ABOUT MELODRAMATIC OLE’ ME!

Hey everybody!!!It’s been quite a ride these past two three four years. I’ve been through so much and you, my dear readers, have been there through the whole journey. I cannot believe how much I’ve grown and matured as a teacher and a person. It’s been a bumpy ride. I wouldn’t give it up for the world though. I learned so much. Here’s to many more successful years.

It’s just me-the aspiring wannabe-gonnabe best special education teacher in the world. I started this blog in May 2007 to chronicle my first year of teaching. As I update this, it is now October 2008 July ’09 May December ’10 sometime in the near future. I have my first second third fourth year under my belt and am happy about it. Now that my first second third fourth year is water under the bridge, I will be chronicling my first second third fourth year of teaching while completing my Teaching credential/Master’s program.

Now, let me tell you a little bit about myself. I am a married mother of four children ages 5 6 7 8 9 to 17 18 19 20 21 22. I graduated in 2007 from Azusa Pacific University with a degree in Human Development (it’s like child development + education). In November ’07, I will start my started my first year of teaching, and I will start a combined teaching credential/Masters program. I should have  finished, but I have one 3 more classes left. It’s actually a class three classes I took before, but did not complete. Long story short, it they turned into “W’s”. Now, instead of finishing in May ’09, it will be in December ’10 don’t know when. But, as long as I graduate, that’s all that matters.

What was the problem? The problem was that I tried to be Superwoman. I did not manage my time right. I did not take “ME” time like I do now. There was no balance in my life. Everything was all about work. School half-heartedly fit into the picture. Hence the four incompletes I need to clear in the next 3 weeks three incompletes that turned into “W’s” that I now need to re-take in Fall in order not to be in danger of academic disqualification. I did not take heed to my body’s warning. I very nearly had a nervous breakdown. If you are reading this and you are beginning a program while working full-time, listen to your body and take some “ME” time or your body will not like you very much. Especially when it gets sick time and time again.

I teach taught at a low-income, high crime, Title I school in Los Angeles. It‘s was a tough situation, but not impossible. I had great success last year with my students, in regard to their test scores rising and holding the bar high. I didn’t know what I was doing last year, but I had high expectations. It made a big difference. Once the students knew I cared about them and expected the best, I didn’t really have to fight with them to work. Once someone knows that you care about them, that’s the beginning of any beautiful friendship or relationship.

I am going to have my hands full, but you know what, I can handle it. I had my hands full last year and the year before that. In fact, I almost went crazy, but I handled it with the help of my support system. I now teach @ at private school. I have to say that the population is quite different. Just in case I thought it was a fluke that I had great success @ my last school, I now know that it wasn’t. I had great success @ this school also. I’ll see just how great when the test scores come back.

I am, for the first time, teaching General Education, not Special Education. I did not think that I would like it. Now, I love it so much, I’m not sure  I want to return to Special Education. Special Education is still my first love though. That’s why I am implementing a school-wide intervention system for my school. If you know anything about private schools, it’s that there are no Special Education services available. I figure I could at least use my specialized knowledge to help the struggling students.

I am a self-described oddball. I have an off-beat sense of humor. I love sci-fi. I am a sci-fi junkie. Babylon 5 was my favorite Star Trek show. My favorite show of all time was Stargate SG-1 until this last year’s the last crappy, filler shows. What is that about? This last season of Stargate SG-1 reminds me of the last episode of Seinfeld; they were both crappy endings for what had been wonderful shows.

Okay, I’m rambling. I tend to do that. I like to crochet and sew, but my favorite all-time passions are reading and writing. When I was younger, I preferred reading to people. Heck, sometimes I still do.

I wanted to be a writer so bad when I was younger. This blog is an outlet for that desire. My writing style is odd like me. My posts are almost sometimes never not what you think they’re going to be about. Sometimes, while reading my posts, you might have to go back to the title to remind yourself about what you thought it was going to be about. Well, I’ve said enough about me. Bye.