Life in a Donut Shop...

Donuts are wonderful - they're like teaching. We teach our students to be well "rounded", and we pray they're always sweet; however, running the donut shop can be a difficult process.

 "The art of teaching involves more than just following the curriculum and producing the results. Teaching is a craft the requires the craft [of] a donut shop, we must be able to set up shop in any location and practice our art. Our ability to influence a student doesn't come off a shelf, sold by the dozen, but it comes in our ability to show each person that we care enough about them to understand their individual needs. Teachers are individuals with varied strengths and weaknesses, and part of our art is learning to shine through our strengths without letting the weakness bring us down." - Teaching Underground

Interested in learning more about teaching and donut shops? Visit this website:
Teaching and Donuts: A Sweet Lesson for Our Craft

Well, this week was definitely interesting. I took over our AVID class, and introduced them to a research project over four modern issues (juvenile crime, discrimination, race relations, and poverty). The students have been given one of the four topics, and now they're free to go whichever way they want with the topic. Some are having extreme difficulty with this freedom; however, I reminded them when they get into college their paper topics may not be clear cut. As for my darling freshmen class, we began reading the beloved book, Animal Farm. I have really enjoyed teaching both classes, the freshmen are still "fresh" in the sense that some are eager to learn and help the teacher when possible. Thank goodness for this!

This past week was definitely not perfect, I was called a name that was used in a derogatory manner, but the situation allowed me to assert and show my role as an authority to my students. As a teacher, I learned that I have to take every predicament at face value. There's always a reason for everything, and this situation, though disheartening (and it made my blood boil just a little bit) taught me that I can't take everything personally. Plus, my day was going fantastic before this situation occurred. It was like almost completing a the last rep of a bench press, and then someone comes screaming in my face calling me nasty names, and I just wanted to toss the bar and give up. However, I just keep on keeping on for the sake of my sanity and for the sake of the learning environment and my students. I will say though, after a rough day there are some wonderful ideas to vent - for instance, work out. There is nothing better than taking frustrations from the day out on the treadmill, or the weight machine while listening to Florence + The Machine belt out a melody that makes your heart explode with the release of anxiety, stress, and frustration. Although, I'm sure I looked like Homer in this picture (above), I felt great afterwards! (But awfully sore the next day.) I guess my advice to you is to find something to help release the worries and anxieties that the day brings.

Also, listen to some Flo, talk about some serious pipes! Shake it Out!

Have an excellent week my friends! Good luck on your interviews tomorrow at the interview day and as always,

Live long and prosper, folks!
Ms. Aden