Thoughts in the Shade of Sunburn

Sorry for the delay in blogging. I sometimes run into a "blogger-block," where I do have time to blog, but I'm struggling with a good and enlightening topic. But I sit here tonight, sunburned by my first real nice full day outdoors, with some reflections.

School ends Wednesday here at East Marshall (okay, actually for us teachers it ends on Thursday, but I don't count in-service days- to be honest they typically turn into half goof-off days). Last year I blogged about some thoughts on leaving Lineville-Clio and what some things were that I could work on. Now my first year at East Marshall has ended. I am staying here this year...I enjoyed it here (not to say I didn't enjoy L-C) and I've liked a lot of things that I've done here and I have a lot of opportunities here. There are also still plenty of things I need to work on. The teaching profession is one though where even after year 26, I will probably be saying "geez, I wasn't very organized this year or I didn't handle that one situation the way I should have." I started a couple things this year (writing a government related children's book to read to elementary students, "bill trackers," WWI memorial projects, and plenty of other things) but I still need to work on facilitating classroom discussion better. I need to adjust even more than I thought I had to in the change of classroom size- making sure all are on task, etc. The biggest thing I want to work on is organization. Sometimes I feel like when a student comes in asking for a missed assignment because they were sick, that I'm running around looking through stacks of papers- checked and unchecked. I know all teachers have this problem, but I would like to really improve myself in this area. Next year may be worse and better all at once. My schedule will be HECTIC with Grad classes next year, plus coaching. On the other hand, I will have an educational aide. This will be a senior who is interested in the social studies area and gets credit through the Guidance office for doing this "job"- checking, organizing, entering grades, and even writing tests. We'll see how it all plays out. Overall though it was a successful year. My Principal praised my job performance and more importantly, I have completed my mentoring program...so I'm officially licensed!

The big reflection on this year is though is one of the reasons I LOVE teaching. I know that I may be on this blog or IM'ing or calling a friend and talking about frustrations, but I really do love my job. I had another reason why today. The reason I'm sunburnt is because I went to the Iowa Boys and Girls Co-Ed State Track Meet today in Des Moines. I don't coach track, just went to watch and hung out with the coaches, their families, and some parents. Now I was going to go anyways because my co-workers are good company and always willing to let a single guy tag along with them and because I love sports. I also of course like to support the kids and had promised a couple I would watch if their event made the finals (today). We also have some good athletes and a solid girl's team this year. After our girls ran their last race (the boys had been done earlier) I figured it was time to leave. I needed to stop and do a couple things in Des Moines so I headed to my car. On the way back I spotted one of our girls coming out of the main building, hospitality for the athletes. She actually spotted me first, yelled out "G!" (when your last name is Grandgenett you let the kids slide on proper names), excitedly ran over with a smiling face and shook my hand as I complimented her performance. Now she is always a pretty friendly person and an excellent student, but you could tell that she was extra happy that I had come to watch. I enjoy these moments because of the connections you make with the students, but also because it shows I care and that they care that I care. I found this out during my student teaching in Clarksville. I went to a basketball game and the next day at school I had like about 15-20 new "fans." Students love to see that you care. I love going to support the kids and I love being able to interact with them in another way than just the classroom. I had another example of that tonight when I went to some graduation parties and had a chance to talk to our outgoing seniors about the meet and future plans, etc.

Now that I've typed long enough, just thought I would share some thoughts on the joys of education. Good Luck to the Graduating Seniors!