Think About Yourself

“Yes, I am proud, and very humble too.” – Anne Sullivan

I am not good at talking about myself. Whenever I am evaluated at work, I am usually asked about what I have accomplished for that year. As a fifth-grade teacher there is never a dull moment, and there is typically a lot happening in one day. This is something just about every teacher in the world can relate to. No one day is like the previous day. It’s hard to remember everything that has happened throughout the course of an entire school year. I remember just the other day I was looking at an old roster I had printed at the beginning of the year, and there were a couple of challenging students on the list who had left for various reasons during the year. Not only has so much happened during the year, it just doesn’t feel right bragging about myself. At the same time, I don’t dwell on my failures. Something I have been working on the last year is being more reflective. Typically, when I hear someone talk about reflection, the focus is on what can you improve on, but I am learning that it requires you to look at both all areas of success and areas to improve.

It took some time for me to complete the section on my evaluation form where I have seen success this school year. The truth is I have seen a lot of success. One, I have students improving in the area of math in ways that I have never seen before. Last school was a struggle for many students. We were in and out of the classroom last year due to Covid, and most of my students were full remote last year, meaning they stayed at home and learned on Zoom. I have students this year who are excited to come to school. Many for the last few years dreaded going, but now wake up excited every day to come in and learn. These are some great areas of success. There is more work to be done, but I am seeing this school year become a success, which is a breath of fresh air compared to the struggles from the pandemic over the last few years.

These photos that I have posted I actually took last fall. I was looking through some 2021 photos that I did not post last school year, and I came across these. I took these on a cool fall day over at Freedom Park in Charlotte. This is one of the few parks I frequent often during the year.