Ahhh.....writing mistakes. Yikes! Who would know I teach this stuff for a living, eh?
Well, World. Why am I here (there goes another writing mistake - this is hard...I'm no good at this...) you may ask? There are a lot of teaching blogs out there and many I have followed and just thought, "I could add something to that", or "I've had the same experience", or "PUT THAT DOWN!"...oh, wait that was what I just had to say in a completely calm town of voice, not at all raised, to my two children ages 6 and 4 and 11/12. Sorry, about that and onward.
I guess at the core of this little venture is that I am at a precipice of sorts. At a crossroad, a fork in the road, a place of newness, a jaunty space, a not at all having to do with a New Year's resolution to change education by writing about it spot of, well...why not? I have a lot to say. I'm good at typing. I have a Mac.
In all fairness I should say that what you can expect from this blog will first and foremost have to be honesty about what I am doing in the classroom "fo reals". All joking aside the educational system in America right now is hurting in many ways. Don't worry, I am not going to go into it right now, but can we talk about one thing? The acronyms! The acronyms! They sound like they came off the back of a chemists t-shirt (IEP, QUAR, IPDP, SLD, HE< HE< HE, MY FACE HURTS!) They mostly have to do with teachers being evaluated on a business model's scale in my state. Sounds legit, right? What could possibly go wrong, right? In a moment of "fo reals" honesty, I only truly know the initials that have to do with my actual student's names <shocking> and must look the rest up on the down low before meetings so I look super smart, professional, and on top of my game. I am a little preoccupied with a million other little things during the day: favorite colors, untied shoes, did they eat breakfast, will they be happy, productive people, WHY DID THEY JUST SAY THAT...NO, NO, NO, and oh, my "celestial body" - they understand this!
On here, you can also be sure to expect my sense of humor (some call it humor, some call it...other) here starting with me explaining quickly why I never started a blog before. It begins with my complete and utter disdain for the word "blog" (eh...it makes me twi-itch). It's horrible really, and sounds to me like a bodily function. That may seem silly, but my love for words just got in the way of me writing all the words. You know what word I love? Chubs. The word "chubs" cannot be said without smiling. Go ahead, try and say "chubs" without smiling. It's hard, right? Listen, I'm not trying to be funny when I say that if I did not find a happy, go lucky, it will all be okay, have fun - their kids - after all way of looking at this profession. I. Would. Quit. We all would quit....hard!
I also promise I am not going to get all gushy about my love for children on this blog, though I do read those blogs while I weep softly into my teacher bag pockets, by the way. I DO love children, but I also love glitter and did not choose to work at a glitter factory. I actually love the act of teaching. Perhaps it's the creation of something that moves close to fruition every day, but never actually is finished...like, never...it's never finished...we don't ever finish....or that I get to be creative (follow my Creative Classroom board on Pinterest, ya'll - pluggity plug), and I have always been a creative person - whatever that even means - or maybe it is that I will actually inspire a kid to love learning and keep doing it. I like to teach, and probably always have in some way, so that is why I do it and challenge myself to do it in an authentic way that doesn't leave me wanting to chew the edge of my desk to relieve tension in my jaw. True story.
I am not going to be the "This-is-how-you-make-super-high-scores-on-standardized-tests", girl. I don't like that girl. She gets on my nerves because I am like that ugly meme character screaming out "You're Doing It Wrong"! I'm much more of the "Let's-make-fireworks-kids-and-shoot-'em-off inside-the-classroom-with-the-windows-shut-so-people-don't hear-us", girl. Aside: that would be awesome wouldn't it? It would put mentos in cola to shame. Shame, I say! In my defense, this can all be linked to State Standards, by the way, and categorized under "completely mind blowing, impactful education".
So that is what this will be mostly about. I cannot tell you how it will meander about yet because I don't know. I just hope it meanders to a happy place, filled with crashing waves, and open books. That would be the spot for a fine meander, I think.
If that is the kind of place you would also like to be, follow me, and let's make some waves.
No comments:
Post a Comment