Skip to main content

Be Teachable

The Agenda Update:
I can't get over how welcoming the people of the Delta have been to me and my fellow TFA Corps Members. On Friday night, the people of Cleveland threw us a very nice welcoming party. Complete with great food and lemonade served in mason jars. It was great getting to know some of the community members and to know that they're excited that we're here.

Saturday, I went on an excursion to a couple of cities in the Delta- Leland and Greenville. Leland has, what has been one of my favorite things so far: The Birthplace of the Frog, an Exhibit of Jim Henson's Delta Boyhood. It was so neat to see some of the history and story behind Jim Henson and Kermit. In Greenville, we visited the 1927 Flood Museum. Read the story here. It was fascinating to see this piece of history (also fascinating to reflect on that visit today as it rained and rained and rained- I thought we were going to have to seek high ground on the levy). We also went to an Art Gallery and Craftporium (fun word!) in Greenville and got to make Ice Candles. Such a fun activity! Something I can recreate with my students in the future!
Kermit the Frog and I 

A replica of the first scene ever of The Muppet Show

The original Kermit (handmade by Jim) and the Muppet-ized version

I made a candle at the craftorium...it looks messed up but it's supposed to look like that- I promise!


Sunday was one of the hardest days yet. I miss my home church in McDonough so much I can hardly stand it. Of course I miss the people I served with, the kids, the students. But I also miss the worship and service style. Literally, I miss everything about it. I visited a church Sunday morning, and it was okay- the people were super nice but I don't think it's the place for me. I knew finding a church was going to be one of the hardest parts about moving to the Delta. I'm going to continue to visit churches in Cleveland for the summer but I've almost come to the conclusion that, when I find a permanent home, I will stream my home church live and then get involved in a church in the community where I'll be teaching, even if it's not exactly what I'm looking for style-wise. This will allow me to create an even better connection with my kids and their families. I really believe that will allow me to have an even greater impact.


Now for the Deeper Stuff:
One of the best pieces of professional/leadership/life advice I've ever been given is to always be teachable. It's so important to stay humble and know that you never know everything. Doing Teach for America is an extremely humbling experience. People graduate college after taking at least a year of classes teaching them how to teach. And then between a semester and a year student teaching. Well, I've got 4 weeks of summer school. 

I can quickly find myself getting overwhelmed with the thought: How am I possibly going to learn everything that I need to learn in 4 short weeks? The answer is simple: I won't. The fact of the matter is, every single teacher, TFA or otherwise has a first year. And I have a feeling that every teacher's first year is at least a little crazy. I believe the degree of success I have in my classroom is going to hinge on whether or not I am teachable. Whether or not I am humble enough to seek the help from my peers and veteran teachers. I plan to take full advantage of these resources because in order for my kids to succeed, I have to be the best teacher I can be. And in order to do that, I have to be teachable.

The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise. Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence.
Proverbs 15:31-32


3

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Getting Settled

Whoa! Things have been a whirlwind since I've been back home in the Delta. For my first week back, I was in my last bit of summer training. I spent Monday-Thursday of that week in the same room for the greater part of the day,with other lower elementary teachers, learning from lower elementary content specialists. It was great- it got me pumped up for the year ahead. It was also somewhat of an information overload. And it started to sink in for me how big a job teaching Kindergarten is. I've spent so much time focusing on how fun it's going to be. How much I'm going to fall in love with my babies. But, we have a lot to do! For a lot of my kids, this is the first school experience they've ever had. We have to learn how to go to school- how to walk in the hall, how to go to lunch, how to sit on the carpet, and the list could go on and on. And then there's the content. We're going to learn so much this year- our letters, our numbers, our shapes, how to read, ho...
Post a Comment
Read more

Whole30 Update: This isn't fun anymore

Hey people! I hope your Monday isn't feeling so much like a Monday today! I started this post last night. I wish I would have finished and posted it then because I was feeling pretty good. Today, however I'm feeling pretty poopy. Mentally, I'm past the point of excitement and I'm on to the "this isn't really fun anymore" part. Physically, I go back and forth between feeling lousy and just weird. See more details below on the craziness that a sugar detox does to you. But, the good news is, I'm more than 1/10th of the way through my 30 Days (Today is Day 5). I've learned a few things to share with you guys: 1. Sugar is in everything! EVERY. THING. I couldn't find a breakfast sausage or bacon that didn't have sugar in it. And it was almost impossible to find a spaghetti sauce. Prego Simply is a good option, but my grocery store was out. I did find a Whole30 compliant sauce in the health food section. 2. Sugar detox does some weird stuff...
Post a Comment
Read more

There's No Place Like Home

Turns out, I'm a much better Kindergarten Teacher than I am a blogger. In the big picture, that's not such a terrible thing, I suppose. It is my Almost-Mid-Year Resolution to get better at this. New Year Resolutions almost never work. We'll see how this goes, though! I keep finding myself reflecting on the fact that the school year is almost over. I'm sorry...where did the time go?!? It feels like just yesterday I was driving to Delta State University to start my summer training and here I am, almost ready to close out my first year of teaching. We're in the home stretch, but we've still got a lot to do before June 2nd. But, man! We've come along way! My kids who came in not knowing how to hold a pencil are writing beautiful, creative stories. Those who didn't know any letters and sounds, now reading sentences and short stories! I've yet to see, in my short 25 years, anything as cool as this...as my students learning (part of the coolness is that I...
Post a Comment
Read more