Top Ten Moments of My Four Years Teaching:

I am just about to leave from my four years of teaching Spanish at North Iowa to pursue a new career of working at a Non-profit in Cedar Falls, Iowa.  I am very excited for this move, but I am also sad to leave.  There are definitely going to be people and moments that I am going to miss.  I am definitely going to miss the students.  There have been a few that I have really grown close to over the years.  Because of the move, I am spending time reflecting on some of my best moments from my teaching career at North Iowa.  I have created a top ten list of my most treasured moments at North Iowa School District, and here they are:

10.All of my Spanish classes as part of their curriculum work through a site called, “Señor Wooly.” This is a music based program, where the students learn songs through various exercises and videos.  These songs are in Spanish, and they help the students get a grasp on the Spanish language.  While some of my students are not huge fans of these activities, there are some who really enjoy them.  One of my classes in particular who really enjoys Señor Wooly is my Spanish III and IV students.  There were two days throughout this last semester we dedicated in class to watching every single one of the Señor Wooly song videos.  It was such a treat.  We laughed a lot at the different videos and then I let them pick which song was their favorite.  It was interesting to see the variety of choices in their favorite songs. 

9.There have been celebrations I have been able to have with my classes and my students.   One time, I had students in both of my Spanish II sections have no missing homework.  This is actually a very hard thing to do, believe it or not, for my non-teaching friends.  There are usually at least a few missing assignments per student.  To have all my students have no work missing, hardly ever happens.  Because of this, I decided to give them a pizza party.  It was a very nice thing to see how excited they were about their accomplishment and achievement in my class, plus how excited they were to be able to have some pizza as a class.

8.Field trips are always fun to do with students.  I always enjoyed doing field trips as a student myself, so it is a good opportunity to provide that time for students.  While planning and chaperoning a field trip can be stressful, it is also the events you know that your students will really remember.  For the past two years, I have gotten to be the second chaperone to the Top of Iowa Conference art show.  This art show is not my field trip, but I have gotten to help my friend who is the Art teacher out.  I loved it because I was able to see the different pieces of art my students created as well as see the other creativity from students all around our district.  Plus, I got to see them win awards for their art, and learn a few tips from professional artists.  I have always appreciated artistic abilities, so it is wonderful to get to learn from some of the best in our area.  

7.I always enjoyed teaching my Spanish IV and sometimes Spanish III students how to make pinatas.  It was always a fun project, and I personally really enjoy making piñatas.  This past year I taught both my Spanish III and IV students how to make piñatas, and it was a really fun time.  I loved watching how hard my students worked on these projects.  I was so proud of them.  In fact, one of them included his piñata in that Top of Iowa art show and he did receive an honorable mention at the event.  This was another reason I really enjoyed going to the art show this past year.  I was able to see one of my student’s projects from my class.  

6.I really like to go and support my students in the different activities that they are a part of at the school, whether this be volleyball, basketball, track, football, cross country (the best) and fine arts.  I really liked the game my first year of teaching where the boys played till the third overtime.  We ended up winning, but it was very stressful.  I had been sitting by Mr. Potter, the high school social studies teacher, most of the time, and we were both enjoying watching this very close game.  I felt really a part of the community in that first year that night.   Not every game, especially not every game I have watched over my years has resulted in victory, but I am glad that this nailbiter of a game did result in a win. 

5.I have been a chaperone at prom for the past three years because I really enjoy it, but the year I enjoyed the most was the one I first chaperoned at.  There were a few of my friends who were chaperoning with me, and so we were able to chat and laugh a lot.  Two of my guy friends, Nate and Garrett were dishing out the sodas at the old-fashioned soda fountain that was set up at the prom.  They even dressed the part.  My other friend, Rylie and I enjoyed time chatting and helping out with cake and serving the students attending the prom.  It was really fun when the song, Cotton Eye Joe came on and Rylie and I both danced along with the students.  

4.For the past four years of homecoming festivities, there are various competitions the students compete in throughout the day.  There are actually two with one being a he-man volleyball tournament between each of the grades.  The boys from each class battle it out to see who He-man champions will be.  I love to watch the guys figure out how to play volleyball.  It is a sight, that is for sure.  They usually can make some impressive hits and saves, but it is also like they are floundering after each ball because they don’t know what to do.  However, the best part of this whole day is when the teacher staff play volleyball against the champion He-Man volleyball team.  The year of 2021, I remember being a particularly good and funny year.  (Also, I was really on my A-game that day-I mean the teachers still lost, but I was playing some of my best volleyball).  It was a really fun time.  I love playing volleyball, so any excuse to spend time doing that with the kids is a treasure.  

3.In my second year of teaching, I had an interesting 7th hour class.  They were really just a group of characters.  There wasn’t a single person who was too much like the others.  I had this class when the game, Among Us, was pretty popular.  I decided to get the app and there were a few days when we got done early with all our classwork, then we would play the game together.  It was such a fun experience to do with them.  It sounds simple, but I also know that this is the way that teachers best build relationships with their students.  It is a way to have fun and be silly but still getting to know my students and letting them know that I cared about them.  Being a teacher is about teaching content, but it is also about getting to know students and building lasting relationships.   

2.I love having my students go down to the elementary rooms to give lessons.  It is one of my favorite things as a Spanish teacher.  I love giving my students the opportunity to teach other kids about Spanish. I have done this every year, but I do have to say that I was very impressed with my Spanish II class this last year.  There are a lot of boys who are in the 10th grade who worked really hard and well with the young kids.  Those boys sometimes made poorer choices when it came to being appropriate when they were in school, so it was nice to see them take this particular project seriously.  

1.The girls’ team made it to state cross country in the fall of 2022.  That was such a memorable moment.  I was so happy to watch them compete.  I was so excited to have people come up to me and tell me congratulations for them.  I was so excited because I knew that they had worked so hard, and they really had earned this spot.  Really the whole season was a good one.  It was unexpected.  I knew that we were going to have a talented team.  We were going to have some good times achieved this year.  However, I had no idea how successful we could be at the beginning of the season.  It was so awesome to see the girls start winning or getting second, only to big teams.  It was also really fun to have other teams start to recognize us.  It was exhilarating to have other coaches come up to me, and say, “Your girls are doing good, huh.”  The district meet was no exception.  I will never forget that there was one coach who walked up to me and jokingly said, “I thought we agreed that the North Iowa girls weren’t going to be coming.  It’s going to threaten our chances of making it to state.”  I, smiling, said, no, we wouldn’t miss this race for the world.  

The actual state meet was good too.  I really enjoyed how many people came from our school to support, and I loved that my mom was there with her boys team and one girl, while we were there with our one boy and girls team.  Cheering on the team and everyone feeling their complete pride in their school was a memorable experience.  

The Lord has given me four beautiful years.  I have learned so much, and I have grown as a person.  I’m glad he has put me in the spot that he did for the past four years.  This is also a good reminder for me to be grateful to God for the experiences he has given me.  I am so happy he has chosen to bless me.  I can now only pray for him to be with me in my future career.