10 Things I've Learned From Teaching (Linky Party)

10 Things I've Learned from Teaching {Linky Party}

 

Miss Kindergarten is hosting a Linky Party about the 10 things I've learned from teaching.  I have been teaching now for 13 years this fall, I've learned many things good and bad but here are my Top 10 things I have learned in the past 13 years.  And I will continue to learn every year about myself and my teaching.

1. www.donorschoose.org This site became my new best friend about 3 years ago.  I learned about it from a workshop I was attending and heard the key words FREE and they had my attention.  This site will walk you through step by step in creating a project of a need for your students.  Businesses, individuals, and cooperation donate to your project.  When it gets funded, your students receive the materials you were asking for for FREE, in return your students will need to write thank you notes and you will have to photograph your students using the materials.  I have received many projects funded to help my students.

2.  Data:  Last year our school was really focusing on student data as well as our school data to drive our instruction.  I have always documented their progress but never really "looked" at my data from assessments.  Each month I tracked their progress and BINGO!! The students and I both got to see their growth.  I got to see how excited they were to see how much they knew.  (Now keep in mind I teach Pre-K)  I was really excited to see who had the largest growth, who still needed work, and the best of all who was most improved.

3.  HUGS!!!!!! Yes I said hugs.  The greatest thing about working with Pre-K four year olds.......they love to give hugs to you every day, every hour, and to everyone else in your school.  You can be having the worst day in your life but that cute snot nose kid gives you the biggest hug and tells you, "I love you Ms. Beavers."  AHHHHH.  I love that and my day gets better.  They can sense your bad day a mile away.

4.  Race:  Four year olds don't see color or the hate that sometimes goes with a person's race.  They see the person.  Yes sometimes they see that I am white and they are black but they never judge each other but only love each other and yes hug each other and be the best friends.  I just wish the world would see each other through the eyes of a four year old.

5.  Organization:  Be organized!  Have all your materials ready and at hand or your students will eat you alive when there is dead time from you trying to find what u need.  Also being organize has many benefits.  You know where things are and so when you have a meeting or your principal asks you for a certain documentation you will know where it is out.  I am a little OCD about my paper works, data, and other things. 

6.  Field Trips:  At some point you will take a field trip, those can be fun or chaos.  My first year teaching I took my 20 head start kids with my co-teacher to the zoo by ourselves in May(when all the other schools go keep in mind lol).  Never will do that again.  I had a hard time keeping track of all of them and was afraid to lose someone.  So now I have parent volunteers meet us there and I break my students into groups of 2-4 students per parent.  This is so much easier and less stress on you. And always count your students many times during a trip.  Trust me on this one.

7. Have fun:  You students don't care how bad you sing, draw, or dance but they love seeing you do those things.  I have different hats I wear throughout the school year on different holidays or occasions.  I sing crazy silly songs every day.  I dance and I am a big girl and can't dance.  I add voices to my stories and use puppets.  Where in the world can I act like a kid and change a child's life but through teaching.  I love my job.

8. Let them see you are human.  Teachers make mistakes and let them know it is okay to make mistakes.  My favorite thing I say "If you can't make a mistake, you can't make any."  It lets the kids know teachers even make mistakes.  It is how we learn from them that matters.  I make lots of them and not afraid to let them know I did or that I don't know the answer but we will sure learn it.

9.  Professional Development:  Teaching is a job where you will always be learning.  Each year I take a look back at my year and look at what I need to do to improve myself as a teacher to help my students.  I attend lots of professional developments through out the school year and especially the summers.  I read books after books from books for fun to ones who teach me something new for my profession.  I love to read about other teachers.  My favorite is Ron Clark.  I just finished his third book The End of Molasses Classes in less than 3 days.  I do most of reading in the summer but I read all year long too.

10.  Take time for yourself.  This one is hard for me.  I am a single mother of two teenagers and bring my work home everyday with me.  I am always looking for new ideas, making something I need for a lesson, and much more.  In the past few years, I have had to learn to take time for myself and not to feel about about me doing so.  I always feel guilty that I am not doing my best as a mother or a teacher and I forget about myself.  So take a hot bath, go out with the girls (and don't talk about work lol), see a movie, take small road trips, whatever you decide take care of yourself so you can be at your BEST