Update: The 2015/2016 school year

These ten months were kind of a blur. Below is a general summary of my first, and probably last, year teaching.

Part 2: The 2015/2016 School Year

I somehow got my classroom all set up before school started and I was so excited to make kids love math!

School started and I was way out of my league. I spent a lot of time in the summer thinking about what I needed for the classroom and how I would manage behaviors, but I should've spent way more time prepping the actual lessons. Duh, Jaci.

By the second week I was drowning in the responsibilities, but being overwhelmed was expected. I was at school until 5 pm almost every day, and I'd go home and work on lesson plans until 10 pm. I'd spend most of my weekends trying to get ahead for the next week. I spent most of my waking hours thinking about school and my piles of work. I dreamed about school on a regular basis.

As the school year continued, I changed things to make them work better for me and for my students. I learned to deal with problem students and even created a relationship with them. I balanced work and fun in my classroom. I created a positive relationship with my students. I tried to push them to become more independent. I tried to motivate them. I tried to help them. I tried so hard to make a difference.

By October, I knew I was in serious trouble. So much so I considered breaking my contract at Christmas. I talked to my principal, and he was very understanding. But he did open my eyes to the consequences of breaking my contract. After talking to him, the burden of being alone had been lifted, but I felt even more trapped than I had before.

I decided to finish the school year. Having a known ending date lifted my spirits. I stopped stressing and micromanaging so much. I had fun with my students without their learning suffering.

Although my attitude improved, I still had to put my head down and trudge through the storm. I like to think I fought valiantly, but I definitely could have worked harder.

I have so much respect for teachers, administrators, and all staff members in schools. They deserve so much more for all their efforts, but they are not there for the money or recognition.

I regret not using my degree more. But I am happy with my decision to move on. I learned so much and got to meet amazing people, and that made it worth it.

Update: April - July 2015

Life's path has an interesting way of twisting and turning in ways you do not expect. Over and over.

Let me give you the short version of my life these past 1.5 years.

Part 1: April to July 2015

After student teaching was over, I was so excited to start life as a college graduate. I graduated, moved back to Provo, started substitute teaching, and accepted a job at a junior high school close! I would be teaching special education math; it was exactly what I thought I wanted.

I substitute taught until school ended, and I got some great ideas for my classroom. I was going to have the most organized, cute classroom ever! I had my classroom management figured out. I had the classroom layout figured out. I knew my students and I were going to get along so well. I spent hours each day thinking about what I needed and how things were going to work.

Through the rest of the summer, some friends and I worked at a call center for a company that provided Identity Theft Monitoring for federal employees affected by the OPM breach in April 2015. Job-wise, it was not fun, but we have some pretty good stories from it. First, I developed a crush on a boy two years younger than me. Second.....

There was a guy we nicknamed Luigi that worked there. He was always talking about how he was affected by the breach and his diabetes. He was harmless, until he tried to give me his phone number. Okay, he was still harmless, but I freaked out.

As soon as I noticed Luigi fidgeting with a sticky note nervously I RAN over to Emily's seat. She was on the phone so I started panicking to a cute girl that sat next to her. That was the start of a beautiful friendship between us and Lizzy. One of the nice managers, Miranda, came over and listened to the story also. Miranda talked to another manager and got my seat moved. They moved my stuff to my new seat and the sticky note conveniently "got lost."

There were also a lot of funny quotes from people I talked to on the phone. Here are some of my favorites:

• As you can see, my knowledge of the internet is vast.
• If my identity is stolen and I kill myself, is that considered suicide or murder?
• You don't have my birth year on here.
  Me: 1776?
  Him: Yeah, and that's B.C.!
• I'll have them print this out and give it to me at an award ceremony
  Me: Maybe they'll frame it.
  Him: Would you like to come!?
• First, I need 5 million dollars in consecutive bills.
• That being said, finding the winning lottery numbers shouldn't be a problem.
• You know what you can do? You can give yourself a raise.... And you can put me down as a reference. 

 Also, I had a falling out with my best friend and other close friends. I'm not entirely sure what happened...... but there were lots of hurt feelings on my end. Luckily for me, a couple of my new roommates were super great and helped me get through a rough summer. #blessed