My Thoughts On the Past Year and a Half

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So much has happened in the past year and a half. Some days I can't even wrap my head around the changes that my students and I have gone through. I am not joking when I say I have literally changed the way I have taught seven times since March, 2020. Yes, seven times. While that is a lot for me as a teacher, I can only think of my students who have had to change their way of learning so many times. My students who I was teaching in March 2020 are now in Third Grade. I think of all the things that I didn't get to do with these students that school year. All of the learning and fun they missed out on. I didn't get to see these students much last year, but I have seen a lot of them this year in the hallways.

Last year I moved back to Kindergarten. I was so excited to be back in my favorite grade level. We started out the year remote, and then moved into in person with small groups of students. As the year went on, I ended up being the remote teacher for my grade level. I loved my group of students I worked with, and we had a great year. However, I was itching to get back to working with students in person.

This year has been such a refreshing change compared to the end of the 19-20 school year and all of the 20-21 school year. We are completely in person. Our students can share manipulatives. They can work in partners and in small groups. There are, of course, some restrictions still, but it is the closest we have been to "normal" since March 2020. Another big change for this year is that we moved into a brand new building. Our new building began construction in May, 2020, and we got to move into it in August. When I say this new building is amazing, I am not exaggerating. I feel so grateful that our students have this beautiful space to learn.

This past year and a half was not only different in my professional life, but there were things that happened in my personal life as well. Last summer, I decided it was the perfect time to get a Masters Degree. Not any Masters Degree but an accelerated one. I started my first class August of 2020, and I finished it on October 8 and will graduate in December. Choosing to be a full time grad student while teaching during a pandemic may not have been the best choice I've ever made, but I am so glad that I did. This was actually my third attempt at obtaining my Masters. There are a variety of reasons why I was unable to finish the first two, but I was determined to finish this one as quickly as I could. During the previous school year, I took two grad classes every seven weeks. I'm not going to lie. It was hard, but it was so worth it!

Another thing that happened was that we were in a car accident this summer. We were so excited to do a small vacation in the northern part of the state. We planned ahead, so that we would be safe everywhere we went. In the middle of the vacation, while we were on an island, we had the accident. Our car was totaled. I fractured a vertebrae. It was definitely not how we wanted our vacation to go. Looking back though, everyone was so nice and helpful. The sheriff deputy was so good with my son who is Autistic and helped ease his mind. The emergency room staff was amazing. This happened the first week of summer break, so the rest of the summer was spent recovering and dealing with medical bills and insurance. My advice to you is to never get in a car accident on an island. It takes the whole process to a new level. lol On the plus side though, we got an amazing car to replace our old one, I am healing, and my husband and son were not hurt.

So needless to say, the past year and a half had its ups and downs. I'm looking forward to what lays ahead. Thank you for sticking with me! I have really enjoyed using this space to share ideas with others over the years. I hope to get back to this space more often and do more of what I love!