I have to brag/gloat/share! I love, love, love teaching 7th graders! I just wanted to share how happy I am. Then, on a bad day, when I am down and out, you can send this email back to me. :)

Today a student brought me a mango. Haha...so random! She just thought I would like it.
A "naughty" boy from years past is staying after class talk to me about homework and how much fun he is having writing.
A parent wrote in a letter that I am his daughter's role model.
Another parent wrote that the energy I have for reading is really helping her sons start to love reading!
I just walked into another classroom to drop something off, and all of my 7th graders yelled "Mrs. Pearson! Mrs. Pearson! Hi! Come look at what I am doing!"

Gosh...8th graders really grow up...and by doing so sort of stop liking teachers.

Successful First Week

Gosh, was I ever nervous for the first day of school. My room was ready, my lesson made, but I will still shaking like a little kid last Tuesday morning. Then the bell rang, kids poured down the hall, into my room, and my concerns flew out the window. Everything just magically clicked. The 7th graders were fun, excited, silly, and eager to please. We had so much fun together, and they listened so well. It is fun to have them hang on my every word. (I know that won't last long! :))

Yesterday, I was at school from 6 am to 10 pm after the football game. It was such a great day!! I talked with my class all about what reading is NOT. Reading is not supposed to be painful. Reading is not followed by tests or quizzes. I even went so far as to say that during reading, a teacher is not always peering over your shoulder and asking questions. The students loved hearing this. Then I read a chapter from Harry Potter to them. They crawled around on the floor, giggled at my voices, listened intently, hung on every word that I read, and didn't want class to end. Now that is why I love teaching.

I know that the trials will come. They will test me, roll their eyes at me, and glare at me. They will forget homework assignments, lose items, fight, and struggle, but just one day like yesterday will keep me coming back to the classroom year after year.

Golly...gosh...gee...wow...holy cow...zoinks!

I can't quite put my finger on the word that I need to say right now. My mind is spinning with lesson ideas, kid's names, things to do, smiles to remember, books to read, papers to write, units to organize, things to decorate, teachers to talk to, parents to call, children to check on, and meetings to attend.

The beginning of the school year is a magical time; I just don't feel like I will be able to do everything that I want to do this year. It is only the end of the second day, and I am already worried that I can't share a tidbit or a book with my students.

• What if I run out of time to truly care for them?
  
• What if they don't like me?
  
• What if they don't love reading?
• What if they don't learn from me!
  

SEE! These are the questions that keep bopping around my head.

I did read a great quote today though. "Teaching isn't my job. It's my life." I love it. I truly feel that same way. I just only hope that I can teach and live truly and do my students right.
Golly...gosh...gee...wow...holy cow...zoinks!