All Good Things Must Come To An End

As the school year comes to a close, I find myself reflecting on this amazing first-year experience. It wasn't what I was expecting (but when does that ever apply in life). I can honestly say this past year has been the best year of my life so far. At the same time, I've seen people loosing their minds while doing this same thing. Which causes one to wonder what it is exactly that can make this job good and what can make you tear your hair out. Now that I'm feeling all sentimental and sad that I have to leave the students and teachers I love, I wanted to write about what I learned. So here it is...

15 Things I Learned My 1st Year of Teaching

Warning: This is cheesey. But true.
I think writing out our feelings forces us to take the time to reflect and improve. So regardless of whether anyone reads this or not, I know it was good for me to write.

1. You see what you look for.

This year I've seen teachers and administrators with the most positive outlook, and also teachers and admin with the most negative outlook. I have been in the same room/situation with another teacher and seen a student or action completely differently than they have. What I might see as an honest mistake another teacher or admin might see as an act of defiance. I've seen teachers who label certain people in their heads as "the bad kids" and then no matter what that poor kid does, they're yelled at. I've noticed even myself doing it. I think everyone does it to a certain degree because we're human. But I at least check myself and make sure that I'm paying attention to what that student does right as well as what they do wrong. After I started looking for the good, that's what I saw. If you look for the bad, you'll absolutely hate this job, and the students will absolutely hate you. Afterall, they're pre-teens. They're not going to be perfect.

2. You don't need to reinvent the wheel every day.

For some reason, I came into this with a pathological fear of doing the same thing twice or being boring. But after putting a ton of thought into a new idea, I'd have students ask me if we could do the classic game we played last time. I realized that you can steal ideas from other teachers, do the same thing again, or go back to the same things you did in Jr. High and still have an educational and fun class.

3. They usually don't know as much as they think they know... or as much as you think they'll know.

For some reason before this experience, I was petrified of the students being little geniuses that know everything. I would over prepare, as if about to teach a college class, just for fear of getting a question that I don't know the answer to. I was afraid of having a student know more than I do and feeling embarrassed. I quickly learned that they don't know as much as they think they do, or as much as I was afraid they would. But I also learned that I will have students that are better than me at certain things or know more than me at certain things... and that's okay. I didn't grow up playing competitive basketball, so the students that have can help me teach what they know. Fully admitting that there are things I don't know helped the students to realize that we all have strengths and weaknesses, and we can't compare our weakness to another person's strength.

4. Be prepared to be the referee.

I had forgotten that you don't really have all of your social weirdness sorted out by Junior High time. (Some don't even as adults lol) But I didn't know how hard sportsmanship was for middle schoolers until teaching here. Now I know that I have to be the ref so that they don't start fighting and I also need to give them a lecture on why it's so important to be a good sport. At first, I just let them play and there were massive issues. Also, I had to be the mediator in other classes besides PE and just in the hallways between friends and other drama going on. I highly underestimated the amount of drama that happens. It feels like probably three times a week or more, someone's crying about something or someone else is yelling at someone else.

5. It takes at least a semester before you'll know what you're doing with a new subject.

I was so overwhelmed when I started in PE. But by the time I got through the first semester, the 2nd one has been wonderful. The same happened at the beginning of social dance, but now that it's over I feel like I have it down. Now that I know it gets better, it makes that beginning part a little easier. If I ever need to teach a new subject again I will know not to get discouraged at the beginning.

6. Watch where you stand in the gym.... especially during the Volleyball unit.

It takes "constant vigilance" to teach PE! (Harry Potter reference) I have been hit by a ball soooooooo many times this year. The volleyball unit seems to be particularly violent because it's difficult for them to aim with bumping and serving. I think I was hit 4 times in one day!
I also learned not to stand with your back to the basketball court or have a conversation with someone while an intense game is going.

7. Let go of the need to please everyone.

I think I have an unhealthy amount of the "need to please" virus. It eats me up if I think someone's mad at me or I offended anyone. Almost to the point where I can't fully be myself if I'm too afraid that person is different than me. So, the first time that I had a negative reaction from students was hard for me. I had some smart teachers tell me that they'll like you most of the time, and when you push them to improve they'll hate you for a little bit. But in the end they'll remember the year as a whole, everything they did with you, and see how much they've grown. I need to always remember that my responsibility as a teacher means that they won't always like me, but they will respect me because they will see the change in themselves. (Or at least that's what I hope for.) It's hard for me to be compared to other teachers or told that what we're doing is "lame" or other complaints, but I have to remember that they're 13. There is no way to make everyone happy, so you just do your best. They are so hot and cold too. One day they love you and the next you're spawn of the devil.

8. Mistakes are inevitable.... apologize and roll with it.

I was so hard on myself when I hosted my first cross country race and it was only 1.5 miles instead of the 2 miles it was supposed to be. Everyone at the race was really nice about it, and the truth is, there was nothing they or I could do about it anyway. It was too late. So instead of stewing over my embarrassment of messing up in front of my Principal, parents, students, coaches, and other schools, I decided to get over it. There's really no way to not screw up if you're a human being.

9. Put yourself in their shoes.

There have been many times when I am expecting them to do something and I don't realize how hard it is. I've noticed that the students have more respect for you when they see you doing it too, and they see that it's possible. In PE, I can't tell them to keep running if I couldn't keep running myself. It's hard for a yearbook student to take constructive criticism on a picture if you don't take great pictures yourself. Also, I noticed myself having a hard time sitting still or concentrating in faculty meetings or talking at the conference. So it make me see how much we're expecting of these students. They sit all day, have to be quiet all day, listen, turn in assignments, try things they don't understand, etc. I know students that act out because of family issues, and if you think about how you'd react from a death in the family, divorce, or whatever, you see where they're coming from. It gives you a little more patience when you put yourself in their shoes.

10. Enjoy every day and every opportunity, because it's over before you know it.

I feel like this year was over in the blink of an eye. There were times that I had a lazy outlook on things only to be positively surprised at the experience. I'll explain. When I found out I "had' to go to the Halloween dance, I was only thinking of it as another Friday night wasting time. But when I got there, I had so much fun dancing and watching students dance and see the costumes. It was the funniest thing to see them interact with their crushes or have their first slow dance. It was then that I realized that you can't always count the cost, because it's not always about the money. The whole time I was working at Dr. Bateman's office or Prodigy, I was making more money than I do teaching but I was absolutely miserable. So what's the point? Life can't revolve around money. Life is just life, so you go through your day-to-day and enjoy it. Don't ruin your mind thinking about when you're being paid and what per hour and "let's get outa here fast" thoughts because you'll miss all the beautiful moments.

11. Don't judge a book by it's cover.

The students I've come to love the most are the ones I never thought I would. As the year goes on you find out more and more about these little people and what their experience of life has been. That gives you a more informed look at who they are and what they're dealing with. One little guy who's sort of a terror has shown me glimpses of the most hard-working, insightful, creative guy he is underneath all that insecurity. He played a beautiful classical piano peice at the talent show and ITwo students had their guardian tell me about their life and I cried over what they've seen. I think people have all different, weird reactions to change, grief, stress, and insecurity. I know I do weird stuff socially sometimes too. So after getting to know some students, you'll expect more because you know what they can really do. Or you might be more sensitive or see why they respond the way they do. I've definitely learned not to label the "good" and "bad" kids on the first day.

12. You'll have limited resources, get "No" answers, and have to use the backup plan more than you think.

I've had my entire lesson rely on computers, had the computer lab reserved, and then get kicked out for testing. I've come up with really fun lessons just to get a big fat VETO from admin. I've had a wonderful idea for a field trip, activity, or guest speaker only to find out the school won't pay for it. I don't think I had a real sense of how limited you are as a teacher coming into this. I've had to teach the whole softball unit without a single softball or bat. It sounds laughable, but that's the reality, and I had no idea before this year.

13. Consistency is key!

This one was really hard for me. Classroom management is not just being a strict "meaney" to the students. I think it's about setting up a structure and then never straying from that. And it's a lot harder for me than I thought to never stray from a structure! But the truth is, you have to react the same way every time to each thing. And sometimes you want to be in a good mood or other times you've got too much going on to do what you normally do. This hit me when a student kicked a ball so hard it hit the ceiling (which is against the rules) and I said, "Hey! 20 push-ups!". The student was enraged because the last student who did that didn't have to do any push-ups. It made sense to me because I would be mad too. Once I got better at opening up the class the exact same every single day, reacting to unwanted behavior the same way, and being more consistent with everything, I noticed that classroom management was a breeze. Now they do push-ups without me even asking them to if the ball hits the ceiling. ;) lol

14. Don't ever try to use the copy machine before school starts.

This one's self explanatory. I've made the mistake multiple times of thinking, "Oh I'll just copy this right before 1st period. It won't take too long." Then amongst a cloud of other procrastinating teachers, I end up with none of the copies that I needed for my first class. Just use your prep period or after school. (All the teachers want to split after school so it's always empty.)

15. You're never "done."

I think that a lot of people consider year 1 as a learning year and then get stuck in their ways for the next 30 years. After going to the health conference and seeing the way other teachers do things, I've realized that I should never stop learning or changing lessons. I want to keep evolving and trying new things so that I always know that I'm doing what works. Not just what I happen to have from last year. I think if you have the mindset of constant improvement, you'll stay relevant and interesting to them.

Now what? 

Well, now I depressingly pack up my classroom and hope I get a teaching job in AZ. lol until then I'll probably just miss it. Whether I continue teaching or not, at least I'll always know this is a year that made a positive impact on me as a person. 

Over & Out.

-Sydney (Formerly known as Mrs. Graff)

 

Anaphase of Mitosis

My life right now is like anaphase of mitosis. The cells haven't divided yet, but everyone knows they're going to. We're in the middle of trying to get all of our chromosomes in a row so that we can divide, and we know it's coming, but it's a lot of work and stress and it's a waiting game. It won't be until June 3rd that we'll be at full telophase, so until then all these chromosomes need to be organized and we're just being stretched farther and farther. Ugh. If you need to brush up on your biology to know what I'm talking about, here's a graphic for you.

If you don't get the metaphor all together, I'm basically saying that we're in that crazy part before moving where there is a ton to do and we're both stressed. It's also a weird transition because everything feels sortof like a "goodbye," but we're not all the way at that point yet. We're both preparing for AZ while still giving our all at our current jobs, and that's difficult to do. Much like cell division.
The way my body seems to be coping with this is by being tired all the time. Pretty much at every moment of the last 2 weeks I've felt like taking a nap, and I've almost fallen asleep in very inopportune times.

 The Trouble with PE Teaching

I tried racing a few of the students without warming up and pulled my quad muscles. So that was fun. This picture was probably taken during one of my many Harry Potter watching sessions.

Another troublesome thing is that you get embarass yourself at the school talent show by attempting to lip sync with the faculty. (You may want to skip ahead to 3:56 in the video because we kept messing up on starting and the guy introducing us took a year.)

I've had about 4 major injuries, several broken pairs of glasses, and even an ambulance call while teaching PE at Summit. We had icecream sundaes at our last faculty meeting and gave each teacher funny awards.... and this was mine. I was pretty embarrassed to say the least. lol

It's not just the students getting injured though, lol this was my neck after I took a basketball to the head during brain boost. Yeah. I'm surprised I'm not paralyzed. 

The yearbook finally came! They were all so excited I had to guard those boxes with my life to keep it a surprise. It turned out really good (thankfully). And I'm so glad I got to be the one to put it together because it will be so good to be able to look back on this year and all the memories we made.

Scottsdale's a Comin'

Dallin went down to check out their new site for Clearlink, and he came home really excited about it. I can tell this is going to be a really fun challenge for him. Anyway this is the cool building they've got for the call floor!

J Dawgs

Health Conference by USOE

I got to go to a health conference up in Layton and I learned sooooo much! There were speakers on e-cigs, porn, zero fatalities, alcohol, sex ed, and shaken baby syndrome. Every speaker shared their expertise on the affects of whatever it was, lesson plan ideas, and resources for statistics, guest speakers, etc. It was really interesting, informative, and fun! I got to get to know some colleagues better and it reinvigorated my passion for what I do. Health is so cool. 

Although I was mad that I had to drive an hour each way, the Davis conference center was really nice and we had a really great catered lunch!

Out with the Girlies

I love these girls and I'm so sad that I won't be able to see them anymore after we move. I like people who are unfiltered, accepting, and funny. Lexi and Tara and I had a conversation filled with 100% real stuff, and none of us had to worry about offending anyone or trying to keep up appearances of anything. I've found that people like that are hard to come by. In my experience, people discount your opinion if it isn't their own. Or you find that there's nothing to say because your differences are so glaringly obvious. Not the case with them, and I've never done that ugly belly laugh more with girls. (Usually girls aren't as funny as guys.) You two better visit me! serious. 

Another girly outing! We went to Eddie the Eagle and got some mexican food with michelle and shanna to celebrate Michelle's birthday! Woo hoo for being 28!! :) They sang even though she didn't want them to sing hehehe

The Adventures of Last Night

Our double date started out at Texas Roadhouse, then evolved into making a fire and eating s'mores. We also had a heated debate over which redbox to get, and then watched San Andres Fault. Whitney and Shad are the most easy-going peeps in the world and it was so fun just chattin' it up. Topics of discussion included: "Who would win in a fight Arnold Schwarzenegger, Vin Diesel, or Dwayne Johnson?", How you define love, Weird things we've all done or said on accident, and reciting all of the words to the "never say never" rap by Jaden Smith. lol good times. 

Benjamin is ENGAGED!

There they are- the new love birds. We are both very happy for Ben. The wedding is November 19th and I'm stoked! I love weddings. 

The House Sitch.

The house is under contract and it's been quite annoying getting kicked out for random things all the time and having to clean all the time. Anyway, that's me being complainey because I know it's a good thing and we're lucky that it went so quickly. Now we're just hoping that it doesn't fall through and everything goes to plan. 

 

Pinterest experiment

Babysitting

This is here because I forgot to take a picture when me and Michelle were babysitting Shanna's kids on Friday. It was actually really fun and they were so easy and cute. I think my favorite are babies Gavin's age because they're so freakin' cute. 

This was at a family dinner that we had to celebrate Mother's day I think. Cute, right?

The Graffs Get Together

This was last Saturday or Sunday and we met Jamie for the first time, and ate barbecue. It was really good to see everyone again. 

Last Saturday

This was before we went over there. We were in Provo and went to our old favorite (from 2011) Nicolotalia! OMG their Scapa's are sooooooo good.

We also went on a drive up the canyon and it was sooooo green and beautiful.

Yesterday

We got kicked out of our house again and had no where to go, so after driving around aimlessly and getting a car wash, we ended up at Brian's. We played with the dogs and Rudy on the swing set. He was doing the "CHEESE!" thing. lol 

Green, Graff, Bingham, Davis, Clark Reunion ish thing

Lots of people at this one. This was our going-away dinner with my mom and tom at their house. It was good to have so much extended family there that we don't see very often. It was really fun. And we got to pick what we ate so we had a "seafood fest" !!! :)

Jake and Josie definitely enjoyed all the attention they got :) I liked that too. And I love that when we get together there isn't much of that social weirdness.

Part of the stress is that I am busy reading this and studying to take this test for my license to transfer over. It is really a ton of information crammed into a small book and it's really dry. Sooooo let's hope I pass lol 

I believe the following statement with all my heart. 

Keep on keepin' on. Hopefully the next time I write, we'll finally be in the Telophase of  our moving Mitosis. 

-Sydney :)

The Unexpected Undertaking

Hello again. This time I have some rather colossal news. But we'll get to that last.

"Jo Jo Barrea" is out of the Terrible 2's!

I can't believe how fast time has gone. It seems like just yesterday we got sweet "Sapphire" from a breeder in Saratoga Springs. I was wanting Jakey to have a playmate and Dallin just texted me the ksl ad out of the blue. (He is so thoughtful.) Since Cavamalts aren't too common we jumped on the chance right away. (Cheesey alert) Ever since, Josie has changed our lives and our hearts for the better. She has gone through so much in her short life (2 surgeries, allergies, infections, etc.) and she is literally just one big, walking, throbbing, heart. She loves so completely that she sacrifices her sleep, toys, play, food, anything to be with us. She is Jakey's best friend and you can tell they have a really special bond. This is Jake enjoying his treat from our little birthday shindig.

For her birthday we took her to the field, gave her treats, cuddles, and best of all.... icecream! lol

I put the one in here of her peeing because I think the sunset still looks pretty. Haha wrong time to pee Jose! 

Here she is eating her very own icecream cone! lol She was in heaven. 

After that, they got their hair cut. She was so hot before so now she's a lot more comfortable. I took them on a walk on the Murdock trail the other day while talking on the phone with Shayle. I miss her and I'm glad they're doing well and happy. It's really hard being an adult and having your friends be all over the country. :(

 Jakey loves blankets :)

We went to my mom's last Sunday for dinner, and Bentley, Indie, Jake and Josie enjoyed a bite of leftovers.

It was good to see everyone again, because it's been a while. Josie always cuddles with Jim it's the cutest thing.

Josie with Dallin.

We decided that we need to be more attentive to the kids oral hygiene, so we got them toothbrushes and tooth paste. Since I'm one of those "crazy dog moms" I decided it needed to be recorded.

Josie liked it, but Jake wasn't a fan.

Dallin's a great doggie dentist! 

We got to watch Rudy's antics with the doggies again last week. He's always funny with them. I think the best part was watching him give Josie kisses lol

Dallin kept saying we need to go out, but just for the record, Michelle and Brian loved my chicken and tater tots :) I'm getting better at this!

I keep seeing people with their dogs in the cart at the grocery store, so I thought I'd try it! It was super fun having Josie with me while I got all the stuff for the week. She seemed fine with it. She liked the change in scenery and all the attention she got from strangers. 

Bringin' in the Bacon

I got an "Alumni Survey" from UVU's school of education that was mailed to my school! It was so cool seeing my name and Alumni! lol just another one of those things that makes you feel so old. I had all good things to say because UVU has such a great program. 

I am seriously such a Harry Potter nerd. The Freeform channel does Harry Potter Tuesdays and even though we have all the movies on DVD I still get excited for it. I laughed so hard at this meme because I make Harry Potter references all the time in class. The Yearbook class edits sentences for their Bellwork, and the sentence is usually something to do with Harry Potter. I was talking to another teacher about how teaching a lot of different subjects is like splitting your soul. I was so proud of myself for making a horcrux metaphor! lol I think I said, "If I get one more subject, I'm basically Voldamort!" When a student complained about having to do pushups for saying a swear word, I said, "It could be worse. At least I'm not like Mad-Eye Moody when he turned Malfoy into a Ferret as a punishment." Luckily, I'm not alone because Whitney is just as into it. We spent a while on Friday talking about what's going to happen in the play that's coming out over the summer. But when I saw this I laughed so hard. Part of what's funny is the idea that being into a fictional world where magic exists is what makes you "cool." 
We are in the final stretch. I'm busy getting the social dance class ready for their performance, and it's going surprisingly well. (I was prepared for the worst, but they're working really hard.) We have a lot of events coming up to celebrate the end of the year, and I'm really excited!

Now we have even less. It's crazy how fast this year went by.

We had College day last week, and they had all the teachers wear apparel from their college. I loved UVU, so I was happy to represent my school. Go wolverines!

LOL the blur of a student trying to photo bomb us.

One of the things I like about my job is that it keeps me moving. Even on the days when I don't get to the gym, I still am very active. This was my record so far for steps!

We've had Sergeants come from the Army and Marines the last 2 weeks, and they play games and do workouts with the PE classes. They have loved meeting these amazing guys and ask them lots of questions. It's awesome having a little break from teaching and getting to watch them get excited and work together. I'm really glad they got to have that experience because these are such cool guys who've done a lot for our country. (I edited this pic to hide the students' faces.)

Mr. Fries is so funny. He decided 11 years ago that the first Friday in May is "Mr. Fries Day." He went around all day giving out candy and had his room decorated and gave away fries from Burger King. Lol what a cool idea! Way to make life what you want it to be.

Lol who can't laugh at this?

I need a hobby.

I feel like there's not much that I do besides work. So when Bob the painter was on tv, I watched it for a little bit and I was actually really into it! lol it's cheesey, but it was really cool watching him do it and it looked easy enough to follow the steps. Maybe I'll get into landscape painting someday soon. 

Article We Loved

Dallin and I read this article and we really liked it. We are trying some of these habits to try and improve ourselves and so far I like it.

http://www.businessinsider.com/habits-of-self-made-millionaires-2016-3

Utah Weather

One day it's hailing, the next it's sunny. 

We're Tea Snobs now

We finally went to Teavana after deciding that I drink a ton of tea so it should be the good stuff. (run on sentence) 

Anyway their tea maker is so cool because it separates it for you and it comes out on it's own from the bottom! I clearly can't explain it, but trust me it's cool. 

2 Weekends Ago

We spent all day on Saturday walking through the model homes again. They got them staged, so we were oogling the decorations and dreaming of what we were going to choose when we went to the design center. 

After that we went on a walk with the kids. We had a good time talking and watching this beautiful view.

After that we came home and decided to cook a feast for our date! We made a ton of crab, pasta, corn, and bread and it was delectable. We were in hog heaven. Afterward we played cards and talked. I think after constantly trying to chase the exciting, unique experiences for dates, I've forgotten how great the low-key ones can be. It's the best being married to my bestie.

Nails

I've been thinking of ways to make money over the summer, and I'm not going to lie.... becoming a nail technician crossed my mind. Dallin wasn't a huge fan because of how much school costs. So Idk what I'll do, because I'd also like to teach dance.

 

My Bro the Humdinger

He always says that no one has his name (which is probably true) so when I saw this I thought it was funny. It always annoyed him that I call him "Twenen" so his response was hilarious. (look what he's programmed into my phone as!) haha

Speaking of him, he's gettin another kid here soon! Kaylynn's going to have that baby any day now, so they're hoping it's not during his graduation! lol He's graduating tomorrow and I'm bummed I can't be there. Congrats Twenen & Kaylynn!

Date Day

Last Saturday we went to the Real Salt Lake game with a bunch of other clearlinkers and it was so fun because we got to go to this pre-game dinner thing and then all sit together. While we were walking in to the stadium along the canal, we saw this beaver chowing down on a tree! It was amazing, I had never seen a beaver up close before! I got a shirt and a blanket! They won and it was really fun, the only thing was that it was freezing!

Epiphanies

I talked on the phone to my mom for like 2 hours the other day on this topic, and topics like this. I wish I was better at this because I don't always have the courage to be true to myself.

Movies!

I don't remember what day we went to see the Jungle book, but when we went we ran into the Tuttle family and Amy & Andrew Davidson! It was cool to see them and it was a superb movie. 

Date Yesterday

We got to do the coolest thing yesterday! We played archery tag! It's like dodge ball, where you can't cross the center line and if you get hit you're out. I was so scared the first round, but it was sooo thrilling! We had never done anything like it, but Tonya and her bf Jake invited us. We were so glad we went, although we're a bit sore today from it. There was a lot of squatting and running. lol 

Anyway they're the salt of the earth and everyone else we met there were great too. Dallin was pretty good! I was okay, but I couldn't get my arrows to go very far for some reason lol

Here is a video of the start of a game. Archery is such a fun sport!

Now for the major news....

We just found out that Dallin is getting to open a new Clearlink office in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was so flattered that they asked him and trust him with such a big responsibility, and he is so excited for the opportunity. So, we'll be moving! He's going down really soon, we're going to need to sell the townhouse, and I'll go down after the school year ends. I'm bummed to leave the teachers and students at my school and the family members we have here, but I am really psyched for this new adventure. We definitely weren't expecting this, so we're going to have to get out of our contract with the builder and do a bunch of other preparatory tasks. I just can't wait for something new! I always wanted to see more and experience more of the country than just Utah, so I always told Dallin if we ever get opportunities to move we should do it. Who knew it'd happen and it'd happen now?

I think it's funny when people have their "5 year plan" or "10 year plan." In my experience, it's a waste of time because I could have never predicted the way my life has gone the last 5 and 10 years. I like it that way though. I am really stoked for this unexpected change, and looking forward to getting a job down there and making a life in a new place.

All that being said, it is stressful. Lol it's literally giving me gray hairs. I already know there will be parts that are going to be really hard for me to leave this place. 

Happy Mother's Day!!

Jakey and Josie forgot. They're so ungrateful. Lol 

Anyway, Happy mothers day to our mothers! All 3 are perfect and add different things to our lives and we wouldn't be the same without them. We definitely don't see them enough. If any of you are reading this, thank you and we love you.

Well I think that's it for the update on our crazy, constantly changing life. Whew. Good luck to us this next few weeks. 

-Sydney (The New Arizona Transplant)