Reflection of a School Year Passed

Happy Summer Vacation to all those who have finished the school year! Good luck on the rest of the school year for those still in class. YOU CAN DO IT! I just finished cleaning my room, I have to "check out" with one of the administrators tomorrow, and then I will finally, officially, officially be done with this school year. As I was cleaning the past few days I started to reflect on this past 9 months. I also took breaks from cleaning and reviewed some blog posts I wrote. After looking at the "past" me I wanted to record some thoughts that have changed the last 2 trimesters of school.

1. Teaching reading/language arts has turned into a passion of mine.

     This last school year has exposed me to an new subject to teach. Reading and Language Arts. At the beginning of the year/half way through trimester 2 I HATED teaching reading and LA. Mainly because I had no experience teaching it AND there was no curriculum to follow. I was, easiest way to say, LOST in my own class. However, as the trimester 2 turned into trimester 3 and the year closed I realized that I really enjoyed my reading classes. I think mainly because I rediscovered my own passion for reading, and I wanted to expose my students to that passion. And as time went on my experience grew and I became more confident in my own teaching abilities.

        Now I can't wait to start teaching reading/la again somewhere.

2. Teaching English is not a big of passion any more (At least ATM)...

Yes, my license is technically for ESL. But after this past year I find more enjoyment in teaching reading and LA. I think that since my school doesn't have a traditional ESL program like my field work and student teaching used I fell from liking to teach ESL. Maybe this passion will be relighted as I venture down to Santiago. I also believe I didn't like teaching ESL at my school because there was no set curriculum that we used, or at least one I liked. 

3. I chose the right profession, but maybe not the right subject to teach.

With number two being said.... I think my new subject to teach might be reading/LA. I LOVE reading and writing. I love teaching new things to students, I think that I may be better suited as a Reading/LA teacher. Maybe sometime in the future this can happen. Besides you should like what you teach. If you don't, you're not going to put your heart and soul into it, and then your students are going to feel that tension in the air. In return they may not care to learn. (This probably makes no sense. lol sorry.. my thoughts are weird sometimes)

4. I have learned a lot at my school. 

Not going to lie, your first year of teaching is the hardest. (Correction: Your first year of teaching a NEW subject is the hardest) You have to create your lessons and figure out how to keep students interested. Besides learning "how" to teach, I have learned more about the latino community in the urban settings. I have been exposed to a new culture in education. One that is different than most schools I have worked in or visited. 

In conclusion, this year has been a learning experience nonetheless, and I have had my fair share of up's and down's. I loved my school at times and utterly despised it other times. I have no idea what or where my future is going to bring me this next year, but I will surely take what I have learned this past year and use it. 

I hope you all have a wonderful summer!Chao!

Leslie