Valadation

Since I have been in my new role as an Instructional Facilitator, I have really missed teaching a class.  Today I taught my first class!!!!  I was honored to be asked by our math Specialist for my district to model a 3rd grade math lesson.   Hello, I LOVE me some 3rd grade!!!!  Even though I had taught this exact lesson last year in my own classroom, I was super nervous.  I had never met these teachers, been in this building, met these kids, and they were videoing me!  No pressure, right?!?!?

I was immediately set at ease when I met the principal.  He was actually my AP when I was in Jr. High!  I went down to the classroom and got ready to teach.  As soon as I began the lesson it all came back to me!  The lesson was AWESOME and the kids really had a good understanding of the concept. That's right folks, I still got it!  I had no clue which kids were EC, ESL, AIG so it was neat to just teach without knowing which label belonged to which kid.  There was one girl who kept showing me all her work and she was getting all the answers right.  She even took it to a level that I hadn't expected.  At the end of the lesson she came up to me and said, "I had never shared out in front of the class like I did today."   I was ecstatic to see that I could walk into a room with kids I've never met and get that kind of reaction.  After the lesson we had a debrief with the teachers and found out that the girl who had exceeded my expectations during the lesson, was EC!  I told them I would have never known that if I hadn't been told.

 Today validated my move out of the classroom, and I am finally finding it easier. I did go by and visit my previous school to see Sonya and Rebecca (who I love!).  I had a great convo with one student who asked, "Mrs. Haywood, when are you coming back to teach here?  Because I need you to be my teacher again."  Talk about melt my heart!  This was a kid who I struggled with all year, and had no idea I made that kind of impact on him.

This week is slammed for me, so I am sooo excited to have a blogger meetup this weekend!  I can't wait to meet and hang out with some of my all time favorite bloggers.

Amber and I are having a sleepover at Elizabeth's house!  We are going to be like teenagers again! I don't think she knows what she agreed to :)

Thanks to all my awesome followers I have hit 200!  Be on the look out for a great giveaway soon.