Saturday, June 16, 2012

Where are you going, where have you been?

You can’t know where your going if you don’t know where you’ve been. As I continue to search for where the “next step” in my life will begin, meaning where I’ll get my first teaching job, I reflect on where I’ve been.
         When I think back I’ve been in a classroom, as a student, and as a teacher. I taught kindergartners how to write their names and spell their color words, and I taught seventh graders how to work together with their peers, friends and foes. You may not know that I was given a great opportunity to finish out a quarter teaching seventh grade science at Lamar Middle School. It was an awesome experience getting to work along side with many of my past teachers as well as teaching in the same classroom where my father was for 20ish years. Seventh graders although not much different from kindergartners, except maybe the hormones, taught me several life lessons as well.
         People want to feel loved. This is something that I ran into in both grades. And children, as well as some adults, will act out and manipulate to get the desired attention, no matter the cost. Why has it become human nature to want others to hurt when we hurt, to want others to be humiliated when we ourselves have been humiliated? I don’t get it. The Golden Rule: Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you. Has as much president today as it did when it was created. Yet this rule continually looked over. This is crazy to me because it is the foundation for Peace.
-Take selfishness and turn it into selflessness.
-Think about others before yourself.

I challenge you to live by the Golden Rule for a week and see how much better you life is, then do it the next week and the week after and so on…

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

What’s Next


Graduating College is, what one would consider being, an accomplishment. Upon graduating graduates are celebrated then questioned. “Congratulations, now what’s next?”

What is next? For some who I’ve known my whole high school and collegiate carrier the next step is marriage, for some it’s the birth of a child, for some its heart ache. And as I’m repeatedly asked the question I answer with-- Tech, what else! But the reality hits and I am consumed with the anxiety of the “real world.” I guess I expected to be handed a job along with my diploma on graduation day.

Teaching is my passion; however, as I sit and observe the teachers in schools I am astonished at the amount of teachers who are counting down the days till the last day of school. When did teaching become more about yelling at kids and less about loving them?

Too many times we get caught up in moments and forget there are eyes upon us everywhere. As a teacher, as a coach, as administration, we are to be mentors each and everywhere in the classroom, in the gym, and in the community. We are shaping the minds of the next generation into believe its okay to disrespect, parents, friends, siblings, and teachers and ITS NOT!! What will become of the system. What's next for our schools, community, country?  


What’s next for me? …..to be still and wait.  

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Ms. Carley

            I learn something new everyday from the kids in my class. I’ve learned that even though I may see them do wrong, when I ask Tommy, “Did you take Johnny’s pencil?” Tommy will look me dead in the eyes and say, “No, Ms. McCarley it wasn’t me.” Kindergarteners also believe they are invincible and know everything. For example, “Sally you sure look cute today.” “I know Ms. McCarley, trust me I know.”
            It’s hard to describe the joy that comes from teaching, but even more so from teaching someone how to write his or her name. We write our names so often that it’s just second nature. This has probably been the most rewarding thing I have experienced so far. It’s hard to believe that the name we see so often at one point was barely ledge-able, better yet barely letters. I tell my students that they must learn to write their names, because our names are important; which they and they are. 
            It is amazing the things kids will tell you. For instance Monday was Halloween and chilly, and one of my students forgot his jacket along with his cupcakes for our class party. His mother was bringing them at lunch; however, while standing in line for lunch he spits out, “If there was a phone in my pocket I could just call her.” Then proceeded to pretend he had a phone in his pocket and acted like he was calling his mother. Children are always watching and its funny the things they pick up on.
            Often when people hear that I am going to school to be an elementary teacher I get replies like: Good for you, or it takes a special person, or wow the patients you must have. It is like they are shocked, but the gratitude and respect is almost second nature. I get excited about a student reading a word or figuring out how to write a letter correctly or even saying my name correctly. When I started the school year the students for some reason could not say McCarley, so for the longest time I was Ms. Carley. I loved it and was almost sad when they started calling me by my full name, Ms. McCarley. 

             Last week we made a class book about what we would be for Halloween. I think some of them may be the next Picasso. 

 

            I’ll leave you with this quote, “If you can read, thank a teacher.” J