Kids Say the Darndest Things!

Mind you, these are 8th graders I'm talking about.  And all these things actually came out of their mouths today on my first day in the classroom...  :)

"Ms. Jackson, are you Mexican?" (I did not tell my students I spoke Spanish, but after pronouncing several students' names perfectly one girl yelled that out.)

"Where did you go to school?"
"I went to BYU."
"Oh, isn't that a Christian school?  I'm Christian, too!"
...overheard some profanities and the same student yells, "Shut up, she's Christian!  She don't appreciate that!"

"Ms. Jackson, are you nice?"
"What do you think?"
"I'll let you know tomorrow."

And here's to looking forward to tomorrow...I wonder what the verdict is!

Shout Out to my Past Teachers

Tomorrow, it all begins.  I'm starting my career!  No longer do I need to look to the future for what I want to do, only for who I want to become.  It's a surreal feeling.

I would be incredibly ungrateful if I neglected to thank all my past teachers for giving me the best example possible of what it means to care about each student.  They are who I want to become.  I really did have some of the best teachers and mentors around.

Mrs. Craig and I, 3rd grade

From my days at Thorner with Ms. Beagle, Ms. Mayer, Mrs. VanWagoner, Mrs. Craig, Ms. Davenport (Schneider), Ms. Guzman, and Ms. Haggerty, I was taught how to treat others with respect and to not be content with mediocracy.

Mr. Fulenwider, 7th grade math

Mr. Stone, junior high band

Then I went on to Chipman where I learned from Mrs. Piper, Mr. Stone, Mr. Fulenwider, and Mrs. Edwards, among others, who taught me the finer points of being academically disciplined and exploring my emerging talents and interests.  I experienced even more growth at Highland with Ms. Snyder (Montanio), Sr. Davis, Sr. Mayberry, Mrs. Crosby, Mr. Boyle, Mrs. Press, Mrs. Jensen, Mr. Anderson, Mr. Rappleye, and Mrs. Ernst.  They mentored me through some of the most emotionally difficult years I have ever experienced and taught me to believe in myself when everything else seemed to be caving in.

Mr. Boyle and I, my music teacher for 4 years at Highland

Mrs. Ernst and I, 12th grade English

As I look at these wonderful examples in my life, I want to simply know one thing...How did you do it?  I never could have imagined just how much work goes into being a teacher, and I haven't even met my kids yet!  If I can be half as good as you, I will feel successful.  Thank you for being teachers.  Thank you for dedicating so many more hours than you get credit for to preparing kids like me.  There's a quote from one of my favorite books, Tuesdays With Morrie, that says, "A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops."  Your influence is still going on!

For those of you that I've lost touch with, I hope this can reconnect us.  I can't thank you enough for being the teachers you were/are.  I'm humbled to be able to call you my colleagues now.  Any and all pieces of advice/encouragement you have to offer would be greatly appreciated.  :)

Bring it on!

I thought I learned a long time ago not to take so much upon myself!  I guess I'm a slow learner...  :)

The contract has been signed, the salary agreed upon, the training completed, and the students registered.  Tomorrow, I get the keys to my first classroom, my first real job!  This week will be full of staff development meetings, setting up my room, and lesson planning to prepare for the 200+ 8th grade physical science students that will be entering my class in 1 week.  I've already decided that there is no chance I'm collecting daily homework from them (I will lose my mind way too quickly!).  Add onto that that the only other PhysSci teacher at my school is only just starting her second year in the classroom.  Welcome to Ms. Jackson's room, half of the class of 2017.

As if that's not stressful enough, try being a first year grad student as well!  I'll be pursuing my M.Ed. degree in Curriculum and Instruction.  Student and teacher simultaneously?  CAKE.

Oh yeah, and I'm getting really involved this year in HOBY Nevada...while still being one of the directors in HOBY Utah...

And when my principle heard about my experience with HOBY, she asked me to be in charge of the student council at our school.

Like I said, BRING IT ON!  And while I say that, here's what I'm really thinking...

P.S.  Please note the sarcasm in my over-confidence :)  I am not really that cocky.