Best Day in Education

The first day of school!

I have just finished my very first year teaching at Otsego High School in Northwest Ohio. I am currently teaching high school Spanish for levels 1 and 2. I can distinctly remember the first day of school and the last day of school this year, and I would have to say that the last day of the school year was my best day in education so far in my teaching career. As I reflect back on all of the challenges this year during my first year of teaching, some related to Covid and some related to other events that occurred this school year, I remember standing there on the last day of school thinking about not only how fast the year went but all that I had encountered and all the work I had put into doing my very best. There were many hiccups along the road of this first school year and I would have to say the learning curve must be very steep for improving in different skills like classroom management, planning and aligning curriculum. I often felt very frustrated that I could have done better or that I could have reacted differently to different behavioral situations but then I had to remind myself that is was only my first year as a high school teacher. 

The last day of school!

All this being said, I chose the last day of school as my best day so far in my short journey because it was a time for me to reflect back on the entire first year, to hear from my students and gain feedback from them and just sit in a place of rest knowing that I "survived" and things would only continue to get better with more time, more practice and more knowledge, so long as I continue to devote myself to learning, adapting and finding new ways to improve. That last day of school there were shortened periods because we had a half-day, so I only got to be with each of my six classes for about 20 or 25 minutes. In that time, we sat together as a whole class and I had some questions to reflect on during the year that they wrote down for me so that I could read them this summer. They shared some of their favorite stories from that year in Spanish class and some of their favorite activities too. I also asked them for any activities that may not have liked as much or things that didn't work so well in class that they might like to see changed in certain ways. It felt great to take part in that conversation with them and just listen to all of the great things that happened that year despite the many difficulties. It also was a great reminder to me to hear that the year went so well, and sometimes I can't be so hard on myself! The smiles on their faces let me know that overall the year had been a success and I can't wait to come back next year, well-rested and ready to make some improvements to give my students an even better learning experience. 

~ Melody F. ~