Hey everyone! It’s been a little while since I’ve written
because life has been kind of crazy, so here’s an update on what’s been
happening over the past two months.
To start, I became a TCU alum (Whoo Go Frogs) and turned 22.
The school year ended and I wrapped up long term subbing. My plan was to have a
teaching position in Texas BEFORE I moved home to Arkansas for the
Summer…well…life doesn’t always work like that. June 2nd rolled
around and it was time for me to head home even though I did not have a job
yet.
Things got a little interesting shortly after I moved home
because I was still interviewing for teaching positions in DFW. At one point,
my super awesome mom and I drove back down with less than 48 hours notice so I
could interview in person. I did some phone interviews and a FaceTime Interview
as well.
That FaceTime interview is responsible for officially beginning
my career as a teacher. Shortly, I will tell you how it all went down, but
first, let me give you some important backstory. After spending my internship
semester last fall in a 3rd Grade classroom, Student Teaching in a 4th
Grade for half the time, and finishing up the school year long-term-subbing in
3rd Grade, I was planning on teaching upper elementary (3rd-5th
Grade). Pretty much all of my interviews were for 3rd, 4th,
or 5th Grade, so that’s just where I figured I would land. I had
started building my classroom library for the older kids and even had some
lesson plans that I had written and used, and was banking on modifying a little
to use again for one of those grade levels.
Fast forward to June 22nd. My now principal
called me while I was on a loud bus with my Summer Camp kids heading to a field
trip. Naturally, I answered it. She was calling about the First Grade position
I had applied for, let me know it was actually a Kindergarten, and wanted to
know if I wanted to interview. I said I would love to and we decided to do it
over the phone or FaceTime if technology would allow us to do so since I was
not in Texas at the time. On Monday, June 26th, I sat in the parking
lot of Busch Stadium in Saint Louis wearing a Cardinals t-shirt and talked to
my principal, assistant principal, a 1st grade teacher, and a
Kindergarten teacher, answering a few questions I was familiar with, but many
that I had not answered before…and yes, FaceTime worked. This was the very
first time I had interviewed for a Kindergarten position. The next day, June 27th,
I was in a McDonald’s somewhere in Missouri heading home from Saint Louis, when
I got a phone call from HR offering me the job. I enthusiastically accepted and
am so stoked!
Even though I had been planning for quite some time on
launching my career teaching the “big kids,” God obviously had a different plan
for me and I am beyond excited to see what He has in store for my first year as
a teacher. As unpredictable as the beginning of my teaching journey may seem,
after doing some thinking, it’s actually more predictable than it looks. You
see, I did fall in love with my “big kids” this year, but the little people are
my first love. I spent the first semester of my Junior Year in a Kindergarten
classroom on Monday mornings and it was the highlight of each week. Once my
observations ended and second semester rolled around, I went back and
volunteered in that Kindergarten classroom almost weekly because I loved being
there with those children and learning from their wonderful teacher. I also
finished Student Teaching in Kindergarten and loved those sweet kiddos as well.
It actually makes sense that I’m kind of going back to my roots and starting
where I began in college…in Kindergarten.
