What happened to 2016?

Its almost Christmas. Another year has mostly come and nearly gone. I realize that my blog has been sparse over the last couple years. That's what happens when you become a teacher. You give so much of yourself that you sometimes forget or don't have time or energy for the things that you used to enjoy. Does that mean that the last couple years have been miserable? No! I've embarked on my career as an Intervention Specialist (special education teacher for those not in the academic world). I've had the joy and pleasure of spending the last year and a half teaching a unique group of students at a unique type of school. Has it been easy? No! Teaching is not for the faint of heart, weak in spirit, slow to think or low on energy. Has it been worth it? Definitely! Seeing my students succeed even when they didnt think that they could? Knowing that I had a direct hand in helping them to become better? Making a student smile when they have come in on a Monday morning after a rough weekend at home? While I am still trying to find the right ratio of those important "human" characteristics of heart, spirit, thought and energy, I've learned about myself.
I've learned to remind myself to be human at any opportunity I can. This includes letting myself go home and not work on school work, relaxing and taking care of the human half of this teacher that I am. Too often, especially during my first year, I would stay behind at work, try to get ahead, only to forget that I need to take care of myself as well.  This "reminding myself to be human" also applies when I am working with my kids. We are all human and sometimes we forget that about each other, students and teachers alike. We are all trying to learn how to be the best version of ourselves that we can and sometimes that means we, as teachers, need to remember what it was like to be a teenager. It was a rough and hormonal period of our lives that many off us have successfully put out of our minds.