[Sidebar: Thanks for that headline opportunity, Drake. I sincerely hope that this is the last time I will ever be grateful to Aubrey Graham... for anything. Meh-- stranger things have happened.]
This was the classroom that I inhabited for two very informative, profoundly life-changing years.
I was surprised by the lack of emotion I felt upon closing my classroom door. Perhaps, it was because I'm not closing the door to my connection to the campus, my colleagues and students: a recognition of the fact that my experiences at my Atlanta school are inextricable from my pursuits outside of the classroom.
As I stripped down the many artifacts adorning those cinderblock walls, I couldn't help but beat myself up over how much I hadn't done with and for my students.
How I didn't convince them of the beauty that I see in Mathematics.
How I could've better demonstrated how often we use algebra in our lives.
How, developmentally, we needed to get past calling on the teacher when someone has 'stolen' your pencil.
How I left some students right where there were when I met them...
[//More after the jump]
This was the classroom that I inhabited for two very informative, profoundly life-changing years.
I was surprised by the lack of emotion I felt upon closing my classroom door. Perhaps, it was because I'm not closing the door to my connection to the campus, my colleagues and students: a recognition of the fact that my experiences at my Atlanta school are inextricable from my pursuits outside of the classroom.
As I stripped down the many artifacts adorning those cinderblock walls, I couldn't help but beat myself up over how much I hadn't done with and for my students.
How I didn't convince them of the beauty that I see in Mathematics.
How I could've better demonstrated how often we use algebra in our lives.
How, developmentally, we needed to get past calling on the teacher when someone has 'stolen' your pencil.
How I left some students right where there were when I met them...
[//More after the jump]
Reflective.
I am reflective: keenly self-aware and painfully so. Although I believe myself to be of ample intellectual ability, I am still reluctant to enjoy the positive aspects of my success in lieu of what I consider to be glaring indicators of my incompetence. My mind's predilection for nitpicking at my work, exacerbating the extent of flaws and flagellating myself for missed opportunities is insatiable. In some ways, it can be a hinderance to my development. Interestingly enough, it also happens to make me a strong strategist, an anticipatory planner. It also means that I constantly strive to improve myself: my work is never done.
"She spent her life happily unearthing every miserable flaw that she possessed." -- that's what my headstone will read. (I jest.)
(Kind of.)
I can't promise that all--or any--of my posts will be cheery, inspiring or uplifting. I can promise, though, that they will be honest. They will be a representation of the only thing that I have 100% control over.
Myself.
I am reflective: keenly self-aware and painfully so. Although I believe myself to be of ample intellectual ability, I am still reluctant to enjoy the positive aspects of my success in lieu of what I consider to be glaring indicators of my incompetence. My mind's predilection for nitpicking at my work, exacerbating the extent of flaws and flagellating myself for missed opportunities is insatiable. In some ways, it can be a hinderance to my development. Interestingly enough, it also happens to make me a strong strategist, an anticipatory planner. It also means that I constantly strive to improve myself: my work is never done.
"She spent her life happily unearthing every miserable flaw that she possessed." -- that's what my headstone will read. (I jest.)
(Kind of.)
I can't promise that all--or any--of my posts will be cheery, inspiring or uplifting. I can promise, though, that they will be honest. They will be a representation of the only thing that I have 100% control over.
Myself.