Journal: 1/07/06

Yesterday I completed a good week at school – well, half a week, since we started back to school from the vacation on Wednesday. I wasn’t a perfect teacher, by any means, but I did a few things right, which always cheers me. First of all, I managed to write a reflective paragraph about teaching each day before I left school in the afternoon. Despite wanting to get home as soon as possible after a long day, I took about 20 extra minutes to think and write on an aspect of teaching. I found a topic for the paragraphs by simply browsing through my dictionary until I hit upon a word that seemed to speak to me. On Thursday, for instance, I wrote about the word “ignite” and how it relates to teaching. I enjoyed writing those paragraphs, and I hope I can do one each school day. This week I also managed to maintain a composed and gracious mood during all my classes. This is probably the area in which I’ve made the greatest improvement in my teaching over the years, and I’m pleased with the change. I’ve grown increasingly able to accept whatever happens in the classroom. Not that I necessarily like whatever happens, but I can accept that it happened and calmly move on. For instance, now and then the 9th graders started giggling about something slightly off topic, and, instead of resisting it and causing a commotion, I accepted the giggling, giggled a little myself, and then we all got back to work. I think my students see me as a relaxed, calm, patient, and confident person, and that’s good. That’s exactly the kind of teacher I want to be.