Trying to Make a Difference

I decided it's about time I update my blog.... since I am no longer job hunting and in the 3rd month of my new job! After all the frustration of job searching, I was hired at Granger High School. Woohoo! I was originally hired part-time to teach 2 World History classes. About 3 weeks before school started they called and told me I was going to be full-time. So here I am, a World History teacher (helping in the theatre department) at a High School!

It's great to have my own classroom... except, I don't really. I am a "traveling teacher" as there are not enough classrooms in the school for all the teachers. I get to be the teacher awkwardly pushing a cart down the hall with all my stuff stashed on it... not to mention my textbooks! I definitely get my workout everyday. It is wonderful to be in charge and experiment with how best to do things. I've always been told the 1st year is the worst because you're constantly scrambling to stay on top of things... which is true... it's exhausting, but it's a wonderful experience. I love the challenge, and boy is it a challenge!

I work in a school that is as diverse as you can get in Utah! We're about 36% Caucasian, 46% Hispanic... and the rest come from a variety of other ethnic groups. I love it! I love experiencing other cultures. Who knew I could experience so much in Salt Lake? It reminds me a lot of my mission and learning to work with my various companions, especially Sister Robati... we were about as different as we could be and had 3 transfers filled with learning experiences together. That's how I feel with my students. I am trying my best to understand where they are coming from and how I can help them. We come from completely different walks of life. Not that I grew up in a wealthy family, but I was raised to value education. It was never an option to not be educated and succeed in life... it was, and is, simply part of life. My students seem to not share that same view with me. It baffles me how many seem to not care about whether they succeed or not. I have one student who does practically nothing in my class, but not going to school is the saddest thing in her life.... because that's where she gets to socialize. Her parents grounded her from school once to cut her off from her friends. Weird, I know.

I struggle because I want to help my students achieve excellence and be able to succeed in LIFE. It's hard though, especially when I have days on end where 1/2 of my class doesn't show up to school. It makes it difficult for them when the 1/2 key to success in my class is BEING IN CLASS. This past quarter I think 10% of my students failed... as in, received an F... that doesn't even count those who barely passed with in the D range. How do I get them to see what they do now affects their future?! It's hard when their focus is here and now... for many of them the future is so "far away" they have a hard time visualizing it. I don't understand that. I am a forward thinker... the future is always in my thoughts... even when I was their age, I knew the basics of what I wanted for my future! I'm trying to make a difference, but sometimes I just don't know how. I hope what I do has an effect. I may never know, but I hope I am making a difference in their lives!

There are glimmers of hope every once in awhile. I do have students who give their all and who I know love my class. I just had a student give me a thank you note the other day. Another student wrote a note on the back of an assignment telling me she thinks I should do that project for years to come because she loved it and thinks other students will too. It always gives me a boost when I see students outside of class and they seem excited to see me. It's little things like that which keep me going.

Thank goodness I have a Heavenly Father who has blessed me with the Spirit to help me out. He gives me thoughts and ideas just at the right times. Through all my exhaustion, He picks me up and carries me forward.