teacher

What are we looking at here

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It’s stability, reassurance, and clarification.

I bought my own home a little over a year now. My sister had helped me move in. We wiped out the cabinets, did some organizing, rearranging. But at one point she asked me, “why don’t we put the contact paper down now before you put the cups and dishes away?” I said, “no, I’ll get to it at another time, it’s no big deal.” She looked at me a little perplexed and I myself had feelings of uneasiness and uncertainty about doing it.”

For the past 13 years of my life, I have spent it on the go and trying to make a stable life for me and my boys. To make a long story short, I went through an exhausting and heartbreaking divorce, a house fire, two horrifice relationships after my divorce. Which yes it was my bad for trying to get the life I wanted for them and me. I just wanted the “white picket fence.” But I lived and I learned.

Which brings me to what this post is all about. After going through this for the past 13 years, my hopes and dreams finally came to fruition. I can rest. I can put my dishes and cups away without having to worry about what my next move is going to be. I am settled. I am in a better state of mind and place, physically. I’m not saying that my life won’t still have its ups and downs, but I can take those challenges head on and not have to worry about uprooting my whole life to try and make a go of it again.

I am here, grounded and safe.

That is all I ever wanted in life.

Whoever is reading this, never give up. Stay positive, have a purpose and a goal in mind. Never waver from your hopes and dreams, even in your lowest moments, when life feels at its most unforgiving. Please trust me on this.

When Students Slip Through the Cracks

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There are many teachings and expectations in education that I struggle to fully wrap my head around. Education is supposed to be a systematic, regulated structure formats, frameworks, and standards we are expected to follow. Yet the reality is, not everything fits neatly into those boxes, and not every student does either.

I am a special education teacher in an alternative education school. Our school serves students from ten surrounding districts within our county. We work with students in grades 7 through 12, and the classified disabilities we support include emotional disturbance, learning disabilities, other health impairments (OHI), Tourette’s syndrome, and others.

Our special education classrooms are structured as 8:1:1, while our general education classes can include up to twelve students. We serve students with high-incidence disabilities in one program and students with low-incidence or more severe disabilities in another, based on instructional and support needs. These decisions are not arbitrary they are intentional, because the needs are real and complex.

Every facet of education matters. Curriculum matters. Standards matter. Data matters. But what matters just as much are the students sitting in those classrooms students who come in carrying trauma, instability, frustration, and often a long history of feeling misunderstood or dismissed.

And this is the part that weighs heavy.

If we, as educators, do not do a thorough job if we allow these students to slip through the cracks of the education system the impact does not end at graduation or aging out. These are the same students who are eventually sent out into the real world without the tools, coping skills, or supports they needed all along. The struggle doesn’t disappear; it just shifts. And when it does, it affects all of society.

Education is not just about passing classes or checking off requirements. For many of these students, school is the last structured support system they will have. It is where they learn how to regulate emotions, resolve conflict, communicate, and survive in a world that often isn’t built for them.

The Quiet Permission to Let Go

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If you think about it, winter forces stillness. It’s something we have no control over, it simply is. The snow softens everything around us. It hides the letting go of the temporary, vibrant life we’re given in the spring and throughout the summer. But even this form of life gets tired. It grows weary of the heat, the wind, and the rainstorms.

The same goes for people. We get tired of the challenges life puts us through. The difference is, we can break those cycles. We have the ability to shelter ourselves from what damages us.

Protect yourself, and let go of the things, and the people that do you no justice. When you feel worn down or cornered, remember to protect yourself and your peace.

Invest in You

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Invest in yourself. Hold yourself accountable to yourself. You are responsible for your health, mentally and physically. You are responsible for your peace of mind.

Be mindful, be courteous, be strong, and protect your heart, mind, and body.

Invest in what you have left and take care of you.