All I know how to do everyday is to get up and go to school.
First as a child in grades k-12, then as an adult for two bachelor degrees and then without skipping a beat, back into middle school as a teacher. I can’t visualize a life where I’m not going to school everyday in some context.
As a child, being a teacher is the only career that I could see myself enjoying. So I spent 12 years teaching math to grades 7-9.
I enjoyed teaching math, but wasn’t passionate about math. I was, however, passionate about teaching and connecting with students, building relationships with students, and guiding them to success.
This March, about a week before my school closed due to the global pandemic, I was offered one of the PE positions at my school. I felt like I had won the lottery by being offered this position. My passion has always been athletics & health/wellness. In my free time, all I do is train for athletic endeavors whether it’s marathons, ironmans, or CrossFit. I couldn’t believe I could finally combine my two passions of working with students with physical activity while still working in a school setting after teaching math for over a decade.
I’m about to start my first year as a PE teacher 100% remote. This is not how I envisioned my first year teaching PE. There are many unknowns of how exactly this will look and how much student engagement will receive. My plan is to continue to teach by building relationships first and then teaching the content. The connection with students is the most integral part of learning and as a teacher that is my first priority. Things will be different this year for sure, but my dedication to my students and my passion for health/wellness has never been stronger.
