reflections on the 2017-2018 school year

     One of my goals for 2018 was to post like every other week on this blog to keep a written record of my journey. I may have missed that goal by a bit. However, while it's not yet a new calendar year, it is a new school year here, and I want to take a few minutes to reflect.

     Last year was my third year teaching. It was better, and it was worse, than the previous years, but more than anything the experience is valuable. 

     1) I learned that as much as I dislike the way cardtalk is described, as well as persona especial, when done right, it's borderline magical. I also learned that I'm not that person without a huge amount of direct effort, and it's not always worth it. Don't get confused, nonexistent readers- comprehensible input for my students is 100% worth it and learning about my students is 100% worth it. But at the end of the day, I'm an introvert. No amount of time as a language teacher has made me less of an introvert. If anything, I want to spend less time with people now than I did before. I don't dislike people, generally, but being around people, all day, every day, is draining. If my students don't buy into persona especial, I'm not going to waste my limited spoons trying to make it work. That doesn't make it a less valuable tool for someone else, for a different group of students (I'm actually trying persona especial again this year) just that digging in for the sake of not failing? It's pointless.

     2) Teaching four blocks is much less stressful than I expected. I agreed while honestly wondering if I would lose what little sanity I had left. I can't say that I haven't, but it wasn't the issue that I thought it would be. In all reality, the biggest issues are the amount of paperwork that comes from having so many students, and the pain in the ass that is scheduling necessary appointments for me and my demon offspring when I can't plan around an off block. I had 4th block planning the first year I taught and it was fabulous. I definitely didn't appreciate it enough.

     3) Going to the training in person is worth it, even for people like me who generally learn better from reading.

     4) Being a year older does not prevent people from being condescending about my age, experience, and/or education. 

     5) Annabelle is right and life is too short to not dress like myself. Also despite my fears, my students don't perceive me as less professional; if anything they perceive me as more confident and thus, more of an authority. Related: petticoats are great for looks and the prevention of flashing, but make sitting down interesting.

     6) Life is also too short to try to match the expectations of others when I know they're wrong. More on this to come.