Here goes...
What have I been doing since this blog post?
Teaching, my friends, teaching. But let me break it down for ya. In the first 5 weeks of school I have awoken @ 5:45 a.m. to get ready and drop off my babies at daycare so that I can arrive to my school by 7:20 a.m. I have met and am currently trying to remember the names of all of my approximately 250 students, 1/4 of those are new to our school. (I couldn't imagine having to know all 750 of our students!) I have worked alongside our Kindergarten teachers who are "blessed" with 30 babies students in their classrooms. (Once again, I couldn't imagine more than 1 hour a day in those rooms.) I have received countless hugs and waves (germs come with the territory) that would brighten anyone's day. On the other hand I have encountered the most disrespectful remarks that would make (insert most disrespectful person you can think of here) feel ashamed. I have tied shoes, fixed hair bows, buckled belts, and snapped snaps. Students have proudly shown me new clothes/shoes and other homeless students have shown me how it smells to not have a bath for a long time.
So far this school year, I have delighted in having my students show me what they have learned so far but I have also had my heart broken when a child is picked on for what they are wearing or because they are "different." I have celebrated birthdays and called parents for behavior issues. And as a parent, I have been called for "lazy" issues. I have had pictures drawn for me and former students expressing to me how they miss me this year. I have had students tell me that they "don't want to learn Spanish. I'm not ever going to go to China anyway." I feel like a failure when I don't reach the unreachable but I feel like a million dollars when I do. Believe it or not, I wake up everyday and do what I love to do. It's a passion. A way of life for me. Some days I don't like my passion and I wish it would go away. At the end of the day, I couldn't imagine another passion. I love the Spanish language and culture and I love children.
I ask for prayer for myself and my fellow teachers at my school. We have a heavy load this year with full classrooms and MANY students that are not academically up to par. Not only that, just watch the news.
***Please note that any reference of "I" can be replaced with "We, teachers"
