Top Ten

It's Tuesday! You know what that means- another Tell-All Tuesday Link up.

I love, love, love this topic! Thanks My Day in K and Teach, Talk, Inspire for another great topic!

Here is my Top Ten list of things teaching has taught me!

All of my items kinda go together. I teach a very specific branch of special education- deaf/hard of hearing. These are students that are often working below grade level and often have missed out on a lot of incidental learning because of lack of communication with parents and family members. Because of this, I've learned to be very patient. What takes a general education student one day to learn takes my kids one week to learn. It's a very slow process and because of that you learn to appreciate those small moments so much more. It also means that it takes a special person to be able to do this. My kiddies' parents will tell you that I most definitely am good enough for this job, but I think it's par for the course that I question myself almost daily. 

My administration doesn't help- they don't really understand these kids and so I'm constantly having to defend my classroom practices. There are so many times where I begin to teach a lesson and then realize that my students don't have the necessary background knowledge to even begin to understand what I'm talking about. So I put that lesson on hold and then backtrack to where they are...and the constant response from admin. that I get is "I need them 3rd grade ready for the FSA." My response is always "You can't put the cart before the horse. These kids are self-contained for a reason. If they were 3rd grade ready, I'd be looking for another job." Maybe that's harsh, but it's the reality. 

Please don't misunderstand, I love my job and my kids. But I also teach the same kids for usually 4 years in a row. It makes things a lot easier when the school year starts because I'm able to just pick up where we left off the previous year. But, I  NEED my summer breaks. They need their summer breaks. By the time January rolls around, we're over each other. 

One of the nice things about teaching these kids for so many years is that you develop a great relationship with the parents. They trust me and in turn that makes them more open and honest with me. It means I can be more honest and upfront with them too.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading my top ten. I can't wait to hop around and read up on others' top ten lists! Thanks for stopping by!