I’ve had the opportunity to run two half-marathons in my life. The one thing I was always told by my more experienced runner friends is the pain undergone once you hit mile 10. There is something about miles 10-13 in a half-marathon that, for at least newbie runners like myself, is absolutely exhausting, painful, and challenging. Because of that, both times I had people by my side to run those last 3 with me. In both races, my friends literally pulled me at some point, put their hands on my back, pushed me forward, and told me, “Do not stop…DO NOT STOP. You are almost there.”
I have roughly 31 days left of my teaching career…or at least Teach For America commitment. It’s my second year, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and the end is coming faster than I am able to fathom. 2nd year planning…
Around this exact time last year I wrote an entry on how I finally learned how to long term plan. Well. It seems to have happened again. Somehow in this season of my life something just clicked about planning during my Professional Development day after Winter Break. Last year, I finally learned how to plan…
read more »This season, 2nd quarter, has been an interesting time for me. I have realized that in 8 and 1/2 school days I will be 75% of the way through my Teach For America commitment. Most people in my life know already that I will not be returning after this year. As hard as this job…
read more »There’s not too much to report on since I last updated. There’s needs to be a moment of celebration to take place because Black October is over. If that’s the worst 31 days of the year then let’s keep on truckin’. The people in my life made those 31 days go by about as quick…
read more »If I could tell 1st year Corps Members anything, it’s that the 2nd year is so much easier. Even on my hardest days, I am 100 times more prepared and able than ANY day my first year. But the one thing that has never gone away are Sunday Stomach Aches. The nerves of getting ready…
read more »One day when my students thought it was time for me to be a preacher instead of a teacher, I went through a long spiel that centered around being well behaved vs. self-disciplined. The look in my students’ eyes when I explained it confirmed that they had no idea there was even a difference. Truthfully,…
read more »If I actually said everything I wanted to in this post, you and I would be spending our day at the computer. So for the sake of all of our sanity I’m going to keep this short as possible. Bear with me… On a side note of the rest of this post, you need to…
read more »The very first thing our principal had us do in our school Professional Development was write out our vision/mission a.k.a. “Philosophy of Education” as an urban educator. So here’s how I feel about that… I love writing. On some days, I’d maybe even go as far as saying I’m decent at it. But I reaaaally don’t…
read more »Tomorrow begins my second and final year of commitment for Teach For America. I remember hearing about how much more peaceful and prepared you feel going into your second year. I feel like I can respect that thought and there are for sure things I’m feeling confident about the fact that I’m familiar with what…
read more »I have officially finished my first year of teaching in urban education. Am I tired? Absolutely. Am I glad that I am going to be getting a little bit of time to myself? Absolutely. But the absolute, most beautiful part of the year being over is watching how my relationship with my students HASN’T ended.…
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