Food for Thought

No matter what the situation is or what you do in life, I believe collaboration is key to grow as a professional and truly become professional. As a teacher, it is one of the most essential things to be. Not only do you want to teach your children to be collaborative but you yourself must be collaborative with your peers. I ask the other teachers around my school what they would do in certain situations, what methods have been really working for them, or just what they are doing in the class lately every single day. It's not me "cheating" or trying to steal something from someone, its me trying to become better at my craft or even just make a connection across the curriculum. Its not just in the education field, collaboration needs to be consistent across our society. When you limit your mind and abilities to one person, you are doing a disservice to your potential as a professional and a human of society. Open your mind, learn about things you never though

This year has been really eye opening to me for the troubles and hardships English Language Learners need to go through in their education experiences. I was starting to learn the last two years while attending Molloy for their amazing TESOL program, but when I began my first year at West Hempstead Schools I got a first hand experience myself. I have six students who are listed as ELLs, but there are many who flirt with that borderline. The first thing I noticed is the obvious academic gap there is. They have no choice but to struggle in a general education track, even with the added resources they get. All my ELLs have iPads or chrome books and student resource rooms during the day. It is not enough. These students struggle in class because they call behind, they become disengaged due to these struggles, and end up almost giving up during class. I always go out of my way to create adaptations and make sure they are up to date, but I know not all of their other teachers do that.

As I finish up second semester of teaching ever, I feel its time to self reflect about the things that have gone better then expected, things that have gone worse than expected, and things I never thought Id have to worry about. To start, a few things I was thinking was going to be challenging as a first year teacher has seemed to be easier than realized. I thought the actual "teaching" was going to be hard for me. Planning every day, being in front of children I don't know. Surprisingly, I have discovered that teaching is the "easy" part of this job. I say easy with a grain of salt because its not easy everyday. But, its the thing I love to do! And it comes easier than some of the other things that have puzzled me. One thing that is harder than I thought it would be is the time management. Time management to lesson plan, grade papers, go to professional development courses, and go to my graduate classes at night. I knew it was going to be tough, but no

When do you wake up in the morning? I watched a video about one of the worlds most famous crossfit coaches the other day, Ben Bergeron. One thing he consistently stressed was the importance of "Winning The Morning". I was intrigued by this idea and decided Id adopt it. Since waking up earlier, I find myself much more productive without any increase in any extra effort. I wake up in the morning at 530am every single week day and 6 am on the weekends. During the week, 530 isn't much earlier than I was already waking up. Waking up at this time allows me to get breakfast in and get to work 55 minutes early every day. This 55 minutes allows me to prep for my day of teaching and set up some things I might need for my evening classes at Molloy. The real difference I feel now is on the weekends. I use to wake up around 9 in the morning and go to the gym at 10am. I am now at the gym working out by 630am on the weekends. At around 10am, I am home with my fitness done for the

Isaac Newton 's first law of motion is roughly stated, "An object in motion stays in motion and an object at rest stays at rest.". I once jokingly said that to one of my kids I train in strength and conditioning, but now I believe it to be true with not only the laws of physics. Since I was about 14, I have been in love with the process of fitness. Between all the sports I played in high school and college, and even to this day competing in Crossfit and training kids, it has been and always will be part of my life. It is more than just physical health to me. It is the way I decompress from my hectic schedule and any kind of free time I get, I usually put into fitness. So, for me it has been helping me be sane , healthy, and happy. I now also try to give that love of fitness to others that are looking for that type of direction. Daily fitness doesn't have to be hours in the gym or with a personal trainer. Fitness is anything active that can clear the mind,