With it being almost 3 weeks since my last post, I felt it appropriate to title this post "The Gauntlet." This is the time during the school year between Labor Day and Thanksgiving break where there are no breaks, but the days are long and time seems to pass too slowly. You walk the halls and you see on the face of every teacher and administrator exhaustion and fatigue yet you look at the students and their spirits are not broken, only fueled by the impending break. As a new teacher, this is all new to me. The months-long battle of wit and will against yourself and students. I felt like a fish swimming up stream, keeping my head down, focus lasered and will strong to try and make it to Thanksgiving.
During "The Gauntlet" period (and again, this was a term I picked up from another long time teacher), teachers begin to fade in energy and get that "I don't care" attitude. If they don't verbally express it, it's written all over their face. The frustration of students not wanting to work, parents being too demanding and piles of work that need to be graded, with no end in site, begin to eat at a tired, over worked educator. And here's the thing, I get it, I've felt it. The days we work are long, the time we put in is never enough, and the work we still need to do for both the students and administration is unending. Hearing that frustration is heartbreaking. And it's amazing how much of an emotional boost hearing we get a free jean day on Friday the night before via text can be! It's the little things that get us through, and I can honestly say I wouldn't be making it without my amazing department and hallway team. I see why many new teachers don't make it 3 years... I see why many people won't make it a year at the school I work in. Every teacher is made for a specific group of kids, just like every teacher is made for a different grade level. I would DIE trying to teach 1st grade like one of my friends. First of all, I don't wipe noses or butts and 2, there are too many crafts that require ever. single. detail. done ahead of time. Nope, I never would survive. However, for some reason, I feel like I fit working in this school. And I know many people, initially, didn't see me making it because 1, apparently TCU grads carry a bad reputation (don't blame many people on assuming that one) but 2, a blonde white 22 year old going into a low socio-economic, all minority school with a principal who demands the most out of you, all in the name of the students... hell! Looking back I don't think I would have put money on me! But, as my mother will tell you, I've spent my life trying to prove people wrong and then surprising myself in where I end up when all is said and done.
Now, this post is not about me bragging about myself about how I'm going to make it as a teacher, because who knows I could get pregnant or call it quits for some reason and that might be it. What it's about is the real struggle that all first year and long-time veteran teachers face. What I've realized is that the ones who can make it have a strong support system in place to help them get through and remember why they're there and how AMAZING they are. I can tell you right now it is an honor to work with my faculty, because they've been supportive of not only the ideas I bring to the table, but to the strengths I possess and the weaknesses I need to strengthen. I look at myself in the mirror and I'm not the same person I was August 25th, I'm better. That unending positive energy and smile that I'm apparently known for is still there, but my team work skills and professional communication skills have been improved while my inner strength has tripled all thanks to those I work with. Teaching ages you, but also keeps you young because you begin to see yourself in the face of every student that walks through your door. The stubborn, the caring, the hopeful, the shy, and the pain-in-the-butt are all relatable faces because we were once there too. It's remembering we're strong enough to withstand this "Gauntlet" and carry on doing what we were called to do. It's work, but it's unbelievably rewarding.
So, when your Assistant Principal sees you cry for the first time & has a goofy baffled look, only responding with "Mrs. Gonzalez's I really don't know what to do right now... you're upset and that is not what I'm used to... I don't know quite how to handle it,"remember to...
Think like a proton, & Stay positive!
~Mrs. G
Live. Laugh. Teach.
Now, this post is not about me bragging about myself about how I'm going to make it as a teacher, because who knows I could get pregnant or call it quits for some reason and that might be it. What it's about is the real struggle that all first year and long-time veteran teachers face. What I've realized is that the ones who can make it have a strong support system in place to help them get through and remember why they're there and how AMAZING they are. I can tell you right now it is an honor to work with my faculty, because they've been supportive of not only the ideas I bring to the table, but to the strengths I possess and the weaknesses I need to strengthen. I look at myself in the mirror and I'm not the same person I was August 25th, I'm better. That unending positive energy and smile that I'm apparently known for is still there, but my team work skills and professional communication skills have been improved while my inner strength has tripled all thanks to those I work with. Teaching ages you, but also keeps you young because you begin to see yourself in the face of every student that walks through your door. The stubborn, the caring, the hopeful, the shy, and the pain-in-the-butt are all relatable faces because we were once there too. It's remembering we're strong enough to withstand this "Gauntlet" and carry on doing what we were called to do. It's work, but it's unbelievably rewarding.
So, when your Assistant Principal sees you cry for the first time & has a goofy baffled look, only responding with "Mrs. Gonzalez's I really don't know what to do right now... you're upset and that is not what I'm used to... I don't know quite how to handle it,"remember to...
Think like a proton, & Stay positive!
~Mrs. G
Live. Laugh. Teach.