Semester 1: Complete

I left my classroom today for 2 weeks... 2 whole weeks! I can hardly believe that a whole semester has passed. The teacher in me has grown so much in such a short time. No longer am I intimidated by closing the door with 20 pairs of eyes staring at me and anticipating a lesson! A little overwhelmed every once in awhile, but no longer intimidated :)

At some point throughout the semester, I stopped saying "I'm teaching this year" and began saying "I am a teacher." This seems to illustrate my growth well. Teaching isn't an easy career and it certainly is not without challenges. There were days when I thought "Why am I doing this?" or "I'm terrible at this; these poor kids!" Haha. I'm sure that those days are not over, but they have become few and far between! I have gained a little more confidence, knowledge, and love with each passing day... Oh the love for these students. I still struggle to build relationships with a few of them, but my heart is full of love and hope for these kids. Adam teases me because I call them "my kids" without even thinking about it. At their ball games, I feel myself tense up when it seems that one of "my kids" has been wronged. When one performs poorly (or successfully!) on a test, my heart feels for them! I so desire their learning and understanding!

I know that I have a long way to go. I know of a few specific things that I want to strive for next semester, such as building stronger relationships with "hard to reach" students, solid introductions and closings to each lesson, and writing better tests. There will always be improvements to be made and I know I will never stop learning!

Here are a few highlights from my semester... (These are just off the top of my head and is, by NO means, comprehensive!)

--Students testing my "coordination." This "test" ended with my eyes closed, bowing the top half of my body back and forth like an idiot ALONE in the front of my classroom :) Never a dull moment!

--Student A: Are you going to have kids with your husband? ... Well you need to hurry up!

--Student B: You're more successful than most 22 year olds.

--So many "aha" moments for my students. These are my favorites!!

--Student C: If I come to the game tonight, could I sit by you? Me: Sure! You can sit right between me and my husband. Student D: Dude, he'll totally beat you up! (No clue why they're intimidated by Adam, but it's pretty funny!)

--Receiving Teacher of the Month for October

--First time a student became confrontational with me... My response? "Do NOT argue with me. It will NOT end well." Stellar performance, truly... Haha.

--After asking the class had asked at least 15 random questions about my life, one student stated,"Mrs. Gosnell, you should just write a book." My life is not THAT interesting, sweetheart, but thank you!