Practice What You Teach

I am beyond terrified to write this post, but I have felt like I needed to write it for quite some time now.  My heart is about pounding out of my chest as I type, but this topic is so close to my heart. Being single has its challenges. Anyone will tell you that. But there are so many things about it that are beautiful and wonderful, and for that reason I feel that writing this post and taking the opportunity to share what those who are single want YOU to know is SO important. First and foremost don't ask us constantly about our dating lives. To preface this one, I completely and fully understand that when I am asked about my dating life, no one is trying to make me uncomfortable, they are just genuinely interested. However, nine times out of ten I feel completely and utterly self-conscious and sheepish when I'm asked this question. As a rule of thumb, if there is something we want to share and are ready to share, we will tell you! If not, avoiding this question is usually fo

I have a student in one of my classes, who from the beginning of the school year, I felt had SO much untapped potential. The problem was, this student seemed to be afraid to try and really show me what he was capable of. After many conversations with him, I ultimately had to tell him that it was all in his hands. He had a choice: was he going to give it his all, or was he going to be afraid to try? This Friday, we had our first Word Study test. This boy came into class elated to tell me that he had worked so hard and practiced his words all week. After I gave his group their test, I was almost afraid to look at his, because I wanted him to do well SO badly. I spot checked it right when he handed it in, and as I skimmed it, I thought, "oh my goodness, I think he got them all right!" When I went back to grade it, sure enough he had! I pulled him aside at recess to tell him, and this little boy's face just lit up with pride. I could just see the light go on in his head as

     This past week, I went to lunch with a close family friend who I have known for most of my life. I realized while I was driving home that almost exactly a year ago, I had gone to lunch with this same family friend at the same exact place. It got me thinking about where I was at that point a year ago. I had just started to open up about my struggles with intense, overwhelming, and almost unbearable feelings of anxiety, inadequacy, and self-doubt. As I grew less and less confident in who I was, I had become more and more withdrawn to the point that I could scarcely look another person in the eye. But the more I opened up, the more it felt as if I was letting out a breath that I had been holding in for months.      Opening up certainly didn't make the problem go away, but it gave me the strength I needed to try anything and everything. I started truly realizing that so much is outside of my control and it is okay to ask for and receive help. I started writing in my journal every

 I can hardly believe my youngest little sister is graduating. I pretty vividly remember the day Abby was born. It was my first week of second grade, and I remember walking into my classroom and yelling to my teacher at the top of my lungs, "MY MOM IS HAVING A BABY!" I loved school, but on this particular day I could hardly wait for it to be over so that I could go to the hospital and meet my newest little sister. I probably would have leapt off the school bus while it was still moving if the bus driver would have let me.  Our seven year age gap has given me the chance to really watch Abby grow up. She has always had a feisty personality from the time she was little, and she's never been afraid to stand up for herself or fight for what she wants. I remember one time when she was probably 6 or 7, Amy and I were babysitting her while my mom was somewhere with Jenn. She wasn't behaving, so we decided that since we were in charge we needed to give her a time out. Sh

 My whole life, I have loved to read. I love getting lost in a story, and following along as it comes to life. When I close each book I read after finishing the last chapter, I'm always met with this sort of empty feeling. Until of course I remember that I have at least three more books stashed underneath my bed waiting to be read. Thus, a new chapter and a new story quickly take shape. This feels like a metaphor of sorts for what the last couple of weeks have been like. Each chapter of my life has been amazing in it's own unique way, but this particular chapter, these past three years teaching at two amazing schools and getting to know, teach, and love a total of 82 students, will always be near and dear to my heart. Thus, it has been a particularly difficult chapter to close. For starters, this chapter gave me the chance to start my career by living out my lifelong dream of becoming a teacher. It has been so much more amazing, hard, sweet, challenging, demanding, wonderf

          I thought that I had the next couple of years of my life all figured out. I am a prime example of a chronic over-thinker, and the queen of the pro/con list. I had carefully thought out every recent decision I had made. I was settled at the school where I had been working, I had a good apartment and ward, and I had just been accepted to a 2 year long Master's of Education program, which would fulfill one of my long term goals. Yet something still felt off. Despite the fact that I thought I had a good direction in my life, I felt confused and unsettled. It felt like I was trapped inside a box. I would walk in one direction, hit the wall of the box only to turn in another direction and hit another wall.          The problem was, I just could not figure out what it was that wasn't right. I started taking the long way driving home from work each day and praying about my concerns. It took a couple of weeks of this before seemingly out of the blue, the strongest impression

           I remember when I was 8 years old, I joined our neighborhood pool's swim team. To say that I was an AWFUL swimmer from the beginning of my ill-fated swimming career was an understatement. For starters, my dive into the pool was basically a glorified jump with my arms over my head. I remember we would get ribbons the Monday after a meet for each event that we had placed in. If you didn't place in any of your events, you got this yellow ribbon that said "Good Swim" on it. I had a nice collection of those "Good Swim" ribbons by the end of that season, but it didn't curb my enthusiasm in the slightest. I loved swimming and even though I was the slowest one in my age group and my three younger sisters could each swim circles around me, I went to every practice, gave it my all, and even started swimming year round.           No matter how hard I practiced and trained, I never became a great swimmer. The older I got, the more I noticed that EVERYO

           On Friday, my Grandma Freeman passed away. She was almost 90 years old and lived a long, full life. She was kind, loving, a hard worker, and fiercely loyal. She taught elementary school, and I've always loved the fact that both of my grandmas were teachers, and good ones at that. We joke in our family that teaching runs in our blood, and it's an honor to be able to carry on her legacy.            For most of the years I was growing up, she lived in New York, in the small, small town of Hornell. My dad would take us on weekend trips to visit during the summers. In fact my first time driving on the highway with my learner's permit was on the way up to visit them one summer, and I remember proudly announcing that when we walked into the house. We would always start off our visits with a trip to the ONLY restaurant in town (Pizza Hut) and then stop by the ONLY grocery store in town (Wegman's) for ice cream to take home, if Grandma didn't already have some wa

        On Friday, I gave my students a math test. One of my students who has struggled a lot in math all year only missed two questions out of the 16 on the test. I was so excited, so I pulled him aside to congratulate him. I showed him his score and said, "look, you did SO good! I am so proud of you, you worked so hard!" I was confused when immediately he looked like he was about to cry. For a second I thought, "maybe they are tears of joy?" Then I remembered he's 9, so I asked him what was wrong. He said, "Miss Freeman, one time I got 12 out of 12 on my math test, and this time I missed two questions. So I didn't really do that good." I explained to him that just because he missed two questions didn't mean he hadn't done well, especially because he got so many questions right. Then I told him we were going to celebrate with the biggest high five EVER, and he went back to his seat with a smile on his face.       Starting a new year of