I am thankful... that I have a week off!
Today I felt like a real first grade teacher when my students made construction paper cards for their families that had a paint handprint on the outside (decorated to look like a turkey) and some writing about what they were thankful for on the inside. Some were very touching... "I am thankful for my mom and for my dad." "I am thankful to have food to eat." "I am thankful because I have legs to run and play."
And some not so touching... "I am thankful to have a bike." "I am thankful for turkey."
And one... "I am thankful for my dad but he left so I will eat his turkey all up." Taking positive steps towards recovery from loss, I guess.
On the downside, I had to take two kids to the office (separate occasions) for stealing dollar bills from other students. J-- also tried to cheat on a test using a crib sheet, and shoved another boy. I think after vacation I need to have a conference with his mother.
I am excited to go home and to see my family and some of my friends. I am excited to be in a comforatble setting around people I really know. I am excited to observe at the Steward School, an excellent public school in my hometown. I'm excited to go shopping. To go to any bookstore, a clothing store I like, and to someplace that serves coffee without looking at me funny.
I know I'm going to bring a lot of my students and a little of the South with me wherever I go now. My little of the South will be my slowly maturing Southern accent, my current reading book, the The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty, my adoration of hot chips (Red Hot Cheetos, can you believe it?) and catfish and sweet tea. I'm going to braing teacher stuff to prep for the next three weeks until my next break and pictures and maybe a couple little notes from my students. I forgot to bring my camera in today so I didn't get pictures of the turkeys, but it's okay.
I'm thankful to have been placed here. I'm thankful for the continuing support that my Program Director and the rest of the Teach for America staff offer. I'm thankful for my TFA collegues, my friends, the other misplaced souls gouging a place for themselves, however temporary, in the fertile, overworked, over-chemicaled soil of the Delta, and the fertile, often untapped minds of their students. I'm thankful for my roommates and my friends Edubs and Lin, who inspire me to keep going and push a little bit more. I'm thankful for my family and friends from home, who are also there for me, and who keep up with my ups and downs through this blog and the phone (and for those who never read it, I'm thankful for them, too.) I'm thankful that I have a principal who likes me and who I respect -- not always the case in TFA/Delta principal relationships. I'm thankful for the other teachers, tutors, and staff at my school who provide conversation, entertainment, cookies, and occasional aid with discipline. I'm thankful to have my children and I know that every minute I can spend trying to help them is a minute well-spent.
Happy Thanksgiving!
And some not so touching... "I am thankful to have a bike." "I am thankful for turkey."
And one... "I am thankful for my dad but he left so I will eat his turkey all up." Taking positive steps towards recovery from loss, I guess.
On the downside, I had to take two kids to the office (separate occasions) for stealing dollar bills from other students. J-- also tried to cheat on a test using a crib sheet, and shoved another boy. I think after vacation I need to have a conference with his mother.
I am excited to go home and to see my family and some of my friends. I am excited to be in a comforatble setting around people I really know. I am excited to observe at the Steward School, an excellent public school in my hometown. I'm excited to go shopping. To go to any bookstore, a clothing store I like, and to someplace that serves coffee without looking at me funny.
I know I'm going to bring a lot of my students and a little of the South with me wherever I go now. My little of the South will be my slowly maturing Southern accent, my current reading book, the The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty, my adoration of hot chips (Red Hot Cheetos, can you believe it?) and catfish and sweet tea. I'm going to braing teacher stuff to prep for the next three weeks until my next break and pictures and maybe a couple little notes from my students. I forgot to bring my camera in today so I didn't get pictures of the turkeys, but it's okay.
I'm thankful to have been placed here. I'm thankful for the continuing support that my Program Director and the rest of the Teach for America staff offer. I'm thankful for my TFA collegues, my friends, the other misplaced souls gouging a place for themselves, however temporary, in the fertile, overworked, over-chemicaled soil of the Delta, and the fertile, often untapped minds of their students. I'm thankful for my roommates and my friends Edubs and Lin, who inspire me to keep going and push a little bit more. I'm thankful for my family and friends from home, who are also there for me, and who keep up with my ups and downs through this blog and the phone (and for those who never read it, I'm thankful for them, too.) I'm thankful that I have a principal who likes me and who I respect -- not always the case in TFA/Delta principal relationships. I'm thankful for the other teachers, tutors, and staff at my school who provide conversation, entertainment, cookies, and occasional aid with discipline. I'm thankful to have my children and I know that every minute I can spend trying to help them is a minute well-spent.
Happy Thanksgiving!
posted by Jessica at 5:11 PM
1 Comments:
lovely and touching. Your readers are thankful that you take the time to write. Thank you!
Post a Comment
<< Home