Movin' On Up!

WOW.

Can I just take a second to adjust?

I came to Florida with no job prospects, medical debt, and a huge car payment each month. All I had was a passion for education and a need to return to school... I started nanny-ing and taking odd jobs to make ends meet while I searched for a position in education, so my days were hectic and long.

Fast forward 5 months and I'm overwhelmed by the Lord's blessings! I am employed in a FANTASTIC Charter school that really is focused on the learning going on in the classrooms, great supportive administration, and wonderfully bright kids! As the Receptionist, I greet the children each morning, answer general questions from the parents, encourage meetings between them and the teachers, and play a supportive role in the school. As well as reception, I lead the Before and After Care also known as Extended Day. Its a long day for me 3 days a week (A Paraprofessional takes Tuesdays and Thursday's for me for After Care... thank goodness!), but the money is very much welcome and I LOVE my job!

Then yesterday my principal asks me if I would consider being a Pre-K teacher next school year!

Um.... YES!

What kind of Whovian would I be if I shied away from a new adventure where I may fail miserably and fall flat on my face?! So of course I have been cruising through Pre-K to 3rd grade blogs to get a feel for what works for other teachers and can I just say KUDOS to the blogs I found? Amazingly creative, great for all learning types, and fun lessons built by these phenomenal men and women that I just can not wait to try! And some even recommend books (which I will start reading straight away) of different teaching styles and ideas.

I just wanted to share with you the blessings I've earned recently. Just goes to show that if you are going through trials, just remember that Seasons change... and your time will come!

Yours Timelessly,

Educator Who

In the Beginning...

My name is Samantha, and I am a Pinterest Fiend.

I adore the Doctor Who series; I truly fancy the Doctor <3

I love being around elementary school kids... funny since as a student I always said I would never want to teach or work with that age group lol. I was of the opinion that elementary grades posed no challenge, nothing to be learned from teaching them and being a part-time nanny as a young adult just reinforced that thought, unfortunately. 

Yet even with  the goal of creating a career in High School education, I've really slacked off since getting my Associate's degree... I ran off to South Carolina the same weekend as I finished the last class needed to earn my degree and lived there for almost 4 years. I did NOTHING with my degree... a handful of customer service jobs, call centers mostly, just dealing with upset customers all day. After 3 years though, the disgruntled person I faced the most was myself... I hated who I had allowed myself to become; working dead end jobs and living paycheck to paycheck, not utilizing my degree and not pursuing my education, either. So when my spouse (we'll call him Mr. Who) started talking about having kids, I pushed the brakes; we could have kids if we moved back to Florida. 

Why Florida? Well, that's where I grew up, graduated both high school and college, and that's where I would have to get my education back on track. Although I had been accepted to Clemson University in South Carolina, I couldn't attend due to their school hours being "traditional" (7am-5pm... who DOES that anymore?!) and didn't work for me since I worked during those hours. Well, that and if I was to get on their track for education NONE of my previous course credits would transfer so I would have to start all over as a freshman. 

H - E - Double-Hockey-Sticks NO!

So, now I'm in Florida.

And that's where the fun begins ;)