The new year has brought many changes for me so far. In the last 30 days, I have reached several milestones toward my dreams. I turned 38 this week and with the looming big 4-0 not far off, I had been feeling the intense pressure of meeting some of my goals before it is too late.
Tomorrow, is my last day teaching at a private school. While I am not thrilled to be leaving my students at mid-year and will miss them, I know that there are changes taking place in my life that I can only describe as God's intervention in my life. I trained my replacement this week to take over and he will be taking over from me tomorrow as I say good bye to my students.
On February 1st, I will begin teaching middle school as an autism teacher. This is something that I have been working on since 2009. Possibly, it has been long before that as my children who have ASD have long prepared me for what I believe is God's purpose for my life.
I am both excited and nervous about this new job. ASD is what I am trained to do and where I believe my heart is at. However, for me, this is my first year of full time teaching in an ASD classroom where I am the lead teacher. I have volunteered, worked part time or as a sub, but this is the real deal. I will be joined by 2 teaching assistants who have been there long term and a behavioral specialist. I am assured that I will have much support and so far, I am seeing people step forward to assist me.
I have seen so many obstacles confronting me as I transition over. However, each time, I have seen each obstacle fall before me. I know that it is God working for me. That is how I know that I am moving toward fulfilling my purpose.
For my family, this job is a blessing. It is more money than I have ever made. It means we may be ready this year to buy a house as we are working on. It means that I do not have to work this summer and can be at home with Avery and Sophie who still need me. It means financially having breathing room every month. If my contract is renewed, it also means financial security.
When I first became a teacher, I found that teaching allowed me to have more time with my family. Time off at Christmas, Spring Break and Summer Break. It also allows me to bring skills from the job to manage my children and their education and allows me to bring my skills as a mother into the job to manage my classroom.
My teaching credentials are being updated and issued and hopefully, I will have the paperwork in the next 2-4 weeks. This is nearly 7 months ahead of when I thought this would be taking place. I am one semester from completing my ASD certificate--just one more class. While I thought this would be my last year of school, my employer is requiring me to complete ESOL certification as well as Florida has a high percentage of non-English or English as a 2nd language speakers. Another 5 classes.
This semester, I am also taking 5 classes in autism and ESE to continue to meet my highly qualified status and to complete my requirements needed for all my certificates. By the next school year, I will hold about 5 teaching certificates--6 at the conclusion of my ESOL.
I am very excited about the new job and the overwhelming feeling that everything is falling in place. I am much at peace about where I am headed. I am praying today that God will give me abilities to meet expectations and to best serve my students. I do not merely want to get by and survive the remainder of the school year, but I want to do great things for the students that I serve.
Tomorrow, is my last day teaching at a private school. While I am not thrilled to be leaving my students at mid-year and will miss them, I know that there are changes taking place in my life that I can only describe as God's intervention in my life. I trained my replacement this week to take over and he will be taking over from me tomorrow as I say good bye to my students.
On February 1st, I will begin teaching middle school as an autism teacher. This is something that I have been working on since 2009. Possibly, it has been long before that as my children who have ASD have long prepared me for what I believe is God's purpose for my life.
I am both excited and nervous about this new job. ASD is what I am trained to do and where I believe my heart is at. However, for me, this is my first year of full time teaching in an ASD classroom where I am the lead teacher. I have volunteered, worked part time or as a sub, but this is the real deal. I will be joined by 2 teaching assistants who have been there long term and a behavioral specialist. I am assured that I will have much support and so far, I am seeing people step forward to assist me.
I have seen so many obstacles confronting me as I transition over. However, each time, I have seen each obstacle fall before me. I know that it is God working for me. That is how I know that I am moving toward fulfilling my purpose.
For my family, this job is a blessing. It is more money than I have ever made. It means we may be ready this year to buy a house as we are working on. It means that I do not have to work this summer and can be at home with Avery and Sophie who still need me. It means financially having breathing room every month. If my contract is renewed, it also means financial security.
When I first became a teacher, I found that teaching allowed me to have more time with my family. Time off at Christmas, Spring Break and Summer Break. It also allows me to bring skills from the job to manage my children and their education and allows me to bring my skills as a mother into the job to manage my classroom.
My teaching credentials are being updated and issued and hopefully, I will have the paperwork in the next 2-4 weeks. This is nearly 7 months ahead of when I thought this would be taking place. I am one semester from completing my ASD certificate--just one more class. While I thought this would be my last year of school, my employer is requiring me to complete ESOL certification as well as Florida has a high percentage of non-English or English as a 2nd language speakers. Another 5 classes.
This semester, I am also taking 5 classes in autism and ESE to continue to meet my highly qualified status and to complete my requirements needed for all my certificates. By the next school year, I will hold about 5 teaching certificates--6 at the conclusion of my ESOL.
I am very excited about the new job and the overwhelming feeling that everything is falling in place. I am much at peace about where I am headed. I am praying today that God will give me abilities to meet expectations and to best serve my students. I do not merely want to get by and survive the remainder of the school year, but I want to do great things for the students that I serve.
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