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What has been hard about this year? Trying to keep on top of my ever growing to do list and feeling like I can never get anything done or there is one more thing on my plate. I've been learning to say no.

What's been easy- getting to know students and building relationships.

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Harder: Feeling like expectations are changing throughout the year has made me feel lack of control and stress.

Easier: colleagues that are willing to share encouragement, laughter, ideas, etc. Our kids are brilliant and hilarious humans.

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Hard: navigating the teacher job search for the first time

Easier: having supportive people on my side

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Having an absent PLC

Having friends in the staff

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Hard: navigating being a teacher in the classroom for the first time and figuring out all of the things.

Easy: building relationships with students and staff in a new place

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Hard: too many preps, to hard to focus.

Easy: colleagues

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Crappy Curriculum

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Team members make it easy.

Constant change in direction or learning targets are out of control.

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What has been hard - Feeling like I’m getting through to students who seemingly don’t have much interest in the class

What has been easy - Getting used to the much calmer rhythms of high schoolers, compared to middle schoolers

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Hard - taking on a new class that didn’t have curriculum has been a LOT of work

Easy - coworkers that uplift me and listen to me complain

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Doing all the things outside of teaching like SEL lessons n phone calls and waiting for the next non-evaluative walk-through to occur

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Hard: teaching

Easier: Supportive colleagues

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Harder: 3 preps, 1 which is a brand new course at Lincoln, photography

Easier: Getting to know more people at Lincoln, collaboration with our PLC and confidence in my 4th year of teaching now

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Harder: the number of students with high needs just keeps growing as does my to-do list. It feels like we have less support feom home than previous years.

Easier: an amazing team to collaborate with and who remind me I am not alone in this work.

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The people.

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Harder: lack of communication and support between departments and even PLCs

Easier: building lifelong friends and establishing connections with colleagues

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Hard: every PD getting a new initiative/tier one plan/teaching method/observation method added to our plate.

Huge class sizes.

Easy: team

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Hard: I feel overwhelmed and overstimulated with all the student requests/needs/emergencies and expectations for staff.

Easy: I’m not alone in this feeling.

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The never ending to do list that keeps growing and growing makes this year very difficult. There are not enough hours to do everything that needs to get done.

My team makes it easier. But they are overwhelmed too.

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What has made it hard this year? Shear numbers of students and lack of proper programs and supports for students with significant needs- either behavioral or academic.

The staff, admin and our department have been fantastic in trying to solve these issues and support these students

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Harder: Inconsistency and a feeling that I’m not trusted to be the professional I was hired to be. Being asked for input and then having that input ignored.

Easier: My peers

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Easier: Socializing with colleagues more, both productively and unproductive

Harder: gleam walk throughs and unclear guidance on how gleam should look within our classrooms

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Hard: navigating a challenging team

Easy: grounding myself in my kids and what they want/need

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Dealing with district curriculum that is constantly changing from year to year.  At times we've received updated units less than two weeks before we have to teach it.

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Dealing with district curriculum that is constantly changing from year to year.  At times we've received updated units less than two weeks before we have to teach it.

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Harder: Continuing to ask for the same necessary materials and resources and going unanswered. Feeling devalued and continually giving that feedback but not having it addressed.

Easier: My team, they continue to do an awesome job and help me stay grounded.

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This year was easier because I got my lessons down

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Hard: feeling like I need to teach my students how to be ‘human’ more than ever, instead of just teaching them science. It’s always been important to teach more than just content - but it just feels even more exacerbated this year

Easier: having good colleagues to work with / share work with / etc etc

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Hard: A lot of staff members are not healthy and well (are any of us?) and they have been taking it out on one another, which has directly affected me. 

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Hard: A lot of staff members are not healthy and well (are any of us?) and they have been taking it out on one another, which has directly affected me. 

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Easy: My amazing group at school and the many connections I have in this building that keep me here.

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Holding to personal boundaries at work has made the year both easier and harder.

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All the things that can change are continuously changing. Lack of consistency in many areas. Feelings of not being good enough. Wondering how I can make things better when I’m not sure how to make things better.

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This year has been easier in terms of knowing the curriculum. It’s been hard teaching the same simple thing over and over again.

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Personal traumatic events and getting my master’s at Iowa State have made this year challenging

My coworkers have made this year easier

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Hard: changing expectations, while not always seeing the intended outcome as a result

Easier: knowing that many of the same issues/frustrations I am feeling are felt around the building

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Harder: I feel like I am completely drowning in one of my courses. It feels tangentially related to my specialty and I have to fake my way through it, which my students can definitely see regardless.

Easier: The immense amount of support I get from my admin and PLC and teachers around me. I feel like if they weren’t there I wouldn’t have made it past my first month.

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Hard: Finding common ground on curriculum direction between building expectations, plc preferences, and district expectations not aligning

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Hard: Finding common ground on curriculum direction between building expectations, plc preferences, and district expectations not aligning

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Easy: easy to find an ear to listen and find common ground emotionally

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-What has made this year hard? Developing a new course, being gone during maternity leave, changing expectations or guidelines for certain things, being in school while teaching, neverending to do list

-What has made this year easy?

Colleagues that support me both in teaching and life outside of school

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What’s been hard?

The constant addition of things to do that are “mandatory” for teachers to do, which is not feasible in a stand work day. With personal things (including two family members fighting cancer), taking things home is too mentally exhausting most days.

Easy?

Loving on my students. Showing genuine care and concern for them, allowing them to share whatever they are comfortable with ❤️

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Hard - meeting needs of my children while juggling responsibilities at school and for my own mental health and well-being, while trying to remain a good husband.

Easy - hanging with friends and enjoying my kids growing.

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Harder- just the fact I'm a first year teacher is stressful and still figuring out a "full-proof" work-life balance.

Easier- amazing colleagues and friends here at Lincoln, an awesome mentor (shout out to Matt Kozlowski), and the relationships I have with students.

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Harder: It has been difficult to negotiate a new curriculum that is prescribed but still needs a lot of work without creativity.

Easier: I have a network of folks whom I trust that I lacked before. I have an outlet for some control in subject matter.

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Harder- unrealistic expectations, trying to do too much

Easier- being around others with the same problems

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Hard: Co-workers. There is a very cliquey “you can’t sit with us” mentality amongst some of the staff.

Easier: still trying to figure that one out. I know I have lots of supports from coaches, counselors, friends, and admin but this year doesn’t seem to get easier.

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Trauma this year has veen elevated because if violence onnour campus and around the south side of Des Moines.  Also many student traumas and world and local events.  Find your happy spot each day!