~and I came here to stay~

I learned something about myself as a teacher and a person during the first 3 days of school last week, and the something is this.

"I have a plenty to learn."

I have wanted to be a teacher for Ponca City Public Schools for well over a year now.   I wanted to come here because I knew it would be a great opportunity to grow and change as a teacher.  With a quite limited number of years left as a public school educator, I didn't want to waste the chance to be able to help kids in any way that I could.  This particular district offers a tremendous amount of support to its staff who in turn are able to pass that support on to the children they teach each day.  I like that about being here, and it is a win-win for all concerned.

I definitely learned a lot during the first three days of school, and some of it was the hard way.  It's a humbling thing to be a veteran teacher of 40 years now and find yourself making mistakes that others who have been there before understand like it was part of their own DNA.  I was actually kind of hard on myself a couple of times as I questioned how I could have made the mistake of missing something in scheduling or desperately needing to get all of my usernames and passwords for the many sites that PCPS teachers use engrained in my 64-year old brain.  It was personally kind of tough before I reminded myself just why I came here and that was to learn.

The subject of not knowing everything came up in class by day #2 as we were going over a few vocabulary words.  One thing led to another and suddenly a word was mentioned that few of the kids knew the meaning of.  I could tell by the looks on their faces that they were mystified by it and that's when I told them that there are plenty of words in the English language that even I don't know the meaning of.  They were further shocked at that comment and one student mentioned very respectfully that he would have thought a teacher would know everything.

That was the moment I had been waiting for, a chance to teach a lesson that I try to teach early on every single year.  I stopped right there in the vocabulary lesson and looked them all in the eyes.  One by one, I scanned the group to see if they were listening and then I went on.

"Kids, do you know what you do if you have a teacher who says they never make a mistake and that they know everything that there is to know?  Here's what you do. You find another teacher."

And while we were at it, I went ahead to add in what is at the top of the list of things I believe should be in an educator's heart.

"And do you know what you should do if you have a teacher who says they don't love kids?  You find another teacher."

And those wise children knew exactly what I was talking about.  They learned 3 things about me right there on the spot at 10:35 a.m. on a Thursday during the first week of school.  They realized that their teacher does love kids and loves them, that she makes mistakes every day, and that she is still learning all the while.

Tomorrow begins the first full week of school, and there is much going on each and every day.
I am trying hard to get my lesson plans in order and to stick to the assigned schedule early on.  My brain is definitely on information overload and for these first few days I'm learning on that basis referred to as need to know.  I am positive that I will get there in time and am eternally grateful for the staff members there who have been kind enough to help me and to realize that right now I need a huge learning curve.  I will get better at it, but it is going to take a little time.

During the 3 months that I was retired from teaching back in 2010, I had plenty of time for soul searching.  I had one chance after another to question my decision and how I truly felt about being away from kids and the classroom.  Returning right back to school as the 2010-2011 school year began was the wisest decision for me to make.  Every single year that followed further allowed me meet some wonderful groups of children and hopefully make a difference in their young lives.

Although the first 3 days were fraught with mistakes and painfully hard learning on my part,  I am still convinced of one sure thing.

As for me and my students, this year is going to be the greatest of years ever!

Once I was a little girl and a kid just like them.  I would do well each day to remember that fact in my heart, especially during those times when the going gets tough.  My students will hear me say many times throughout the 9 months together ahead that there is no place on earth I'd rather be than right there with them at school each day.