Worried? No!

Hey Friends,

If you are stressed and not ready for school well, I am about to make you feel a whole lot better. If I open my door for the FIRST time this Saturday and it looks like this I will actually be happy. Yes, I said happy because I have not been inside that room since JUNE. Am I in a panic...no. Should I be? I think so.

I have spent the summer doing two things. I have organized my entire house. I mean almost every inch of it. I have worked my way through a huge "to-do" list and I am so thankful to say I have reached the end almost. I have had a walk down memory lane with the past nine years of my life in the process.

And the second half of my summer has been preparing for staff developments. After preparing for multiple sessions of new Math TEKS, Number Corner, Number Talks, Weather Camps, New Teacher Academy and Back to School, I can finally see the end. I am so grateful for the experiences that I have been given and for what I have learned along the way. At times I was pushed to think about my beliefs and understandings and defend them. I have had to think outside the box and there were times I just felt like I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I have asked more questions in two months than I ever have in my life. I have presented with teachers I knew, teachers I didn't, teachers in the same grade level and teachers who teach upper grades. I think I have had all combinations this summer. I have been to San Antonio, Austin and many schools around me but not my own!

And what I have learned has been worth the miles. For every experience and every conversation and every question I have had, I have grown as a teacher. I have listened and learned all along the way. And along the way through my struggles to prepare for this or that, there has always been a teacher by my side. Maybe it was the teacher helping me through the parking lot with all my bags of stuff, or the teachers that brought me cokes or pocket charts, or the teachers calling, texting or talking to me. The fact is. that another teacher is always around to help. And the teacher who dragged me into her car to take me to lunch, I can't thank you enough. And if you saw me in passing and smiled and waved, I assure you it was noticed and came at the right time... I thank you all for helping me and making me a better teacher.

And to the teacher (CB) who gave me all these wonderful opportunities...I thank you. I know you have given your time at work and after work to answer text messages, emails, calls and special meetings. Every single question or clarification has been addressed and answered. I have picked your brain more times than I should but I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I feel so lucky to have had those conversations to move me from point A to B and it will be my students who will benefit from all the above. Words probably are not enough.

Just this week I was asked for the best advice to give a new teacher. I knew the answer. The best advice is to surround your self with other teachers who share the same passion. Surround yourself with the best. And when you are looking don't forget to look next door or across the hall because sometimes that teacher is closer than you think. And look a little wider. Don't forget those teachers who teach something different you will find you have more in common than you might have thought. And then reach far and wide and include teachers across the district and even further and reach out. It makes all the difference. And when your build your "teacher army" you will know it because someone will be there on any bad day and someone will be there when you have those good ones too. And once you are friends with all these fabulous people you can pick their brains for great ideas and strategies. And because of THEM you become the teacher you always wanted to be.

So to the teacher next door and the teacher across the map and all the teachers somewhere in the middle, I thank you and wish you a wonderful school year.

So as I set up my room tomorrow I will be thinking of all the things I am thankful for and how blessed I am that our paths have crossed.