#99 and #65

#99- Thank someone for a compliment and mean it... #65- Further my education

If you aren't a teacher, and don't know someone that is, it's easy for you to take for granted what a teacher actually does. Everyday, I have to figure out how I will teach a skill so effectively that all 20 of my students will be able to grasp it, as well as do it in a way that will keep those 20 children entertained long enough to listen to me and actually learn the concept. It's easy to get "stuck in a rut" which is what most older teachers end up doing- they get tired of learning new and engaging ways to teach.

Right now, I am taking a class through the county that is teaching teachers how to use Reading and Writing Workshop in their classrooms. It's a lot to learn, but you wish you could just start doing everything you learn in these classes in your own classroom right away because of how great it is. I have started implementing a few things I've learned in my own classroom, and it has made SUCH a difference already in my kids' excitement about reading.

My Literacy Coach at my school came in my room last week to watch the new things I was doing, and was very complimentary of my ideas and techniques I was using. At that time, I was still unsure of how "great" all this really was... I knew good things were happening, but it was a lot of work, and still very new. So, of course, I thanked her for the compliments, but was still doubting myself. I find that I often do this... it's not that I can't take a compliment... but if I don't really feel the same thing, it's hard to.

Well, today, in my class, I shared the things I was doing and showed some examples, and the instructor came over on a break and wanted to see everything. She told me she was so impressed by what I was doing, and she was so thankful that I was actually taking what I was learning and using it in my classroom. For whatever reason, maybe because I've seen the difference in my kids so I can believe it myself, I was able to thank her for her compliment and mean it. :) I was suddenly so proud of myself for the things I was doing in my classroom because I KNOW I am making a difference in these kids' lives and the way they feel about reading. :)

#65- still going, and #99- completed. :)