When I meet someone and they ask me what I do, it still feels like I'm lying when I say "I'm a teacher." But it doesn't feel as strange to say as it felt a few months ago, and I feel like I'm starting to accept that this is my career. I went to college to be an art teacher, I accepted the TFA position hoping to be a second or third grade teacher, and I somehow got thrown into a tenth grade special education position that focuses mostly on algebra. Back in June, when I was first offered the job, I was terrified, and a little disappointed because it wasn't what I had wanted or planned, but I was just so relieved to have a job. Seven months later, I'm so thankful things didn't turn out the way I planned. I would have never known how challenging and rewarding it could be to teach sixteen and seventeen year olds with learning disabilities. I don't see them as different from any other teenager in the school, and although they have one more obstacle to face than all of the other students, I've seen my students work harder and earn better grades than many of the other students in the school. I have loved getting to know them as people and learning about their hopes and dreams, and I am so excited to help them work towards these goals over the next three years. It's going to be a long, difficult road, but I am so excited to guide them as they choose colleges, write them recommendation letters and watch them graduate and go off to college.
Semester two starts on Tuesday, and I'll have a few new students and new challenges for sure. I'm starting off the semester by diagnosing their reading levels, which I've recently realized are terrifyingly low, so my goal is to fit in more reading and writing skills with them in between all the Regents prep we will be doing for Algebra and Global!
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