A year later...

I started this blog a year ago with the intentions of filling it with lesson plans, classroom management tips, etc. However, my aspirations for being a teacher who takes the time to blog didn't work out as planned. Now that it's April, I thought I'd look back on the year thus far and share some insight from my first year of teaching.

What I’ve Learned in my 1^st

Year of Teaching

• A little grace goes a long way—for your student and yourself.
• Don’t sweat the small stuff. Sometimes letting go of a little control will give you more peace of mind than holding on to it.
• No day is perfect, but learn to find the good in every day.
• Seek out godly wisdom. You don’t have to know everything.
• Children have a way of exposing your best and worst moments.
• Children want to be spoken to in a loving manner. Barking at them does nothing but make them feel insecure and fearful of you.
• God places us in challenging situations so that we may not only grow, but also learn to trust Him more with every detail of our life.
• Sometimes taking 2 minutes to sit down and say a prayer is the best thing you can do for yourself. You will immediately see a difference in the way you present yourself to others.
• The art room will never be as sparkling as the first day of school.
• Pray about lesson planning. Coming up with new ideas can be a challenge, but God knows what He wants you to teach, and loves it when you ask Him.
• When something doesn’t work the way you planned, laugh about it and try another method or throw out the idea altogether.
• Don’t be so hard on yourself. You are not here for yourself, anyway.
• Give students responsibilities. They love to help, and they feel awesome about themselves when you give them the chance to do it.
• Having a quiet time in the morning before school is quite possibly the most important thing you do all day. Preparing your heart for what God has in store will help you to see things through His eyes.
• Coffee is your friend. Caffeine in general is your friend.
• Say a student’s name when addressing them. This will not only help you remember it, but will make them feel special and loved.
• Stay organized as much as possible. Set out materials at the end of the day and you will thank yourself the next morning.
• Laugh at yourself when you make a mistake or forget something. The kids connect with you more when you don’t pretend to be perfect.
• Recognize the people around you who have more experience. Watch and listen to the way they interact with kids.
• Just because you’re scared doesn’t mean God won’t call you to do something. In fact, He probably will.
• Just when you think you can’t make it through another day, a holiday, snow day, or sick day will happen.
• Speaking of sick days… Clorox, Clorox, Clorox. When you think you’ve Cloroxed enough, Clorox some more.
• Fake it ‘til you make it!

 What insight do you have to share with other teachers out there? Art teachers, any wisdom you have for transitioning between age groups? Classroom organization?

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. E