my southernness coming out... sorry for the bad English) In all reality, it's better than I could ever have imagined. I honestly never thought I would enjoy being with so many women at the same time but I'm having a blast. I almost just want to stay here forever and never go back to co-ed schools.

You want my honest opinion?

Don't get mad, okay?

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If I had the money and kids, I would send them to a school just like this (all-girl's school for the chick and the all-boys school for the hoss, lol), no questions asked.

Schools like this build character and the girls are free to become independent, think for themselves, be who they really are without the pressures of the opposite sex bearing down on them all the time. They don't have to put on a face in the presence of a boy, they don't have to stab their friends in the back (because, let's face it, it happens every day in a co-ed school). Now, I'm not saying it doesn't happen here (because it does, I've seen it), but it doesn't happen as much.

Plain and simple - there is not as much pressure here as there would be in another school. And I love that. Again, the school is very rigorous and exceedingly hard to do well in (and even get in to), but every girl comes out with her own identity and with the knowledge and skills to do well in college and in the real world. This truly is a one of a kind place and I would work here full-time if they ever offered me a position. No lie. Because I truly love coming to work everyday and feeling less pressured to make sure everyone in class is participating and behaving. I have 100% of that everyday. It's phenomenal.

Hey! You teacher who is reading this! I bet you're having a hard time comprehending what I've been saying. This school sounds like heaven, doesn't it?

Every word is the truth.

Now, please don't think that I have been bashing co-ed schools. I promise I'm not. I'm sure my experience is exactly the same as someone else who grew up in co-ed schools. It's the realization that not everything is as they seem that just gets me every time I come to work. I kick myself all the time for having such a negative view of same-sex schools. They really are not what they seem at first glance.

I know that in a few weeks, when my time here is complete and I go back to substituting at co-ed schools, that I will miss the placid atmosphere of the all girl's school. But I will forever remember and cherish everything that I have learned here and the people I have met and formed relationships with. Every experience changes me in someway and I always learn something new. That's the beauty of teaching - I never stop learning.

Now, more than ever, I know that this is exactly where I am supposed to be. Sure there are aspects of education that I don't appreciate, but no job is ever always rainbows and roses. I work hard and get rewarded for it everyday. There is nothing that I would change about my occupational decision.

To me, it is perfect. It is my zen. My adrenaline. My purpose.

And I love every minute of it.

To those teachers out there who feel like giving up - DON'T! You never know how many lives you touch simply by being there and forming relationships. Yes, it is hard work and yes, it is frustrating at times, but the good outweighs the bad each and every time.

I know I speak from little experience, so take it for what it's worth. But as a recent student and now a working professional, I know without a doubt that teachers have had one of the greatest impacts on my life than any other person on the planet - besides my parents. I don't know if I would have gotten through school if my teachers had not constantly encouraged me to keep going, even when I didn't think I could. They were there for me when family could not be. Don't ever think you are invisible in your student's lives. I promise you are one of the biggest and brightest lights they will ever come across. Taking from the experiences I had in high school and college, I constantly try every day to be a light to the students I see every day, just like my teachers did. They may never realize how much of an impact they all have had on my life, but I learned from everyone of them how important it is to be a good role model and supporter.

Thus far, that is what I have learned. I look forward to learning much more from other teachers and students in the years to come.

Thank you to all of the teachers who have had me at some point in their life. You have been a blessing :-)

I love you all!

This concludes a ridiculously long post...

Aimee