Written by: Brenna

After giving a little life update and reflecting on December I thought I should sit down and really share with y’all how the last semester has been…I always want to go on a long rant during our Life Update pieces but that’s more for my whole life and not just my teacher life. So today instead of getting the highlights, you’re getting it all.

Teaching has taught me so much more than I possibly ever imagined. I walked into this career with my expectations very low because I wasn’t sure what I should truly expect. I knew school was a lot different but just not sure how much. Also, trying to flash back to my elementary days was harder than I expected so I just set the bar low.

Let me start there… I’ve learned that not every single thing I have my eye on needs to have an unreasonably high bar set. My word for 2019 was Grace and setting every single bar way too high was hindering me from showing grace as much as I wanted. So I lowered some expectations and that allowed me to follow through on showing grace in more places. I think meeting someone where they’re at and not where I think they should be is one of my biggest take aways. I thought every student would be on a first grade reading level, sharing a love of reading and that their homes would be full of books like mine was/is… That’s so not the case when iPads, YouTube and video games are much more appealing. So of course I was mad for a while because I was like, “Parents, take that away and make them read!” but who am I to think like that when they are probably just doing the best they can or really need that hour of silence in the evening. I know I do and I don’t even have kids. Grace. Grace. Grace.

This has seeped into more than just my teaching life too… Getting married brought a whole new list of expectations… We'd live in an apartment for a year, save money, buy a house, travel, I’d have a new car, JT would be playing on the PGA Tour, etc. But Boy did God have a different plan for us and you know what that has taught me? To accept where I’m at in this very moment. It’s not up to me and once I stopped thinking it was, I stopped stressing about why things weren’t perfect. Am I sad we aren’t in a house yet? Absolutely, but you know what? Living in this tiny ass apartment has only brought JT and I closer together. Did we need that more than a house, new car, PGA Tour Status (He’d argue that) and a solid savings account? Yes. Who would have thought?

I’ve learned the importance of dance parties. Shelby, a teacher on our team, and I have recess duty together and we decided that having dance parties during recess would be a good idea. Guess what? It was a GREAT freaking idea. Kids love it and we love to watch their dance moves.

It’s okay to ask for help. I thought I had done more than enough research and if I was stuck I would just wing it… but guess what, it doesn’t work like that. I ask for help like it’s running out of style because this is my very first rodeo and I don’t always want to be driving my hot mess express bus while it’s on fire through a twister.

Teachers Pay Teachers is the best and worst website ever. They have absolutely anything and everything you could ever need for your classroom… and then some. I am addicted to shopping there and I’m here for every single freebie I can download.

The behind the scenes things you do as a teacher is more than I ever imagined. I think I had this narrative that you just show up, read stories, pass out worksheets and have fun all day long. I was mistaken! It’s A LOT of data collecting, conferences, meetings, mental notes, trainings, prep work… The list goes on and for some that might be intimidating but it is so worth it when you see your kids thriving from all the things you did for them beforehand.

Loving your kids is the best thing you can do for them. There’s no other way I can explain that. Nothing else matters…I let my kids know daily, how much I love and appreciate them and their good choices. They are very aware of how important they are to me and that’s what I want them to remember.

To wrap this up…. I shouldn’t have waited so long to decide to become a teacher but I know everything happens for a reason. This wound up being a lot longer than I expected so I’ll stop rambling and wish you a good rest of the week!