I am so lucky to have my job. My friends are in a district that has failing test scores and they spent all last week filling out paperwork to send to the state. I'm sure all that work will make no difference in the scores of the students; THIS is exactly why No Child Left Behind is a bureaucratic answer to a multi-faceted, human problem. I am honestly starting to believe that "throwing money at schools" does solve problems- even though it's exactly what conservatives dislike about public education programs in the past. A school's appearance lends so much to the pride of the teachers and the students and their ability to focus on learning, instead of other worries. I've been a little worried that my teaching space keeps getting moved around, but I'm so lucky to have my own desk and computer! ESL in general, gets the rejects of grade-level classrooms. My goal is to make sure that the students feel special that they know more than one language; I never want them to feel like second-class students because they come to my room. Which leads back to the idea that well-funded schools can provide a beautiful atmosphere. It also makes daily classroom needs easier. Unrestricted printing and photocopying is so convenient! Maybe that's the reason why everyone in my school is so nice. We even have a technology specialist who made me a list of keyboard commands to make Spanish symbols:) ¡¿ñíéú I love it!

I think that teachers in underfunded classrooms should receive everyone's support. The way that NCLB is set up, they have everything working against them. The saving grace of this profession is the kids. They are so much fun! I have one student from an African country who speaks English with a British accent. And I have a class of students who speak Spanish and no English at all. It will be great! I'm going to teach them all the basics (i.e. "Where is the bathroom?":))

The best thing I ever did was make the beginning of my job extra hectic. Yes, just getting hired the day I started work was chaotic enough, but I also moved into a new apartment. I think I work better under pressure, and it gives me less time to overanalysis. I stop sweating the small stuff (like that my cat was given away while I was at work- I really don't have time to dwell on it). Anyway, I'm surprised at how confident and at-ease I feel about this. Somehow, my emotions are in check and all I feel is gratitude and enthusiasm. Who am I? Not the girl who went to school in St. Louis and stressed about everything. No sir. I hope that life stays this way for a while. It's so comforting. And I'm going to pray that my friends' jobs improve.

My "Teacher's Hot-Pick of the Week:"



























A dry-erase/magnet board!
That's hot ;)