“As a second year teacher, I wish I could say it is easier, but it’s not. It is a whole new set of challenges, but it is also a whole new set of accomplishments and joys. It is definitely a learning process and I am nowhere near close to being a veteran teacher or where I feel super comfortable with what I teach and what I do. Some parts have come easier, I know the ropes a little bit more. While other things I still haven’t experienced and I have these moments where I feel like I am a first year teacher again.

“The eleventh graders are my first class that I will have for two consecutive years and there are a lot of sad feelings as the year comes to a close. I have bonded with y’all. I did with the twelfth graders, but I only had them for one year. There is something very special about that first class. I mean there is something special about the tenth graders this year and the twelfth graders because y’all are all so different. It is kind of amazing, but I am definitely going to cry when y’all go up to twelfth grade. It is going to be rough letting y’all go and only seeing y’all pass by and not in my class anymore. I am going to be really sad.

“I feel like everyday’s an adventure, but in a way it’s a good thing because y’all keep me on my toes. I feel like it is preparing me for parenthood even though y’all are teens because things come out of your mouths that aren’t bad. They are just things I wouldn’t have suspected. Things where I jerk my head at and I am like ‘I don’t really know how to respond to that.’ I have definitely had moments where I am not sure how to handle it. I think it is harder as a teacher because I have had wild moments as a student, like barking teacher or dragon lady who has slapped me. As a teacher I am the adult, I have to control the situation. So how I handle it dictates how others will handle it in the class.”