Introduction to the Teacher Blogging World

Hi everyone! My name is Kristin and I am currently a 3rd grade teacher in the Golden State of California. I will be entering my 8th year of teaching at a brand new school district that is closer to my house. I am excited to be closer to my family and cut the traffic/commute time by half! ALSO, words cannot express how lucky/blessed/wonderful I feel about going back to a regular school district after being in a public charter school for the last 5 years. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the students, community I taught in, the friendships I have made with my colleagues, and how much I grew as an educator, BUT I am ready for change and I think this year is a great year for that. I just know it!!! =P

Currently I am teaching in Sunny So. Cal, but I have also taught 2 years of 2nd grade in South San Francisco....ahhh...I miss "the city" and I seriously left my heart in San Francisco! Whenever I get a break, I try to visit the city by the bay as well as the good friends I have made  and families of the children I once taught.

What brings me to this blog you ask (or maybe not, but I am answering my own question anyways)?
Though I am new to the teaching blogging world myself, I have been a "blogger stalker" as my good friend Aris from SailingintoSecond likes to call it, for years. It wasn't until my other wonderful friend Chelsea from 5thgradewitandwhimsy told me how supportive the teacher blogger world is that convinced me to take a plunge out of my comfort zone (yes...of stalking) and just...blog! So here I am! Please...be nice because I think all of YOU teacher bloggers I stalk are simply A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! ^_^

A little about my teaching adventure: I never thought of being a teacher when I was younger. In fact, my idea of going to school was not to learn, but rather to socialize with all of my friends. Unfortunately, yes...I was THAT kid! People that know me as an adult have a hard time picturing me as a child because it is a complete opposite of who I am now. I even remember telling my mother after getting accepted into a 4 years University that I would NEVER be going back to school again after getting my B.A. In fact, I promised her I would graduate within 4 years and save her some MOOLA! Plus, I remember having ONE amazing teacher, my 3rd grade teacher, Ms. Jewel. She made me feel important and part of the class even though I spoke zero English. She inspired me to come to school and love class every day. Then, half way into the school year she moved. I never understood (literally) the reason why she left, but I remember crying and crying for many days and nights. On her last day, she had asked my mom if I could stay a bit longer after school to eat in class with her (I always used to pick "eat lunch with the teacher") and she gave me an envelope with her picture on it. On the back of the picture she told me that I was a very talented and special student. She said that she knew I would grow into a beautiful and lovely young lady capable of doing anything that I set my mind and heart to. And of course, that she would miss me the most (DUH!).
Every other teacher after her, I honestly thought were just "phoning it" and I thought they were awful teachers; which just built a great disdain for the world of education for me. And again, I just went to school because I HAD TO, not because I wanted to. But of course, life has a funny way of teaching you things. While walking to class one scorching afternoon in the college campus of U.C Riverside, I decided to stall (old habits die hard) and meander around the halls outside of the Humanities building before entering class (obviously sitting in the front and being on time was not my priority). Suddenly, I see an eye catching sign about Teaching English Abroad in Taiwan for 3 months during the summer. Uh...free food, free shelter, AND you get $paid$?!? I was totally in!!! I honestly thought I signed up for the summer job of a lifetime and the agency that hired me were big time suckers. Little did I know, the more I went to work and taught, the more I fell in love with teaching. Long story short, the rest is history. I came back to the states after 3 months and decided to still pursue my B.A in Sociology, but I immediately researched how to become a teacher and get my teaching credentials. Not only did the girl that said she would NEVER go to school again after getting her B.A get her teaching Credentials, but she also got her M.A from U.S.C. And of all places, my second home away from home is always my classroom. Ironic how this panned out, no? My mom and I laugh about it all the time. I went from someone that couldn't wait to get out of school, to someone that is motivated to get up in the morning just to be at school. As far as for the ONE teacher that was capable of making a unmotivated girl motivated, I don't know where Ms. Jewel is now. I hope she is still a teacher because she inspired me to be the teacher I am today. I learned so much from her by the way she treated and welcomed all of her students equally into her classroom. Somewhere out there, I wish she knew that I still think of her as a role model and how much she has impacted me. Well, I realized a happy intro has turned into a tear filled post. So...because I don't like awkward moments, this is where my official first post shall end. Toodles everyone!