After one year of trying to convince myself that I was a psychology major, I left school and would travel and live in several states before finally, in 2005 I came back to this small rural country town. By this time I had earned a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences and a Master of Science in Middle Grades Education with certifications in Social Studies and English Language Arts Communications. I had completed my student teaching experience at a junior high academy outside of Seattle, WA, which convinced me that whatever my old town had to throw at me, I could handle it with no problem. I had three children and I didn't feel like the naïve rookie that middle school students could chew up and spit out. * Since then, I've completed my Ed.S. in Instructional Leadership with Supervisor of Instruction certification.
Right here and now, I admit that most days of my first year of teaching, I went home in tears or near there. What have I gotten myself in to??? I loved everything about my experiences in education and teaching. Despite the endless classes and seminars, the hours & hours of work, reading & writing, the stress of the multiple tests that held that fate of my career - and all of the student loan debt that's goes with it - worth it.
Fortunately, I had great teachers around me with the wisdom and experience to push me through each day of that first year. More importantly, they helped me come back each day of that first year to grow, learn, fail, relearn, cry, and yes, sometimes, smile and succeed.
One divorce, three children (finally all over 18 years), a new start with a wonderful husband and his family, a perfect-in-every-way grandson & five granddaughters that I can not wait to see, and a hopeful belief that my dad would have been proud of all I've accomplished and worked for...I write this today, half way through my 13th year of middle school teaching.
There are teachers with double and almost triple that many years under their belt. My hat is off to all of you. You paved the path in so many ways for all of us that came after you. And I hope that we pay it forward in being as determined and strong as the generations of teachers who came before us.
One of my favorite quotes is Benjamin Franklin's words of wisdom and advice to his fellow Founding Fathers, "If we don't hang together, we will surely hang separately."
There is much at stake for teachers - the students who pass through our classrooms day in day out, year after year. For some, we will be a memory that someone will never forget. We must make that the best it can be. One way we can do that as colleagues and friends is to definitely hang together in this profession that is and must be a true calling to survive it. This blog is one way to pay something back - all that those teachers gave me my first year and every teacher since then. I hope that anyone who visits this blog feels welcome enough to share, communicate, comment, and follow along as, Mrs. Brumfield Writes.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Brumfield
2017
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