NerdyTeacherMom

Source: http://wifflegif.com/ This week, McGraw-Hill Education posted my guest blog,  Feeling Like a Fraud as a Teacher:  Reconciling with Your Abilities and Gaining Confidence in Your Own Teaching . In the blog, I disclosed some of my insecurities as a Spanish teacher and shared how I overcame them. On today, the first day of school for teachers, my confidence was hilariously put to the test. Our school's new Spanish teacher lived in Japan for seven years. When a colleague introduced him another teacher who speaks English, Spanish and Japanese (yes, we have kick-butt teachers at our school!), the new teacher greeted her in Spanish, then started going! I'd been anxious to hear the new teacher's Chilean accent, but my mouth dropped when he started speaking. In my head I was thinking: Oh, crap! I can't understand a thing he's saying! This is NOT going to go well for me! Turns out he was speaking Japanese!   Whew! Who knew Japanese could sound anything li

Despite the endless amount of energy and worrying that we pour into our children, we still have moments when we feel absolutely powerless. Or maybe I should speak for myself: I have moments when I feel powerless. For example, I feel like I'm constantly fighting to impress upon them the importance of screen-free time. And I don't feel like I'm winning that fight. Yes, I can snatch a cell phone or turn off the WiFi. But a big part of me wants my children to want to experience life outside of their devices. I want them to enjoy reading books and magazines, going outside and finding something to do, playing board games and doing other creative activities. Bullying is another area that has stripped many parents of their power. I heard a mom friend recently express that seeing your child hurting and knowing you can't do anything about it is the worst feeling in the world. My third biggest day-to-day worry is totally out of my control: the state of our country and world.