As I've mentioned before I am an elementary school teacher full time. I teach 3rd grade, that lovely grade when all of the chaotic state testing begins. I love the age of the kids; the independence, their humor, and for the most part they are still pretty sweet and tell you they love you :) The part that I dislike the most is the testing. While I get stressed out with all of the pressure that is on me for my students to perform and meet our AYP goals, the students and parents are extremely stressed out too.
On May 15, my little sweet 3rd graders will take their first EOG test (prayers in advance are very appreciated). Until that day, we are prepping and practicing for those 3 days of testing. After the initial days of testing and we receive our scores back, and then we will begin remediating the students that did not pass so they may retake the test(s). So with that being said, that will be my BIG focus pretty much through the end of May. In addition to my teaching duties, I have sessions scheduled for the month of May.
I feel right now is a perfect time to thank everyone that has contributed in making my business the success that it has become and the growth that I've continued to notice. I'm so critical of my own work and I'm always striving to do better. I believe my work is "good", but not what I would like for it to be. I guess that's the teacher in me; I'm constantly trying to find ways to improve my work.
One thing I've come to realize is that in order to be a better person, wife, mother, photographer, teacher...is to continue to learn. I've had to learn to eat crow as a mother. I remember in my pre-mommy days I would say, "when I have kids I will not do that"....haha now I would like to have a dollar for each thing I said I wouldn't do that I actually had to do. I've also learned in my career as a teacher and a photographer, it's ok to ask for help. My style of learning is kinesthetic (I learn by doing). I remember when my brother and I were going through school, I would get so frustrated because my brother could just listen to directions and could automatically know what to do. Not in my case! I then and to this day need to watch someone demonstrate the task at hand. When I was younger I felt that made me stupid and appear weak. As I've become older and wiser I know that it doesn't matter "how" you learn, but that in the end you gained the same knowledge but just in a different way. So I guess what I'm trying to get at is that I'm "learning" to find positive things within myself and what I do. Embrace who you are and your differences are what make you special!
Below I wanted to share some recent photos of my precious girl that will be 9 MONTHS on Monday. Addie is one of the happiest babies I ever been around. I know that sounds partial because she is mine, but I hear that from a lot of people too. I love that little girl so much to the point that I think I could just burst with joy! I hope you enjoy the pictures :)
