Saturday, December 2, 2017
No Countdowns This Year.
Every year I have been in the Dominican Republic I have had a running countdown for Christmas break. Usually it has started in October around when I've purchased my tickets and every day I used to check it for how many days until I get to go home...This year I don't have a countdown.
I don't have a countdown because this is my first year in a while that I haven't felt burnt out. I'm not counting down the days because I don't want them to go fast. I love spending time with my little ones every single day. I was so nervous about teaching first grade when I started and tried my very best to switch to upper elementary and now I'm so so so glad that God kept me here.
Being a first grade teacher definitely walks that line between teacher and mom more than the older grades. You cannot give an assignment and then check out or walk into or out of the classroom unnoticed. First grade demands a lot emotionally...but it also gives a lot emotionally. I probably sound most like a mom when I say I really love all my kids in their own little unique ways.
I love the boy who sneezed during a Christmas presentation and then looked at me horrified and said, "Miss Nussbaum why didn't you say, 'bless you?'"
I love the girl who chased me around the playground with 10 hula hoops to "catch me" while I was on recess duty and was very successful in moments when I was watching others and was unaware of her.
I love the boy who crawled into my lap when he accidentally banged his head.
I love the boy who escaped gym class to sneak to my classroom because he had fallen down and wanted reassurance.
I love the two girls who after I put one picture made for me on our cabinets, they took it upon themselves to make pictures and put them up so the cabinet was no longer blue, but a sea of drawings.
I love that all my students created their own conga line to the song Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer in the classroom.
and most of all I love the moments when the students after struggling and struggling with a concept finally get it and are so so proud of themselves and want to share it with the world.
My favorite part of my job is that for a small window of time I get to be part of their lives. They may not remember the little moments, but maybe and hopefully some of their future decisions will be impacted by some of the lessons they learned in first grade.
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