Sydney's School Stories

  2021-2022 A Year In Review- Big Leaps & Persistence I’m finishing up my 6th year teaching! This year I took a big leap and went from teaching upper (general education) elementary to teaching kindergarten/1st grade special education. For me personally- this was my most challenging year. It was challenging to go from fully remote to in person, from general education to special education, and work with aggressive behaviors. In this post I want to share golden moments (good things to cherish), what I’ve learned, and some advice on persisting.  Golden Moments I made a lot of new teacher friends! The connections and community of teaching is something that is irreplaceable.  I worked with some really cool kids. The kids had a lot of needs and different struggles but they also reminded me daily of childhood joy/innocence/enjoyment in small moments. They laugh and love bubbles, playing with toys, Peppa Pig, and playing with water. The kids have a strength that is special. Th...

  PSA: It’s ok to leave your computer at school      Leaving your computer at school is 100% ok. I leave my computer at home on most school nights and weekends. Why? I try my best to do my prep work during my prep time or lunch. I don’t make/create many materials that are too time or material intensive- unless it’s something I can see the kids using often (Ex: IEP materials).       What are some of my favorite activities in a self-contained K/1 class? I really like cut & paste activities for counting, dot-blotter activities, cut and paste sorting, etc.  Leaving my computer at work has helped me to keep my work at work so that I have more freedom at home.       Now I still will check email at home or work on an IEP if I have something coming up. I will work on creative projects or school work occasionally. The big difference is that now I don’t put pressure on myself to do work at home- it's only if I want to.  Pri...