Dear Me Letter

Dear Me (as a first year teacher),
How's your first year going?  Good I hope!  I wanted to give you a little encouragement and advice as you begin your new career.  So sit back and listen up....I've got some things to say...

First and most importantly, always remember that it's okay to have fun.  When you enjoy what you're doing it will show and your students will respond likewise.

Second, enjoy these first years.  Oh how I remember the days before the EOG and testing, testing, testing.  Your job will become more involved as you continue through your career and you'll be called on to do much more than you imagined, so be prepared.

Third, try to gain some organizational skills.  It sure will help you out later.

Fourth, treasure the friends you make along the way.  They will make coming to work a lot more fun.

Lastly, it's okay if you don't know everything.  No one really does (even though they think they do.)  Laugh a lot and smile a lot.  It'll be over before you know it!

Have a great year!

Me

A Refreshing Day!

Strangely enough, the second day of the school year in 2011 was a great day!  I remember being so excited about all the cool things we had learned in Pinnacle Training over the summer and was anxious to "get my feet wet."  I decided to go ahead and be brave and start on my Pinnacle/Recycling project.  I knew I wanted to have my students created Animoto videos so I demonstrated and created an example video, put them in groups and off they went!  They loved it and I was so excited with their first attempt outcome.  I remember going home and showing/telling everyone to check out our videos.  What a great way to start off the year!  I've since had my students revisit their videos and make corrections and add to their creations but I'll never forget that feeling of accomplishment and excitement that came from that day!