Last year at this time, I was a week away from starting my FIRST year of teaching. Today, I am a week away from going back to work as a second-year teacher. Is my summer really over? I swear it feels like school got out like…yesterday! I wish I could say my summer was eventful, but it was quite the opposite. I’m not complaining though because I enjoyed getting some extra sleep and playing fortnite like crazy--I know my former students are going to be so proud of me ;)
My first year of teaching was exhausting to say the least, but I would do that a hundred times over. While teaching the future leaders of America, I became an avid Starbucks drinker. My students would get so worried if they didn’t see a Starbucks cup in my hand. I also contemplated moving my bed to Target several times during the year. Hah! You know your obsession with Target has gotten out of hand when your husband bribes you to go somewhere with him by saying, “We can go to Target after!”
In all seriousness though, I will forever cherish the love and appreciation I received from every single one of my students. You know you played an important role in a student’s life when they are crying because they are sad to leave you rather than being happy to be out of school for summer. I can’t wait to see them next year as fifth graders while I welcome a new set of fourth graders!
My goals for this year are:
· Be awesome. Duh.
· Stay on top of grading (something I really struggled with last year)
· Be organized from day 1 (I am the queen of organization, or at least I thought I was. I definitely have some ideas in place for this year that I want to implement in my classroom to stay on top of things)
· Try not to bring work home (another thing I struggled with last year. I really want to balance my work and home/social life)
· Sleep early (as an elementary school teacher, I have to wake up SUPER early to report to work. Being a workaholic, I was getting only about 4 hours of sleep a night which we all know is not enough!)
· Stay active (again, I was working long hours and working even when I got home-- whether it was house work or related to my job, which zapped my energy! I never had time to go to the gym and I definitely want to change that this year!)
I’m ready for this new school year. I have a ton of stuff I bought for my classroom over the summer that I need to take back to my classroom. I really don’t have a theme in mind, so my classroom may end up looking exactly the same as last year. Whoops. Hopefully I can figure something out this week because I REALLY need to start setting up my classroom!
