Challenge 15

There have been so many things that I have learned throughout this semester.  I wished that I could have been in a regular teaching environment so that I could have incorporated all that I have learned.  I think that learning is best when it is hands on--that is for teachers as well as for students.  If you think about it, we teachers are students too.  I am always open to learn new things.  Most of my students that I have had in the past know just as much if not more about today's technology.  It is hard to keep up with the changing times unless you participate in professional development or stay in school.  I have enjoyed learning about all the new ways to collaborate globally.  During this class, I have learned that collaborating is essential to learning.  It is a huge help if as a teacher you have peers to communicate and plan with.  It is also extremely important for students to have the opportunity to collaborate with their peers as well.  I have not had the opportunity to actually participate in a real global project. Although, when I get my own classroom I plan to have my class participate in a few global projects.  Through this class, I have learned many things.   A few of the things I have learned have been personal challenges.  I have learned that make-up is not a necessity.  I have learned that a spotless house is not always possible, and that getting to shower in peace is a luxury.  I have also learned that a single smile at 3:00 AM from a sweet newborn baby will make everything alright no matter how tired I am.  I have learned that things I thought were difficult with one child has proven to be even more challenging with two.  I have learned not to sweat the small stuff and to enjoy each day to the fullest.  It is amazing how children are able to teach adults things that we never knew could be taught.  It is the same way in the teaching field. Students teach us things everyday; sometimes we are just too busy to learn.  During my first year of teaching, I taught a 9th grade class of English/Language Arts.  I had two college prep classes, one regular education class, and one life skills English class that had thirteen challenged students in it.  There was one young man named James.  He had a very difficult time speaking.  He was not capable of learning the material that I was teaching to the rest of the class.  I discussed his ability with my principal.  I was unsure what my expectations should be of him.  My principal told me just to grade him on what he could do.  I thought to myself, "What can he do?"  As the year began, I instructed James to just copy down the vocabulary off the board instead of writing sentences and looking up the definitions like the rest of the class.  He was not even able to do this.  He would begin writing one word and confuse it with the second word.  He was truly struggling, but he continued to try.  As the year progressed, James always had a smile on his face, and turned in his work on time.  I began spending extra time with him to help him learn how to copy the words from the board.  Finally, by the end of the year he was able to copy all of the words correctly.  He was also able to match the word to the meaning.  James progressed more than I ever thought possible.  At the end of the school year, James brought me a note card, which is what they used to write vocabulary on.  On the note card, in very sloppy hand writing it said "Thank you."  James just smiled and walked away.   Those two words meant more to me than any other thing that I taught or learned the entire semester.  I knew at that moment that James did learn something, and I was very proud of him.  He taught me not to give up and that the little things are the most important.  Just like my two boys have taught me so much about being a mom, James taught me that not giving up is most important.  Progress will come, and progress is all we need to achieve success.