As the first quarter draws to an end, I stop to think about the changes in the faces of the students and teachers. The past eight weeks have been packed with new experiences and challenges. There have been melt downs…we are all human and we make mistakes. We fail, and we fall flat on our faces. We have difficult days where nothing goes right. Students drop all their books in the middle of the halls. Students lose homework, or the dog really did eat it.
The first week of school, the sixth and seventh graders had a look of confusion on their faces. “Where do I go? I can’t find the right book! Oh, this is the wrong class!” Now those faces are settling into their routine and doing great! The students new to the school had those same confused looks, but they too have found their places. The new has worn off, and there is now a comfort for the students.
For several weeks, the one question I was asked daily was, “When are we getting our ChromeBooks?” Students received and are now enjoying the Chromebooks in class. As I walk through the cafeteria, the note cards and notebooks have changed to ChromeBooks. It is great to see the students using their ChromeBooks to study and share information with one another. I have been able to send links to my class via Google Classroom. It is a new challenge, but the possibilities are endless.
However, the students are not the only ones who have had to adjust. I have seen teachers wearing the same expressions as the students. Being a new teacher is difficult. There are so many things that the teacher has to learn from being in his/her own classroom. On top of the new place and new room is the new technology that we are now able to use. Wait, new technology? Even the most seasoned teachers are facing new challenges and struggles. “I have just figured out how to do the old things with confidence, and now something new is being placed in my hands.” Yet, just like our students, teachers are coming around with the “NEW” stuff. There have been a few teachers that have had their “light bulb” moment. The smiles on their faces when they finally make that first quiz on Google classroom or design the newsletter for their class bring a smile to me. Times change, and we have to adjust to the changes, or we get left behind. That first week of “Teacher Tired” is continuing to follow us, but we will, as Psalms 91:1 says, “dwell in the shelter of the Most High and will rest in the shadow of the Almighty”. God will continue to renew our strength as we work daily for Him.
We are a blessed school. Even though the first few weeks we all walked around in the new “fog”, myself included, we have now reached a new level of understanding. We have achieved many things, with more to come. We have made new friends and have become a larger family. We have cried together; we have prayed together; we have set new goals together. Together, we will make it through this year and become a better school and community.
Shelly Anderson, Middle and High School Assistant Principal
Talon Times 