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Why I have resisted this post
I have to be honest. I have gone back and forth on whether to make this post. It’s just what bloggers do, right? The dreaded introductory post. The post that gets your audience to buy into what you are saying. I don’t really know how to do that. I’ve never been very good at “selling” myself. I am at least self-aware enough to know this. Put me in a classroom full of four year olds and I kick ass! I will have them laughing, involved, and excited to learn. Then, they go home and tell their parents how big they are and how much they learned. However, one of my top flaws is the interview. I sound like a moron who knows nothing about teaching.
A needed slap in the face
So, why am I biting the bullet and doing the same old introductory post? I just read the book Believe It by Jamie Kern Lima, the founder of IT Cosmetics. She bears her soul and tells all the times that she either felt unworthy or was flat out told that she wasn’t the right “type” to sell beauty products, all of which was motivating and made me realize that people are not always what we believe them to be from just seeing their public persona.
However, one particular quote really struck a chord with me.
This quote sparked some serious soul-searching. I have recently spent my entire Spring Break revamping my website and trying to get everything set up the way I wanted. I am trying to learn how to do email opt-ins and make a content calendar so I keep up with my posts and content creating all while teaching full time. All of this research sucked me into the world of SEO, social media marketing, and online business courses. I have read so many articles where so called “experts” were telling me how to make TPT and this blog a success. I signed up for so many email lists that clogged up my email as well as my head.
This quote brought me crashing back to reality, which I am so grateful for. I have wasted valuable time trying to figure out what others are doing so that I can do that too and make this blog a success when, in reality, what I should be spending my time doing……is simply being me. This realization really takes a load off as I already know how to be myself.
Who Am I, really?
I am just a regular teacher located in Georgia. I’m 45 and overweight (eat away those emotions). I have been married for 28 years. I have two daughters and a grandson. Prior to teaching I was a bookkeeper for many years. I went to college at 31 when my youngest started school and have a BA in Early Childhood Education. Although it is seemingly out of the norm in the field of Education, I have no desire to get a higher degree. I have spent my career in Pre-K up until this point, but who knows if that is where I will stay for the entirety of my career. I love what I do and I love helping other teachers with ideas in their own classrooms.
If I’m really honest, I think I wanted to be a teacher because school was a hard place for me as a child. I didn’t have difficulties learning. However, I struggled with socializing. I grew up in a small town where everyone knew everyone, so it was common knowledge when my parents were arrested and my dad went to prison. School became a place of ridicule and being looked down upon. It became a place where kids weren’t allowed to play with me because of who my family was. I never wanted another child to feel the way I felt during those years.
Making a difference
In my classroom I make a concerted effort to teach more than just the curriculum and standards. While they are important, it is more important to me to teach my tiny humans the importance of how they interact with one another. I want them to leave my class understanding the effect they have on those around them. That effect can be either positive or negative. I want my students to be good people, not only good students.
If this sounds like something you are interested in learning more about, please stick around. I have lots to share and I am here to learn from you as well. I would love to hear your story of why you became a teacher. Come over to Facebook and share. We are all on this journey together. We can make a change in education….one classroom at a time.