Mark = Amazing

I love my husband Mark more than anything in this entire world. He just makes my life worth living. I am so thankful he is my husband. No matter how bad I am feeling he puts his arms around me and makes me realize it will all be ok. I am so, so thankful to have him as my husband.
 

A Long Time in Coming

I have not posted in forever. I think it is because I have just been trying to keep my head above the water in my first year of teaching. Well I am here to say that I am surviving. In fact, I feel like I am doing better than that! I feel like I am thriving. I have miles to go as far as being a great teacher is concerned. I can already tell you a hundred things I am going to do differently next year. But I love my job. I love it. I think I definitly picked the right job and I feel so blessed to be teaching at Reidsville Middle School. I love my students. I love them.  I have a fabulously supportive administraion. The school district I work for has this year long training for first year teachers. Once a month the district pays for my substitute so I can attend a professional development seminar all day with the other first year teachers. They teach us instructional strategies and help us address concerns in our classrooms. It is wonderful training and I love taking back the ideas they give me and trying them out in my classroom. It is great to see the other first year teachers so often. I am making good friends with my colleagues. I love this job. Sometimes I feel guilty because I love it so much. Some days are definitly harder than others. I know I have had a good day if I feel like I could be a teacher forever. I know I have had a bad day when all I want to do is have a baby and stay home and never go to Reidsville again. The bad days come and go but I am happy to report that the truly bad days are becoming fewer as the year progresses. Today I got paid. Not in money. But I got paid. Here is the payment I recieved from a student today exactly as I recieved it (spelling errors included):

Dear Mrs. Bailey,
I think you are the most beautiful, talented, and the best chours teacher in history. You can have every chours job in the world because you are so good. I know when Im all grown up I will still remember you and my first year in middle school. Thank you for being so kind to me and everybody else. I think we were all lucky to have you as our teacher. I love you.
Sincerely,
Student's Name

It was all decorated with markers and Halloween pictures. Wow. What a treasure. It is hanging on my fridge. I am going to keep it forever. What a sweet note. It made my day... month... year! And when those bad days come I am just going to keep reading it over and over. I love my job.

I Quit

I just feel like saying "I Quit!" today. Nothing is working out. I hate spending hours on my work. It is never ending. I have to have my music ordered by Friday. I was all ready to go and I just lost my entire order online. I am so frustrated I am physically ill. The doctor's office I was trying to meet with canceled on me twice. TWICE. I missed an entire day of work for them and they called me 30 minutes before my appointment and canceled. I am not going there again. AHHHHHHH! I am just so angry and frustrated. Why can't my body just work right? Why can't I plan my family like the other 85% of the population? Why does my 13 year old student have a baby of her own and I can't?  Why do my 8th grade students have to be so frustrating on a daily basis? I am at wits end with one of my classes. I just do not know what to do with them. I do not like them so I have no motivation to try and make their class fun and exciting. I just wish they would leave. I wish I had no students in that class. I wish I was part time and did not have that class at all! It is like they only respond to me when I am angry with them. I think it is probably (and sadly) because that is all they are used to responding to. Some days I even feel like I hate them. Did I pick the right job? I can always tell if it is has been a good day or a bad day if at the end of it I want to be a teacher forever or I want to have a baby tomorrow and never see Reidsville again.