Positive News That Made My Day!

Today I received some positive news from work. Since coming back from the Christmas Break, I have been wearing a tie to work every day. I have also been working really hard to avoid letting myself getting distracted by student comments in class. I took some of our textbooks home over the break as well and studied up a little more on areas I feel weak in.

Apparently my attempts to improve myself have worked. Some of my students were talking in the halls during a break and they were overheard by my supervisor, the Program Director. The students were saying, "Something must have happened to Mr. E. over the break. He's wearing a tie and teaching so much better than he was before. He's not even talking to much." This impressed my boss and she came to tell me that even she has noticed a change in me since coming back from the break.

She told me that I was doing a good job before the break, but she can see a definite change of attitude and it is showing in an even better work performance. Cool!

Just to let you know exactly what I do for a living...I work for Kilgore College at the Longview, TX campus. I am the Lead Teacher/Coordinator of the Adult Basic Education (ABE) Program. I teach the upper level GED Preparation Classes (Math, Reading, Science, Social Studies, Language Arts and Essay Writing). I am also responsible for the entire ABE Program in the absence of the above mentioned Program Director. Our program also helps adult students, who may have been out of education for a while, prepare to take college entrance exams and refresh their basic learning skills. Our program also teaches English as a Second Language (ESL) classes to people wanting to learn to speak English, and Citizenship classes to people who are in the process of becoming U.S. Citizens.

I have been doing this since August of last year and I really love this job (even though I took a fairly substantial pay cut by leaving the public schools). I actually get to have intelligent conversations about topics in class, rather than get the "DUH!" look from the 8th & 6th Graders I taught in public schools.