Support

Through the past few months, it has been great to see the support I have gotten from my friends and family :) Before school started, Matt, Eleanor, and Henish came and helped me set-up my classroom! Henish came again a few weeks later to help me go through the crazy mess that were books stored on two HUGE bookshelves left from my previous teacher. My sister came and hung out when she had a conference in town. Lynn, a teacher, mentor, and Director of the UMSL University Child Development Center came to visit me too. I sent her this email after she came to visit, which really sums up what I've been feeling:

"Honestly, I'm sure you know this, but teaching is a whole different world than practicums and internships. I feel like I've forgotten all that I learned :/ I have to sit, think, and re-teach myself strategies and ways to teach concepts. Its so different when its your own classroom and you're actually accountable for the learning happening. I know this is my first year and I'm definitely not going to be where I would like to in terms of my own teaching, so I am taking this time to really figure out my style."

She replied:

"You will be fine….just keep reflecting on how, what and why of teaching."

Guess that's what I'll be doing A LOT of!