Welcome to my BLOG!

Hiiiiiii Everyone! 

Welcome to my blog! My name is Lauren and I live in Illinois.  This is my first blog post on my VERY first blog! I am trying this out and seeing if I can keep up with posting things about my classroom and a teacher's life, while still maintaining my classroom and personal life... Which could be a challenge within itself!

A couple things about me.... 
1. I love the color pink
2. I love teaching and making a difference
3. I love to bake and eat cupcakes

I teach in a K-5 building and I currently teach 5th grade Sheltered. For those of you who are not familiar, that means my students have attended classes in a bilingual classroom, (Spanish where I teach) and I am their transition year to support their English by using strategies known to help ELL students.  

How many of you have heard something that goes like this? 

"Oh, you're "just" a teacher?"
Or, "Your job is easy, you have the summers off." 
Or, "Teachers get paid enough considering they only work 9 months out of the year." 
(If you have heard more, please post them below so we can continue to defend what it is we really do)

Since I teach in an area with many challenges, I often feel like I am making a difference in my students' lives.  My students face issues that I never faced in my childhood, or even adult life. It is often heartbreaking to hear their stories and concerns. Whether it's financial issues, abuse, addictions in the family, or just the fear of not knowing what's going to happen, I find that I am teaching much more than Language Arts and Math and am more than "JUST" a teacher. 

What I hope to share through this blog is how much more we all do than "just" teach.  I spend weeknights, weekends, summers, holidays, and "days off" working on things for my classroom or for a student. I attend birthday parties, first communions, soccer games, bowling tournaments, and family get-togethers to build relationships and form communication between my students, their parents, and myself. Many teachers do these same things. We aren't "just" teachers.  We are teachers, friends, role models, big sisters and brothers, counselors, social workers, coaches, leaders, nurses, party planners, interior decorators, bankers, librarians, and soooooooo much more! All of those jobs are important, and help us to create the best environment for our students. 

When I share with people what issues I deal with, and what I do for my students, I hope people learn to understand that we make a difference each and every day. We may never be able to empathize with what our kids have to deal with, but we can be there for them in every way possible.  We can give them hope, support, and the love they need to get through the tough times.  Teachers give these things through exciting lessons, lunch bunches, heart to heart talks, strong expectations, rules and consequences, laughs, hugs, and smiles. We aren't "JUST" teachers. Teachers have many jobs titles, sometimes we get called mom or sometimes, yes, I've even been called dad! 

What other job titles do you hold in addition to being a teacher? What makes you more than "JUST" a teacher?

I'm not "JUST" a teacher,

Lauren