Question of the Week October 6:

This quote to me was my theme last year. I was hired 13 days before the school year started and I was handed a set of keys to my room and was told to go teach and have fun. I gave the first part one heck of a try and for the first few months, the “…have fun” part was not going to happen. I had taught at the Law Enforcement Academy for 8 years and when I came to Kell High School I made the mistake of trying to teach the kids the same way as 40yo cops. That first semester was full of disappointments and there were several projects, lectures and assignments that after I started I could tell after the first day or so that it was going to be a huge failure, but I stuck with my guns and acted like whatever we were doing was the most awesome thing that I have ever done. There were several times where after the first few days I could see that the assignment or project was going to be a huge failure and I knew if I stopped and tried something else right then, the kids would know that, as far as I high school teacher, I had no idea what I was doing. The first several months were painful and I wrecked more trains that I care to admit, but I continued to try different ideas, hoping that one would succeed. The first thing that actually worked well was about 2.5 months into the school year. It’s true that I was very disappointed that I kept failing, but at least I kept trying.