Thursday, November 13, 2008

Attitude of Gratitude!

To answer H's questions... life has been Nutso because of school... I'll paint the picture for you all and then I'll leave it at that because I am super grateful for my job, I love teaching, I love my students and I feel that I'm drawn to my profession for a reason.

For the painting....I teach 24, 8 year olds, almost nine. I have lots of different kinds of learners, everything from non-English speaking to gifted and talented. I have kids who are extremely bright in Math and and extremely bright in reading but not in both. I have students who need to be challenged and students who need interventions. I have parents fighting over custody rights in front of me. I have tattle tales. I have whiners. I have happy go lucky students. I have one parent a week who volunteers. I don't have a copy aide. I don't have any aides. My only students who are being serviced are my ESL students. I am learning a new curriculum and teach 5 billion subjects a day so by the time I make copies of everything, study the lesson, find creative hooks and engaging lessons, present the material, break up fights, count the number of minutes every kid read, tally the number of box tops brought in, grade papers, enter grades into the computer, write parents letters, go to bus duty and recess duty, attend faculty meeting, prepare for parent teacher conferences, listen to the dang pencil sharpener a thousand times a day...I get warn out. There is just so much a teacher could never explain... :) And that is why it's a little Nutso... However, I may sound like I am complaining, but I LOVE my job! I wouldn't want to do anything else! Even if I have to feel tired and frustrated, I feel compelled to help kids learn and find ways to help them realize their potential and watch them soar! If I had all the money in the world I would reform education though!

I love my students! I love teaching!

8 comments:

Milmonster said...

You said it sister!

Chelsea Ellingson said...

Amen. A little different for me since I'm only teaching ONE subject (music), and only teaching half time, but then I get to come home and put my teacher hat down and put on my Mom hat, which in many respects is the same thing (I still break up fights and listen to a lot of whining, but at least there's no pencil sharpener). You are amazing because you make a difference in their lives.

Alanna said...

you pretty much summed up most of my thoughts on teaching too! Sounds like you are super busy...especialy without much of any extra help.

Katey said...

Oh the life of a teacher...Thanks for that update too! :)

John and Clara Balsmeier said...

Hey, Tiffany. This is Clara, obviously, I do remember you!! So you're a teacher huh?! That is so great. My oldest just started preschool this year (oh my), I am just starting to realize how important teachers are. I am so nervous to send her out into the "world" and good teachers make the world of difference.

Anonymous said...

TIFF
THANK YOU so much for the HELP

CHECK out what I did to my blog
I loved doing it until about 1 am or 2am or 3am I cant remember when I quit. LOL

I can't tell you enough How much I appreciate your friendship.
I miss you and Ali and Nat. We WERE AWESOME LOL
OK you were not me
Anyway lets not wait so long to do somethin again.
H

Anonymous said...

THANK YOU FOR BEING YOU
Now how did you do all this change
WOW
you are so creative
H

Natalie Redd said...

You added a cute background! I love it! Just think of all the kids who will look back at their elementary years and think of how much they loved you as their teacher - I bet A LOT of them will!!!

View Count

About Me

Life as it for Tiffany Finley is quite the revolving door, one activity ends and I’m back on the rebound, looking for something to spice it up! Live it up, I tell you! Although, those who know me well, know my limits of “living it up!” A whirlwind of terrible singing, dancing, playful banter, blunt responses, sweet and endearing but firm and serious remarks to children, speaking/slaughtering accents that I’ve spun from memory, are a just a few of my favorite things….I delight in waking to the sunrise, driving to an incredible place of work, where I am able to express my true self regularly! My students call me "Crazy. ” This is where the song and dance comes into play, whether we are learning about adjectives or writing our names on our papers, I’ve got a song and cheer for it all! I’m passionate about traveling and walking down narrow pathways. In my spare time, I enjoy taking walks in the park…I’ve been known to disappear in the dark of the night, only to be found on the swings. I also love to organize and re-organize, I can never quite get things right. I thoroughly enjoy people watching.