About This School Year

Literacy and Numeracy Night 2016

This school year is going well. Not to say it's without stress and challenges because those things still exist in the world of teaching. But still, things are looking up...



Even one of my assistant principals said in jest today that I have a "glow" about me. I joked that it was my blush, but truly, I am a lot happier this year.

For one, I'm teaching gifted and accelerated kids. This has made a huge difference. Huge. These kids are more motivated, engaged, highly curious and they mostly respect authority. In my prior teaching years, I would leave school, at the end of the day, feeling beaten up from exhaustion and trying to persuade my students how important education is. I felt like I was doing most of the work. This is in stark contrast to this year. The kids are doing most of the work, and boy do they ask a lot of questions and have a lot to say. I could literally spend a whole class period answering their questions. Really.  I love their enthusiasm!

And while not all my students are gifted, the ones who are struggling with their reading and writing mostly are motivated to do better, and that has really made all the difference. It's so refreshing to "teach your socks off," and then reap the reward of your students' successes...no matter how big or small.

This year my students have really ignited my passion for why I truly entered this profession. They have given me purpose again, and for that, I'm grateful. But as I've said before, this year is not without its challenges, and I suppose a lot of that is just due to my personality. I feel a huge burden to challenge my students with rigor and creativity to push them to achieve at even higher levels.

Placemat Activity

I'll end with this tonight. Here are ten sure signs you're teaching gifted kids:

Your kids are, for lack of a better word, quirky.
Your kids ask if they can write more.
Your kids ask if they can do more than the assignment requires.
Your kids ask if they can read more than your 26 required books for the year.
Your kids ask more questions than you have time to answer.
Your kids ask way more questions than you have time to answer.
Your kids ask far too many questions than you have time to answer.
And no, the last three are not a typo. I get asked a lot of questions on a daily basis!
Your kids would rather read a good book than talk to other kids.
Your kids walk everyday to the cafeteria while reading a book...risking walking into something or someone.
Your kids want to start their project, homework, or any other assignment you give them like right now.

Word!

Why hadn't I experienced this sooner?

This school year is going rather well.