Prompt: Moment. Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors). Author- Ali Edwards
2010 was a year full of change and the part that made me feel most alive was when I received my position that I am now teaching in. In 2009 I had resigned from my position as a second grade teacher and wanted to take a leap of faith and move to Austin for my doctorate and teach while I was there. After not finding a job in Austin (and seriously trying for 9 months), I moved back to Dallas and quickly found a job teaching Eighth Grade Pre-Algebra.
This was a HUGE step out of my comfort zone but I couldn’t love it more. I have taken the huge steps that it takes to be the best teacher for fourteen year olds that I can be. The students that I had in the Spring kept me alive and feeling better and better each and every day. When I came in they were at a 36% passing rate and by the time they took their first attempt at the state test, I had 74% pass. After the third round, I was at an 82% passing rate which I was MORE than pleased with. This definitely made me feel alive and full of wonder.
Now that I have been teaching eighth grade for almost a full year, I wouldn’t change it for the world. There are definitely days here and there that I wonder what the heck I am doing but it keeps me going and I am always looking out for the future and what I can do to make things better.
