Today is bittersweet for me. I started this middle school journey 4 years ago with an open mind and having no clue what was about to happen in my life.
August 22, 2011
The first week was murder and I remember thinking, what the hell have I done? I just kept thinking, make it through the first six weeks and everything will get better. It never did. I felt like I was drowning all year.
I started blogging half way through that first year of sixth grade and it did help, A LOT!
Seriously, that first year of middle school was enough to make me quit teaching. I had been doing elementary for 17 years, nothing prepared me for what I endured. I tried super hard to move schools after the first year, but it didn't happen.
Now though, with four years under my belt of middle school, I truly can say, NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE. I am also a firm believer that things happen for a reason and they work out how they are supposed to.
My second year was amazing. I made friends, good friends, true friends.
My third and fourth, I still had my friends, made some new ones, but I also began enjoying my students. Middle school kids are scary, hormones are even scarier, but these kids are A-MAZING!!!
And now I have made the decision to end my middle school journey for now.
June 5, 2015
I am heading back to elementary school. The time is right. The circumstances are good. I am going to teach 3rd grade! I am getting to teach at the school where my own children attend. I am excited, but I am truly sad to leave the middle school. That statement in itself is a miracle.
I thankfully get to keep my friends that I have made and because this is our community, I will get to keep in touch with these kids and how they grow. Small communities have lots of positives like that!
I will take with me some serious learning experience. I have worked for the hardest, most wonderful principal the past 4 years. She ranks super high on my best boss ever list! I can never fully explain the magnitude of that statement either. Our beginning relationship started off pretty rocky. But, we both stuck it out and have created a lasting bond, at least in my opinion.
So off to the next journey in this crazy thing they call teaching!
Middle school students are definitely one of a kind! I never imagined myself teaching grade 8, but here I am 9 years later and love it!
ReplyDeleteI just found out I am heading down to grade 6 next year. A little anxious, but hopefully things will work out as they did for you.
Good luck on your next journey!