The Highs and Lowes of Teaching

  Reflections on Being a First Year Teacher     Being a first year teacher is one of the hardest jobs on the planet. Nothing can prepare you for what you'll experience, nothing . Despite being one of the most difficult things one could do in life, there are many rewards for being a first year teacher. The impact you have on children, the thrill of creating your own lessons, the wonderful experience of seeing the growth in children and yourself. Coming in halfway through a school year and without any formal student teaching experience, being a first year teacher was something felt extra  challenging for me, but ultimately confirmed that this was a profession worthy of my passion.     First year teaching is not easy. The typical first year teacher walks in with a week of inservice to catch up and that's it. Brand new school, brand new co workers. A monumental challenge to say the least. Some teachers may have the advantage of having other teachers workin...

  Content Curation: What Resources Can We Use?     Finding sources we use in a social studies classroom  can be difficult. With the proliferation of the internet bringing access to an abundance of new resources, discerning which resources at the best fit for the classroom has never been more difficult. Gone are the days of just the single textbook. With this newfound freedom comes plentiful opportunities for new resources for students. Here are 5 that I like to use. PBS ( https://opb.pbslearningmedia.org/subjects/social-studies/?rank_by=recency ). PBS is a fantastic resources to use in a social studies classroom. Not only is it reliable, but there are many different things you can do with this resources to adapt to your classroom.  For example, in social studies, you have access to everything you would need no matter what subject area you teach! As social studies varies so much in content from grade level to grade level, PBS is a great resources ...

  Student Engagement and Keeping Attention     Ask any teacher, student engagement at the middle school level is what we live and die on. Creating student engagement is challenging with middle school students. At 13, hormones abound and puberty taking over, many kids are off the wall or at their most defiant point in their lives. Creating engagement is critical to any successful learning in the middle school environment.     One way engagement can be created is a welcoming attitude! Community is everything in classroom development, and creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere is key to making students feel welcome and that they can engage to begin with. With this first step, students can take the first steps to feeling comfortable and ready to be engaged.     Another way to keep students engaged is through lesson plans. Lesson plans come in all shapes, forms, and variety. There are going to be days where you *have* to get through some more "boring" con...

         Many ideas come to mind when one thinks of Korea. From the musical escapades of K Pop, to the high stakes of a K Drama, to Korean BBQ or fried chicken, to Samsung and Hyundai. Korean pop culture has impacted American in many distinct ways from entertainment, to beauty, to cars. However, many people don't know the history behind the peninsula.      A depiction of "hallyu" the Korean Wave     My own history with Korea starts recently. In July of 2022 I applied to be an English teacher in South Korea at a "Hagwon", a Korean after school academy common for foreigners to teach at. I didn't know much about Korea at all, but by the time I moved to Korea in September of 2022 I remember wishing I knew a little more beyond the surface. After spending time living in Korea until February of 2023, I visited museums and other culture history sites that lead me to wonder more about Korean history. Despite majoring in history myself, I discove...