I'm very excited that today we began work on our first StudyCast of the year. There are a few revamps to them this year that I am particularly excited about. I think it is going to be better organized and I think it is going to be fun. Our first try of the year is *hopefully* on Friday! Stay tuned...

Book: The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

During our discussion of our classroom on our first day, we read this book to talk about giving compliments to other people. When someone does a good turn, we can write on a leaf that will be added to our Giving Tree. Over the year, the once bare tree will fill up with compliments.

Wow. What a great bunch of kids. I am so excited about this year. I've had a summer full of anticipation, filled with people absolutely gushing about the students I was going to have. Now, I've finally met them, and they are wonderful.

We spent most of the day discussing our routines, and I think they will pick them up quickly. I'm glad that is over. We're going to be able to move on to some real learning tomorrow, and I think it will be a relief.

I'd forgotten how standing all day is so tiring. I'm going to have to get back into the swing of that!

Okay, so I've said that I feel like I'm learning a lot about my profession, but there's a rub: Peter Senger states it best by saying "to practice a discipline is to be a lifelong learner. You 'never arrive.' The more you learn, the more acutely aware you become of your ignorance." That's frustrating.

The ignorance part is not so frustrating. I wholeheartedly admit that I am no expert. I can spout names and philosophies. My rub is that acute awareness I think is heightened.

I've been reading. A lot. And I have been reading a lot about being a teacher. I have a LOT of questions I want answered.

I absolutely love and hate at the same time the ease of purchasing books from the Kindle store. One click, and that's it. In fact, that's what Amazon calls it: 1-click purchase. With my Kindle, I can read on my phone, my iPad, my computer. My principal is THREATENING to get us Kindles. That may just make it worse. That said, I feel like those burning questions that I have about how to be a better teacher are literally at my fingertips.

What I have run into is this exact facet that Senger is saying. Some of the topics I have tried to learn more about simply do not have a right and wrong. The idea is that there will always be more ways to approach an issue. But my goal is to become a better teacher, and if there is no right or wrong way to approach the issue, how do I align myself? It is frustrating because there have been many instances that I can honestly say I FEEL are the right view or philosophy.

I am aware that I don't necessarily know the answer. But for those cases that there AREN'T answers, it is hard to cope with.

I think this has to be a big change professionals have to undergo. I can't believe it has taken me this long to REALLY notice it. It's like a slap in the face right now. As Senger implies, does anybody that really tries to be a learner go through this realization? If so, at the risk of sounding arrogant, I think I'm a bit offended that it took me this long to get to this point. However, I think the converse of this may also be true; I don't know. I'm still a novice in the teaching field, and is this a change of view from the naive and fresh-meat outlook that I had leaving college and truly entering the teaching profession.