Dear Teacher Who Has Climbed the Mountain,

Seasons greetings! I would say Merry (belated) Christmas, but it has been so long since I posted that I should be saying Merry Christmas, Happy Thanksgiving, and even Happy Halloween!

Fellow teachers, you have climbed the mountain! Whether you feel as though your students just walked through the door for the first time or if you thought you would never make it to this point, our school year is half-way through.

I love this time of the year.  Besides, you know, that whole Christmas thing, this is the time of year when I always feel like I start to hit my stride with my class. Routines are tweaked to run smoothly, organization is well-established, parent-teacher relationships have been nurtured, and I have grown attached to each of my students.

Okay. So maybe I don't feel that way EVERY day!... It is easy to look back on the first half of the school year fondly while enjoying Christmas break, easy to forget the months of September, October......But everything just seems to look a bit brighter this time of year and there is a noticeable shift of perspective in knowing we are about to begin the descent of our school year (weird to think we are at this point already!).

But NOW! Wait just a minute. That is not to say that just because you are descending you can go on autopilot. Going down the mountain requires just as much skill and careful attention as going up because you wouldn't want to start going too fast only to end up tripping and faltering. That overwhelming stress of days past will still sometimes creep up and you will wonder how you will ever get everything done, but.... this is the time to remember what keeps you in this vocation you love, to remember the motivation you had when going back to school.

I have found my motivation this year in my students, my class of 14 lovely young women. And I do say women now when before I was said girls because the growth I have seen in each of them this year is astonishing. I don't know when I will every again have the opportunity have such a lovely group of students. I feel so blessed and fortunate to be able to share in just a small piece of each of their stories and this drives me to be my best each day for them, to give them everything I can during this short nine months we have together.

There is so much more to share, but all in time. For now, I leave you all, dear teachers,  to find what motivates you to once again feel invigorated on this mountain top. What is it that will drive (and improve) your descent this year?

Dear Teacher Who Keeps Forgetting to Breathe,

After these first few weeks in 6th grade, I was kind of forgetting to do that sometimes.

Whew.

In preparation for the move from 2nd to 6th grade, I spent my whole summer, day after day, week after week, organizing my classroom, studying up on the curriculum, and trying to become super teacher to fill the shoes of the woman who spent more than two decades in the position I was taking over. I was so prepared. I was over prepared. No one had ever been this prepared, I was sure. I was quite pleased with myself.

Eek. That was mistake number one.

Do you know Phillip Phillips? I am kind of an American Idol Fanatic :).

Call it weird if you want, but I have always had this intense connection with music. I keep hearing the line from this song in my head, "Troubles they might drag you down, but when you're lost you can always be found. Know you're not alone, I'm going to make this place your home"....

I was confident teaching 2nd grade. I was good at it and I LOVED it. Each day, I start to love 6th grade just a little bit more, but every time one of my little ones from last year comes to give me a hug, my heart melts a little and I just miss them so much! One day at a time, I sure hope I can make 6th grade my home :).

Back to School Jitters

Okay, so I know I already posted once today, I found this linky party for back to school jitters being hosted by Jessica at A Turn To Learn and I just felt compelled to post again because we all have back to school jitters!

Here are the rules for the Linky Party:
1. Put your text over the picture to talk about your back to school jitters!
2. Use the HTML code to link back to the linky party!
3. Comment on the two blog posts before yours!

Changes...

I think your 20's are years of constant change. In your 20's you are both a child and an adult- you go to school, live with your parents, move out on your own, get a "real" job, and probably get married and start your own family all in one decade. Quite possibly it is the most diverse decade of your life. This can be both exciting and scary!

In the past year of my life, I have had a lot of change... Last year, I was living with my mom after finishing college and I taught my first year in a 3rd grade classroom in Sioux Falls, SD (which is also where I grew up, and will always be my *true* home ;) ). I then got engaged to my now husband, Peter, and we made the decision to move to the west side of the twin cities because he was offered a job he just couldn't pass up. This was very hard at the time, but I left my job and my family in Sioux Falls and we were married last summer on July 22nd, 2011 (our 1st anniversary is right around the corner!). We found an apartment in Plymouth, MN to live in after the wedding. This was going to be the first time either of us had lived on our own, and I still didn't have a job at the time! Talk about a leap of faith! Lots of learning was to come for us through these experiences! The day after we arrived back from our honeymoon in Costa Rica, we moved into our apartment and I interviewed with a small Catholic School in Wayzata, MN. I got the job and was simply elated!

We had been looking to buy our own house for a while, and with us both being employed, we decided it was the perfect time. After hundreds of house showings with a very patient realtor, we ended up deciding to build a new house in Maple Grove, MN. We moved into the house on in January of 2012 and everything seemed to be going swimmingly! I was loving my job, loving my husband, and loving being able to decorate our own space! Peter was doing extremely well at his job, too, what more could I ask for? There's always a bump in the road....

The enrollment at my school went down 20% so the school wasn't able to renew the contracts of the 2 newest teachers (me being one of them). Many tears were shed over this. I loved my job teaching 2nd grade, the school and the community were just a dream. But I picked myself up, and started applying for jobs like crazy! I was pretty much stalking the Archdiocese of Minneapolis/St. Paul website. I got an interview with a public middle school in the Wayzata district and I was stoked because that is such a great district to be in, but I was quickly disappointed after being turned down for not having any middle school experience. I also interviewed for a 5th grade position at a Catholic school in Rogers and was all set to take that, when I received a call from my principal at the Catholic school I had been teaching at in Wayzata. She said the 6th grade position had unexpectedly opened up and she wanted to offer it to me. I could hardly believe it. Even though I was a bit hesitant at first to jump from teaching 2nd grade to 6th grade, I truly do feel that it was meant to be that it unfolded this way. I accepted the position, and I feel so blessed to be continuing on at such an amazing school. I've already been preparing for next year!

After all the changes we've tackled this past year, Peter and I have come out happy, healthy, and even more in love. Through all the turbulence of life, I don't think we could ask for much more.