The Week After...

It’s been a full week since all of the district drama, and I must say that I have been clearly reminded of why I love teaching.  My students have been working extremely hard in class, and are still as goofy as ever.  The other day, my co-worker, Charisma, was teaching the Kite Runner in literacy class.  She was discussing Islam and realized that a bunch of students already had a good base knowledge on the Islamic religion… and NOT just racist comments about wearing turbans and being members of the Taliban.  Later that night, I was talking to Charisma about the fantastic chair meeting I just went to (not sarcasm) and she asked me if I teach about Islam in World History.  Well, I do.  In fact that’s my first unit every year… the Rise of Islam.  She continued on about everything her students remembered from my class and I was so proud.  I couldn’t believe how much information my students remembered from the year before!!  I was so happy… It was a clear demonstration to me that there are some students that do remember the things they learn, who want to be in class, and that makes the biggest difference in the world to a teacher who has been tried by the strains of teaching.

I still haven’t decided what to do next year… whether I’ll return to my school or not.  I know that I can’t go back to a school just to have a job.  That won’t be beneficial to either me or the students.  BUT I still want to be a teacher, and finding a social studies job is not always the easiest thing.  I guess I’ll just have to make it through the year and see how I feel...