Exit Slip

It's hard to know what to write, on this, the second to last day of school, for me. This year was big, as you readers know. I went back to work, I moved from being a classroom teacher to being a paraprofessional, so much growth and learning happened for me this year.
I spent much of the year feeling insecure, wondering if I was doing things the "right way," knowing that there was so much I don't know, trying out different strategies and ways of teaching, crossing my fingers that something would stick, being nagged by a feeling that I should be doing more even though I'm only here 20 hours a week.
But I'm ending the year on a high note, with a positive evaluation from the higher-ups, and some changes in the works for September that will allow me to do more meaningful, deeper work with the kids. As I pack up my room for the summer, and sorting through things to keep and things to chuck, I'm doing the same with the content I taught this year--what worked and what didn't work, keeping a list of ideas I want to carry over to next school year, and new things I want to try.
And because I will always be a teacher, I know part of my summer will be spent thinking about these things, and doing some "teacher" reading, and I don't mind at all!