Let me just start by saying… I’M THE FASTEST KID IN FOURTH GRADE! I’m basically unstoppable! Haha! This school year has taught me the importance of connecting with my kids! Everyday at lunch, instead of eating in the lounge with the other adults, I eat with my students. Honestly, I kind of like it better! The drama in fourth grade is better than the drama of an adult! During recess I always try to connect with my students in some way, and the first couple of weeks of school I definitely established my greatness! Here’s how it all went down:

One bright and sunny afternoon one of my big, “O-lineman like” boys decided to challenge me to a race. Let’s just say he obviously wasn’t expecting what was coming next… I smoked him! By a long shot! This sparked some excitement in the other students. That Friday, after much anticipation, I raced the whole fourth grade! Boy was the pressure on! I knew that if I didn’t win my students would never let me live it down! Well of course I won, because I’m awesome! So yes! I get to claim the title of the fastest person in fourth grade!

It was a lot of fun, and we still race every once in a while! I’ve started letting other people win now though! I can’t be awesome all the time! haha! But I did learn a valuable lesson that day… Kids will respond to you so much better when you have positive interactions with them! We need to build relationships with our students doing something else besides school work!

So here’s my challenge to you! My teacher friends, find one way that you can have a positive influence on someone’s day! It could be something as simple as a smile and “how are you?”, or you could have a lunch date with some of your students. Do anything to show them that you care about more than just their grades. My non-teacher friends, you can do this same thing with anyone! Reach out to someone this week! Whether it’s an old friend, or maybe someone you just met, you can always find a way to make someone feel special. Sometimes even a “Just wanted to let you know that I’m thinking about yuh” text can really make a person’s week.

When I tell you that the timing of me getting hired was crazy… I mean BLOW YOUR MIND CRAZY!!! So buckle up and keep your hands and feet in the car at all times because it’s about to get crazy! I started applying for teaching jobs in late March/ early April, and boy was I not ready for the test of patience that I was about to experience.

Throughout the summer, as more and more of my friends started getting hired, I lost hope of ever getting a job! I’m not just saying that in the “annoying post graduate, I have a degree now give me a job way”… I applied for about 20 districts and 70 job postings in all and… NOTHING! I was pretty much convinced that I wasn’t going to be a teacher! But then it finally happened!!! I got called in for an interview, and it went great! With my portfolio in hand, I was ready for whatever questions they might throw my way! I even got a compliment on my coral-colored dress shirt! I felt so confident about that interview, I was sure that I had the job!

After a couple of days of waiting, they “decided to go with someone else.” I was pretty discouraged, but that’s alright! I was just happy to see that people were finally taking interest in me! Next I went to a job fair and met a lot of great people! “Not yet, but that’s something I will work on” seemed to be my answer over and over again at that event… Turns out, a lot of districts don’t even want to know what your name is if you don’t have your ESL certification! You better believe that I have that baby now! There were a couple of schools there that were interested in me, but without any money to live on I wasn’t able to pick up and move three hours east!

Then! IT FINALLY HAPPENED! After several weeks, what felt like MONTHS of putting myself out there, praying that God puts me in the right place, and trying so hard not to get my hopes up I finally had that THE INTERVIEW! The interview that lead to my first big-girl job! BUT DON’T UNBUCKEL YET FOLKS! Here’s where it gets crazy! I’ll put things on a timeline for you to really put the craziness into perspective. On a sunny, warm Wednesday afternoon I woke up and excitedly started getting ready for the possibility that was in front of me! On my 30 minute drive I rocked out to every girl-power song that I could find! The interview went great! I was comfortable and confident the whole time. After my thirty-minute drive home, I got the call that they would like me to come back and interview with some other people. So I got back in the car and drove my happy butt back and … THEY OFFERED ME THE JOB! This was on a Wednesday, 5 days later on Monday I signed my contract, the next night was open house, then on Thursday, THREE DAYS AFTER I SIGNED MY CONTRACT,  was the first day of school. So basically with-in a weeks time frame I interviewed and started school! CRAZY RIGHT?!

If you’ve ever struggled with God’s timing just remember: Everything happens for a reason. Most of the time, things don’t fall into place just as you want them, but if you take a deep breath and let God take control it is a amazing what he can do for you!

Yes! I am one of “those” people! Believe me… after 4 years away at college I was fully ready to be on my own, but those were not the plans that the big guy upstairs had for me. Due to my crazy college schedule of 18 hours, cheerleading practice 3-4 times a week, and a sorority I did not have a lot of time for a full-time job. I worked an on-campus work/study job, but definitely did not make enough money to save up for living expenses after college. So after graduation in May I did it! I moved back in with my parents! And honestly it was great (even though I didn’t get the big room upstairs like I wanted)! After telling people about my new adventure, I was pleasantly surprised by the reactions that I received. Many adults would reply “Stay as long as you can!” or “That’s the best decision you’ll ever make!” or, my favorite, “I wish I could move back home with my parents.” Turns out moving back home wasn’t such a bad decision after all, it even gave me an opportunity to save some cash! I was doing pretty well being back with the rents… UNTIL… it happened! One of my students made me feel like a complete weirdo! We were in the cafeteria just sitting down for lunch and I made a comment about a yummy looking sandwich that one of my students was about to chow down on! “Calen,” I said, “Did your mom help you make that yummy sandwich?” He obviously replied with a yes! I then explained that sometimes my mom helps me make my lunch too! Then came the comment! “YOU LIVE WITH YOUR PARENTS?!” And if he would have asked in a normal question tone it wouldn’t have been a big deal, but this kid had the biggest tone of disappointment and disbelief. Within the first week of school I was afraid that I had instantly become the lame teacher! All of my hopes and dreams of becoming everyone’s favorite (haha) were over! But then… it got better!

My Advice to you: Be patient! Some days you might feel like the lame loser that no kid will be excited to see in class… but other days you might be racing the whole fourth grade during recess (we’ll talk about that later)! Truth is, no matter how old your kids are they are going to look up to you because you are their teacher!

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton