As One Journey Ends, Another Starts...

Wow...it sure has been a long voyage for me, and it's no big surprise that I always have to make everything harder than it should be--it's just the Mary Tran way! I started out as a girl who came in gung-ho about teaching, totally in love with the idea of working with students. I hit a few bumps that were discouraging and took away my teacher groove a bit, but hey the groove is back. It has taken me three semesters to come full circle and still be gung-ho about teaching. Am I kooky or crazy? Nope... crazy is the norm for me. Today was the last day of my 8 week placement. I'm excited to be done, but I'm sad to leave such an amazing group of students. I have to say you are never too young to be a teacher and definitely never too old to be a student. My students have taught me to love, to believe in what I teach and whom I teach, and to be myself. As they were coming up to me to tell me one thing they will remember or miss, I had more reasons to why I love teaching. When I hear the students tell me their favorite part was reading, I smiled and was overjoyed because this is what I wanted to hear. They told me that they'll miss all the games and the fact that I turned almost everything into something fun. This is what I strive to do and I will always carry that with me into every class I teach. I've learned that students are capable of so much more than we think that they can handle; this group has taught me that. And I can say just because they're fun size doesn't mean they can't be taken serious. =) Most of all...my students have helped me discover how to truly be "Miss Tran."