Trials and Triumphs of Teaching: 2012 Wrap Up!

It has been over a month since I have blogged, and a lot has happened! Some good things and some bad things have happened in the busy holiday filled month of December. Today is the last day of winter vacation, and a much needed time of reflection.

I would first like to express my greatest sympathies for the children lost in the recent school shootings in Connecticut. When it happened, all I did was see my own students in those faces flashing across the screen. I hope that I'm brave enough to protect them, but I pray they will never have to experience such a fearful, horrendous situation. I also hope that I never have to use a gun to protect myself in a school building full of children. I am not a police officer, therefore I feel no more trained than a secretary to use a weapon of such destruction. If that day comes, I worry that I won't be able to do my job anymore. I just hope that laws and procedures can be put into place to keep our babies safe. I feel blessed to work at a school that does go over the procedures regularly and tries to make the environment as safe as possible. That being said, there are still those with mental disorders who want to hurt children and that keeps me up at night. I see my students more than their own parents during the week, and even though I have to get on to them and I don't hug or hold them as much as their parents...I do love them and realize the talents and beauty in each of them. They give me a purpose in life! So, I hope things will change for the better because of the recent tragedies.

Now, onto lighter things...I had fun doing some holiday lessons with my kiddos before winter break. Though I feel challenged with the new common core writing standards, www.teacherspayteachers.com has given me a lot of ideas of how to teach it! We were able to do informative, persuasive, and narrative writing all about gingerbread men. Then, we did narrative and informative writing about snowflakes! The funniest thing was when I had my students try gingersnaps...I happened to be out that day and left the responsibility with my co-worker. She texted me later with lots of lol's about how the kids freaked and tried to spit out the gingersnaps because they were too spicy. Gotta love 'em!

We also celebrated our love of non-fiction with a volcano experiment. At first, the volcano in a box I bought from the dollar store wasn't working so I had to improvise with a coke bottle which made a huge, but awesome mess, that we all (including me) enjoyed. We also had a great winter party with lots and lots of goodies donated from parents! I can't wait to do more experiments and activities in 2013. I'm also hoping that 2013 will bring good health (we've been a sickly bunch), safety, and success (especially on those hard standardized & common core tests coming up) to my students. 2012 brought lots of fun and memorable lessons with my students as well as many opportunities to get to know their personalities, talents, and problem areas. I've also been reflecting on my own problem areas and ways to improve my teaching strategies for this new generation. There are always new challenges around the corner, but I feel that 2012 was fulling of blessings and I hope 2013 is as well.