Depression...

Ninth Classroom...

I bounced from school-to-school for a while before landing…

I was placed in a pull-out position where I would work with English Language Learners…

They were new to the country and new to the school…

A lot of the students were true beginners unable to associate phoneme to letter…

It was a lot of work, considering I only see them twice a week for half an hour at most…

Hybrid classes…come to school two days…go virtual three…

Except they don’t show up and do no work…

Fortunately, I’m not a ‘real’ teacher yet…

They only get some additional language support from me…completely homework free.

Of if they needed to talk…I was always willing to listen.

The Pandemic is hard on all of us…

Forget your standards and your deadlines…

Let children be children…

Chocolate

Chocolate is love.

A filling is optional.

Peanut butter though.

Infatuation...

You’re really pretty

Pretty without glasses on

You are pretty too!

Eighth Classroom...

After a long painful summer of no luck…

I finally made it as a teacher…

Kind of…

Their usual teacher just popped out her 3rd kid…

Hey, more power to ya…

I was a long-term substitute for 5th grad math…

But I have a BA in Literature…

And an MA in Teaching English as a Second Language…

What the heck do I know about 5th grade math?!

Surprisingly it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be…

The morning kids were wonderful…

Low energy, just like me…

The afternoon kids were naughty…

And so, so hyper…

But I loved their individual personalities…

And their general mischievousness…

So adorable…<3

Talk to Them...

“I hate it here.  School is too hard.  The playground is different from the one in Pennsylvania.  I don’t like Delaware.  I don’t like living with my grandpa.  I want to live with my mom and dad but they have to fix the house so we can go back.  My brother and sister and I moved down here.  My baby-baby sister is with mom and dad.  I want to go home.”

This ramble is brought to you by a displaced boy in first grade.

Sometimes you just have to listen and not just shove a lesson down their throat.

Not long after this, I sat with him again.  We worked on his reading, which is something he hates.  He still hated Delaware.  He still missed his mom and dad.  But he was more willing to participate and work with me.  He didn’t act up or whine.

Sometimes a chat can make a world of difference.

Even if the effects only lasts two weeks before he goes back to Pennsylvania…

Ow, my Brain...

Oh no, not another

Praxis test to suffer through

Sorry about this.

Fifth Classroom...

I was in a library at night.

It was just me and thirty-five adults and the occasional handful of kids.

China, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Brazil, Mexico, Columbia, Haiti, and more…

Different cultures, different educational backgrounds, different English language speaking abilities…

These were my students.

I taught them English, having to provide my students with different activities and materials in order to best work with their level of competence.

I taught them American culture not for the sake of seamless integration into America but so they would better understand the strange customs of their new home.

If they failed to secure a babysitter then I assigned a book report.

Advanced students helped lower students read and write a brief summary.

I supplied children with toys, drawing tools, and entertainment while we waited.

I did this for two years before going to grad school for TESOL…

I’m a magpie...

You can become a child’s hero in surprising ways…

While I was waiting for names to be called at Parent Pick up, a little boy named Dell dropped the shiny silver bead he had found.

He became really upset…  

It was going to be yet another surprise gift for his mom!  Dell usually tends to pick her (and his teachers) flowers and draw pictures full of hearts.  So when he lost his bead Dell began to panic and crawl around on the floor.

I make beaded jewelry for fun…

It took me 3 seconds to find what he was looking for.  I picked it up and gave it to him…

I got the biggest smile…

And since that day, I’ve gotten a couple of hugs as well…

Erase the stigma and ignore inaccurate depictions in the media.  I’ve said it a couple of times now.

The sweetest boys have Autism!

Certification Pending...

This is such a depressing thing to see when you have studied for what essentially amounts to three months straight.

Sadly, I only have myself to blame considering I let my background check slip. Now I have to get in touch with people to have my work email unlocked.

It has been a long and winding road already…

No one at grad school said anything about additional certification…

The program was geared towards preparing student to teach adults, not kids.

Then again, when I asked the ‘teaching career’ guru if I should get certified in general education or special education…she said ‘no’.

Do yourself a favor, if you are going to specialize in ESL, special education, or any other area…go for additional certification in general education. There are more special education jobs than there are ESL (in my State, anyway) and there is WAY more general education jobs than there are both ESL and special education combined.

Get it while you are still in college!

It will open up three times as many doors for you!

Start in general education, get that experience, then work towards the subject or kinds of students you actually want to teach.

Get your foot in the door!

My Valentines...

Asexual me

I’m Aromantic so please

Do not scar with ‘love’…