I had no clue about this 31 day writing challenge until I
happened to see one of my friends mentioning it on her Facebook. Normally, I start these sort of things
(blogs) with great intentions of writing every day, or at least every other
day. But, life gets in the way (or
should I say binge-watching TV shows), and I forget. But, the idea of a challenge, of focusing on
one singular topic for thirty-one days, somehow sounded more do-able. So, I am going to try. The beauty of this thing is you get to write
about one singular thing for the entire time.
At first, I couldn’t think of a single thing I could write
THAT MUCH about, but then it hit me. Two
things take up 90% of my thoughts and time:
teaching and gym time. So,
combining the two, I am going to write about the strength it takes to be a
teacher—physically, mentally, and emotionally.
It won’t all be serious and focused.
I definitely will share some of my funnier teaching moments and stories
as they occur. But, I think that
teaching is one of the most unique professions out there, and it is the one I
am most passionate about, even when I hate it.
My school is definitely a unique one. Rather than having 160 students, I have 45 at
the most. Instead of class sizes of 20
to 25, the maximum is 14. Instead of
dealing with boy and girl relationship drama, I have only girls for
students. And, the kicker, it is a
Department of Juvenile Justice school.
What this means is, the girls are at my school for specific
reasons. The “risk factors” are: emotional trauma, behavioral issues, truancy
problems, expulsion from school, etc.
Also, the majority of our girls are one or more grade levels
behind. So, it is quite an undertaking
to work there. I tell everyone, you
cannot work there and truly love it unless you have been called to work at such
a place.
So, I feel that sharing my time there, the girls’ stories,
and the lessons I learn as I continue down this career path…that will make an
excellent blog that I can maintain for thirty-one days. So, feel free to ask questions, share your
thoughts, OR even get information to volunteer with us or help out!
