Time to toot my own horn today. I haven't done a great job keeping up with my blog but that is mostly due to the fact that I just can't seem to find the time. Between being a teacher and being a mommy and a wife I am dragging every day. Fortunately summer is here and this gives me some time to recuperate so that I am ready to give 110% to every aspect of my life again come fall.
Well, OK, that wasn't tooting my own horn, but don't worry, that's coming.
I never, not in a million years, thought that I would be teaching what I am teaching today. Now, I always knew I wanted to be a teacher, but being a special education teacher had really never crossed my mind. When I decided to go back to school to get my masters degree I had every intention of just becoming an elementary school teacher, it's what I always wanted. But it seems like things were meant to go in a different direction for me. The program I was accepted into wasn't going to work for me and my family and I had to look elsewhere for schooling. That's when it all started. I had to think long and hard about the decision to pursue my degree in special education instead. The more I learned the more I realized it was actually exactly what I wanted.
Individualizing for students
Paying attention to their different learning styles
Yup - This was going to be exactly what I wanted.
Then life threw me another curve ball.
After I finished my degree and student teaching I was hired as a co-teacher. Perfect! But then I was moved to this position called "Redirection"... Working with students who display frequent mis-behavior. - I cried. - And then I sucked it up and knew whatever life handed me I would always do my best. And wouldn't you know it, it was the perfect place for me.
Do I get hit, kicked, scratched, and spit on regularly? Yes, but I wouldn't change my job for anything. All I ever wanted from being a teacher was to make a difference and with this job I get to really see the difference that I can make. And the best part? (Here comes the horn tooting)
I've been told that I'm actually really good at my job. I have had my superiors tell me so, ask me for help in situations they are dealing with, and have been requested numerous times to have other redirection teachers come to observe my program.
All my hard work has paid off. The pain, the struggle, the crying at the end of the day, it's all been worth it.
I guess, the real reason I am writing this blog post today is to say that no matter what situation life hands you, even if it seems like the last thing on Earth you would ever want for yourself, you have to always do your best because it may be exactly the right place for you.
