I am glad to say I am in a much better place than I was just a little over a week ago. My sister, Jackie, reminded me of the importance of enjoying the little things in life today, because those little things will not be the same in a day, a week, or a year. I will never get today back. This last week I've really been trying to get my anxiety levels back down, and I've been doing pretty well. This week I had two programs, two papers, a test, a speech to give, and starting my field experience. With a lot of prayer and planning ahead, I was able to not get stressed out. Today especially I was reminded of how to appreciate the little things. As I was walking back from getting lunch, a cardinal flew in front of me. As most of you know, my memories of my dad are very limited, but I can vividly remember watching the cardinals in the front yard. I remember my dad telling me that his favorite color was red, so I deemed that cardinals were his favorite bird because they are red. Each time we saw a cardinal, my dad told me to make a wish, so even now, almost 14 years later, I still make a wish every time I see one. Seeing the cardinal flooded my mind with those wonderful memories of my dad, and it was like he was reminding me that even though he isn't physically here, he's still here for me.
As I dive more and more into Education classes, it becomes more evident that it is a career path the Lord really wants me in. It was about a year ago that I changed my major from Psychology to English Education, and I'm so glad I switched majors. It was something I very prayerfully considered. I admit, it is very depressing to hear teachers today talk about how much they love their students, but hate the system. Schools are getting rid of the arts, which takes away a little "escape" for students from their purely academic classes. No Child Left Behind laws are forcing teachers to teach to standardized tests, making it difficult to differentiate in their classrooms, which is what they want teachers to do. To make it even more difficult to cater to students' needs is the fact that they are getting rid of honors classes, as well as AP classes. The thing that kills me is that those making these decisions are not people who were just in high school several years ago, they have long since graduated. Hearing stories makes me think that 90% of the time, I'm crazy for wanting to pursue a career in education.
Today I began my field experience at Classic City High School. It's an alternative school for students who have either dropped out, or are many credits behind for graduating. Their teacher-student ratio is 1:15. Wow! And what's interesting is that each of these students have their own lessons on a computer system. They still switch from class to class, but using the computer system allows each student to work at their own pace. Some are working on credits even from last semester. The teacher serves as more of a mentor and helps students when they need it. Now, I don't really know enough to judge how I feel about everything being on the computer. Stay tuned to get more information. But, I think the idea of these alternative schools is amazing. Also, I wish every school had the good fortune of only having 15 students to one teacher, but that's a dream world. However, even just for today I had the chance to break the stigma about "drop outs." These students were pushed out by the system, a system that has 33 students to one teacher and puts students from AP to remedial all in one classroom. These are the students that are labeled in a way that they "don't care or want to learn." But in fact, that isn't true for all of them. One of the students I encountered today is around my age and has 3 children. Yes, I know that those were choices made on her part, but she is still given the chance to get an education on her terms, amazing. These students are also encourage to get jobs, internships, etc. They're encouraged to attend college, and the school will help them in any way they can. All of the teachers know every student's name. I guess my meager hour and a half at the school this morning just left me wanting to know more about this system. I'd like to get some insight into how I could apply some of these aspects into my school one day. I know the Lord wants me to be a teacher, it's just a matter the decisions I'll make to get there.
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