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A Failed Teacher’s Journey Back to the Classroom
I should begin with a confession: I am a failed teacher. I was nearly 21, on the tail end of wrapping up an English degree, and hadn’t the faintest idea of what I’d do once I crossed the graduation stage with my diploma in hand. And then it occurred to me, as I’m sure it had to the thousands of directionless humanities students before my time: I would become a teacher! How hard could it be? After all, I liked kids, loved learning, and had always enjoyed my years at school. So I signed up for a couple of education classes my last semester, took the qualifier test, and moved…
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The Value of Children: Reflections of an Elementary School Substitute
When I’m not writing, I work as a substitute at my kids’ elementary school. Often, on the days that I sub, I spend some time in the evening recording the day’s thoughts and events in my journal. I wanted to share part of an entry I wrote back in February after wrapping up a two day stint with a 2nd grade class. I’m a bit tired and I don’t want to spend all night thinking about the past two days, but I will say one last thing. It’s amazing how quickly (in just two days), you can start building a rapport with these kids. Heck, even in the course of…
