One of the things I've done well as a teacher is forming relationships. I have always taken seriously my effect on students' lives. During the school year, a teacher spends more waking hours with children than their parents! Teachers steer the class to either be supportive and loving, or bullying and hurtful! I tried to create a loving, caring environment for all of my students. Some groups of students were more easy to manage than others, but all had their rewards!
One of the early schools I worked at had a program for students with Autism, including those who were very intelligent, but challenged with appropriate behavior. Learning to rein in my own emotions in order to deal with some of these students' demanding behaviors was both frustrating and empowering at the same time. These challenges in the classroom helped me to deal with people in general and manage my own emotions and behaviors outside of the classroom.
As I approached my final weeks as a classroom teacher, I was filled with both relief from the workload and sadness at leaving this special time in my life. I will continue to work with students, but will not have my own special classroom family! Much of my teaching memories are filled with funny, sad and interesting stories of my students!
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