✏ Teacher Chit Chat #9: A year after I quit working in schools

It's been a little over a year since I stopped working at a school and a lot more than that since my last teacher chit chat update kinda thing so, I guess we'll be doing that today.

I remember when I was working at schools, my bestie (who is also an English teacher among other things) once told me that once she stopped working for schools, she knew she'd never go back. And, even tho I didn't like many things about it, I didn't feel that way until I quit my school job. Now I know I wouldn't go back either. People say you should never say never but at least I know I wouldn't do it unless I really had to or, after a while away from it. Before I continue, I want to say that all my experience has been on private schools, I don't know how things are in public schools.

Let's go back in time a little to tell you how I started teaching, I'll keep it short cuz I've written about it in the past. As some of you might already know, I am a fashion designer but I never really worked as one, it was just not my thing. So, while I was figuring what to do with my life, I took a teaching job at this small kindergarten to do something in the meantime. Honestly, I didn't like teaching and, I didn't like kids, I was not patient but, I liked English so, that seemed to be enough. 

That "temporary job" ended up lasting for years! The pay was really bad but back then I didn't really need much money since I was pretty young and was still living with my parents. There I learned a lot about teaching, became much more patient with kids and actually started to enjoy teaching. It also taught me how toxic working environment and people can be. I can say tho, that most of the parents there were super sweet and nice, which is something I didn't see in my future jobs that much. Towards my last year working there I was in a very low and dark moment in my life, so I started making my life revolve around my teaching job, you can defo see that on my post from that time. I wanted to look as if teaching was my passion and the most important thing in my life, I wanted to sound like a super inspirational teacher or something, LOL. And to be honest? It has never been my passion. Don't get me wrong, I do like it a lot and enjoy what I do, I love my students but, it is a job for me. I know some people say that your job and the things you're passionate about should come togehter; I think whoever gets to do that, is very lucky!

I decided to quit that job, my first official job, but at that point I couldn't stand the environment there and I knew I needed a change. That same year I went to Spain for a couple of months and it felt like a reset in a way. Did it change everything for me? Not really. But I came back more motivated to change things in my life. 

I was lucky enough to find a new teaching job almost right away, this time at a new elementary school I had eyeballed before. The idea of working with older kids was terrifying but a bigger school felt like a good upgrade. At that same time I also started working at a language center, the same one I'm currently working at. And that's when I started having 2 jobs, haha.

I worked there for a couple of years until it got ugly, I had one of the worst bosses there and in a way, indirectly, she pushed me to quit. I met great people there and my cconfidence working with older students grew. Working at the language center helped a lot too cuz I had the chance to start working with teens and even adults, which I liked a lot more. 

Now that I'm writing this, I think I've been very lucky when it comes to finding jobs, cuz as soon as I quit there, the school where my mom was working at needed an English teacher and, I took it. It was only for a couple of months really cuz I joined almost in the middle of the school year. It was a Montessori school, and even if it was for a short period of time, I hated it. Plus they had a lot of money problems, super rude kids and no control... it was bad.

Before that school year ended, the pandemic started and as soon as I was done with Montessori, I started working at this project from another private school to go to different houses and work with small groups during the pandemic so they could take presential clases. It sounds crazy now that I think about it but it went pretty well, it kept me busy and with good money throughout the madness of what was going on. Even tho we did have some special parents, and not everything was nice and easy, I can tell it's one of my favorite working experiences so far. It was exhausting, and I was always running because of my other job but, I really enjoyed it.

After the pandemic, the same people who started that home-school project, decided to open a new school and took me with them, haha. It was a big elementary school, on the other side of the city but, I was excited. The team was a great one, we really worked pretty well together and I especially loved the English team, we had a great coordinator and we all became close. But they had lots of issues with the management, money and payments. After 2 years, I decided to quit because of many reasons, money being one of the main ones.

 I was just no longer motivated, I was tired of always having to give my 1000% but having to put up with delayed payments, sacrificing my free time because they wanted us to work on some weekends, go to this courses with no pay on our vacations or spend hours in a meeting after working hours. And I know training is important but, it wasn't even useful for us English teachers. It was all about giving, giving, giving and not receiving anything in return. Plus some students were super difficult and, so were the parents. We didn't have the support we should've had.

And that was when I just knew I didn't want to work for a school anymore. Quitting was scary this time because I had a house and other responsibilities now but things went pretty well since I kept my teaching job at the language center and started focusing a lot more on it and taking more and more classes. I didn't really talk about the language center that much because I am actually happy there and I wanted to focus this post more on the school part. I can say than my current boss is a great, supportive one. I've known her for years now and she is someone I can actually learn a lot from, I'm happy where I am right now. I get to choose (most) of the groups I wanna work with and I also have time for myself. 

I think after quitting, my stress levels decreased a lot, I was able to start focusing on just 1 teaching job and give my 100% there, I am no longer running all the time and I actually have time for myself since I works from homee a couple of day a week. I'm not expected to work extra hours with no pay and being available 24/7 and, I don't have to put up with toxic bosses and unrealistic expectations from them.

It's funny but, I also feel that I'm not even that worried about money now that I have just one job. I'm motivated again and I enjoy what I do. I realized planning events and festivals for younger kids it's just not my thing anymore. Some people think teaching jobs are easy and well paid, let me tell you it is not true. At least in most cases. It's physically and mentally exhausted and you end up working a lot more than just your "working hours."

But, do I miss something about working at private schools? If I'm completely honest, just the ton of presents I used to receive during Holidays and special days.😜I think quitting was a very good decision that I don't regret making and I don't think that'll change in a while.

This chit chat ended up being way longer than I thought it'd be, sorry about that, sometimes I feel extra chatty. I bet some things are all over the place and I don't even know if I kept the main idea of this post in the end but, thank you if you read til the end, haha.

I'll see you next time~!💋

Teacher's Day Pressies 2024

Awkward teacher pic because I couldn't think of anything more teacher-ish than this~ hehe.

 Last time I wrote a Teacher's Day pressies post was 2 years ago. Two years!! Don't really know why tho but, we're back at it because I just love to make these kind of posts for some reason.

Teacher's day was on May 15th, that day I only had a couple online classes and had a nice brunch with some of my coworkers. Some pressies started arriving a day before and others after the actual date. That was partly why it took me a while to put this post together.

Food was delish!

Anyway, let me show you my pressies this year. These are in no particular order.

How cute is this Pusheen Mason jar? I love the little straw decor. The jar had some gummies inside and came with a set of sticky notes.

My boss gave us personalized notebooks.

Stainless steel flower earrings with some spicy gummies.

A pencil lip balm. I think I'll keep this one in my classroom, it'd be the perfect place to use it, hehe.

Handmade peony flower candle. It is really, really pretty and smells great! I'm not sure if I'll ever light it, I'd feel bad!The candle is from iluminatamx.

I also received some candy (that I already ate), a pen that says "Believe in your dreams" and a bracelet.

I love chocolate so this one made me really happy! I want to display the can on my coffee station but, I don't know exactly what to use it for yet. It's too pretty!

These caramel empanadas were made by one of my students (at least that what she said), and they were delish!!

Cute bear candle. Sadly it got slightly damaged because of the heat in the car on my way back home.

New pencil case!

Bath and Body Works soap. It smells delicious.

Maki Home Ceramic cup, this was a pressie from my English coordinator. she's the sweetest.

And that is that guys, the pressies I received this year along with lots of hugs and sweet messages from my students.

Back to school pressies!

My Summer break is officially coming to an end. It always feels like it's just not long enough hehe. These past few weeks I've had some meetings and trainings so, it's been exhausting! 

I wanted to share this with you because I think it was such a sweet detail and, it made my day.

I don't think I've talked about this in here but, I love my English coordinator. I started working with her last year and she's just great, she's a great guide and support and and you just learn a lot from her. To welcome us to the new school year, she prepared this type of basket (more like a tray) full of goodies for all the english teachers. I didn't check what the others received but, I really liked what she gave me. She didn't only include things we could use at work but also personal, cute things.

This is the basket she gave us last year. I didn't share it here but it had some tea, hand cream, stationery and other goodies.

This year my basket was super personalized, everything is pink! Hehe. She told me she picked the items thinking about the things I'd like.

Let's take a look at the goodies!

This is how the tray looked when I received it.

Flor de la paz chamomile tea. It is an organic tea and it's perfect for a very needed relaxing afternoon. Especially with this rainy weather.

She chose strawberry Tic Tac for me because, they were pink, haha. But, they are also my favs.

"Pink Paradise" Sensa Zen Dreams body mist. It's a sweet but floral scent with great durability.

For stationery, I recevied a pink Sharpie, cute paper clips and post it labels.

She also included some cute accessories!

This is defo one of my fav items here, a vitamin E Moist Lip Plump by Saniye.

Harajuku Lovers Lil' Angel mini perfume. It smells delish and it has the cutest size! Perfect to carry around with you.

Mini hand sanitizer wipes. They are always very helpful.

Bailey's chocolate and a cute badge that says: "The future is now"

And of course, the bin/tray thingy. It's a plastic pink one. I'm sure I'll use it for some organization around the house.

And there you have it guys, my back to schoo pressie. My brain is not ready to fully go back to work yet but, I don't have another choice, hehe. Someone's gotta pay those bills. 

See you next time~! ♡

Teacher's Day Pressies

It's been a couple of years since I last posted a Teacher's Day pressies post... maybe it was because of the pandemic. I really don't know but I enjoy making this type of posts so, we're gonna do it this year!!

Teacher's Day was on the 15th, but since it was a Sunday, most of the pressies arrived the following week. And, I didn't have time to put this blog together until now. Life's been kinda super busy lately.We had a lunch reunion at work to celebrate and a long weekend after that. (I still had to work tho). May has been full of long weekends and days off and I never had the chance to enjoy them cuz of my work~ Oh well, adult life is hard sometimes... :')

Anyway, here are the pressies I received this year:

Baby succulent plant! It was the first gift I recieve at the Teacher's day reunion. I hope it survives, hehe. I like how simple, yet pretty the pot is.

I got chocolate with some of my pressies. ♡ 

I also received a cute makeup bag with a floral print and a very colorful gel pen. The makeup bag could also work as a pencil case. 

The We Bare Bears pouch is actually a manicure set which I thought was a cute and not-so-common gift. It's cool cuz I didn't have one. And Panda is my fav bear out of the 3. 

I think receiving personalized mugs is a yearly tradition, hehe. Not complaining tho, They are really cute! Both came with some yummies inside!

This phone holder came in perfect timing because I recently changed my phone and they match perfectly! I love the design and colors. Can you tell my students know me too well?

We also have some accessories! A cute golden necklace with matching earrings.

Personalized coffee cups! Both are perfect to bring my coffee to work, hehe. The pink one came with some tea bags and cappuccino inside.

Lastly we have this handmade candle that smells reaaaaally good! It's kind of a cherry lollipop scent.

As always, I'm super thankful for the pressies, the hugs and kind words. I'm so lucky to be able to share what I know with my students and constantly learn from them too.

✏ Teacher Chit Chat #8: My COVID19 Vaccine Story

Not my most glam pic ever but, yeah.

 One of the things most of us have been waiting for this year is the COVID19 vaccine. I know this process has been different depending on the country but over here, they seem to be taking baby steps. Not complaining tho, it's better than doing nothing.  

Last weekend they announced that the vaccination for teachers would start this week and that we all had to register online to get the vaccine. Of course everyone wanted to register and the system wasn't exactly the best one, it was impossible for most of us. 

I do consider myself lucky because my school gave us big support and did their best to get us the vaccine and even tho we had to wait in line for hours, on May 13th, I officially got my vaccine.

Finally getting close!

It it the first time I feel happy, excited and thankful to get a vaccine, ever. It's a big relief. I know how privileged I am and how much we exposed ourselves leaving the house for work for so long. 

The vaccine we got was the Chinese CanSino one, which didn't make me too happy at the beginning because, from what I've read, only has like a 65% rate preventing COVID. They wanted to apply that one because it is only 1 single shot. In the end, it's better than not getting anything at all.

After getting the vaccine, I didn't really feel bad, just weird and with a slight headache. I don't usually get weird reactions with vaccines so I thought it'd be the same with this one. Oh dear, was I wrong...

My headache never went away and around 12:00am I woke up shivering like crazy, I got the worst fever ever and my whole body and skin were aching. I felt like that the whole night so, obviously, I couldn't sleep. Luckily, I didn't have classes the next day so I could recover. I was still feeling really, really bad, and I didn't feel like eating anything. I spent the whole day in bed napping, but I don't think I've felt that bad in a while. A long while.

Funny thing was, I was back to nomal on the next day. No more pain (other than my arm, which is still very sore as I'm typing this) and no more fever.

I know this won't be the same experience for everyone, most of my coworkers didn't have such a hard time with the side effects. But, other than that, I'm very lucky and thankful to say I'm already vaccinated.

So, what's next? I'm not quite sure, all I know is I'll still be very careful and continue with the whole social distance thing, the mask and all that stuff we're so used to now. 

Can't wait for other people I love to get the vaccine too so I can finally give them a big hug.

| September Blogging Challenge | ✏ Teacher Chit Chat #7: Why did I decide to do what I do?

Now that I've been back to work this post feels just right. Most of you already know that my plan wasn't exactly to be a teacher when I was younger. I'm actually a fashion designer who accidentally fell in love with teaching.

And it's funny cuz it all started with me taking a teaching job to "do something" while deciding what I really wanted to do with my life after realizing that fashion design wasn't for me. After that year I decided to continue, and spent many years working in preschool. Somehow I was always a little hesitant to work with older kids until I got a good opportunity and went for it. And gradually I started opening myself to work with different ages, now I work with children, teenagers and adults.

And well, throughout my life I've been trying to find something I'm good at (and I still am) but it wasn't easy for me to step out of my comfort zone and I think that, in a way, teaching helped me to push mysef and do it. Cuz first of all, no day is the same and no student is the same. You have to be in constant innovation and learn to adapt to different situations. It also makes me be more creative and a little more confident. Whenever my students learn somethng from me, be it life or school related, I feel everything I do is worth it. And the cool thing is, they are not the only ones learning, I learn from them too. Even from my youngest.

And well, with time I also discovered that I love to insipre others and share what I know. That is part of why I have this blog too. Cuz if what I share in here can reach at least one person, inspire or help someone, I'll be the happiest. And same thing happens with my students.

But, why did I choose teaching? 

Because even tho it can be exhausting and stressful, it's been the best challenge life has thrown at me. I love what I do and I really enjoy it. There have been times when the classroom was my happy place, it has made me grow professionally and personally and, I don't know, I feel like even tho everyday Mon and Teacher Mon are slightly different people, I can really be myself around my students and that feels great. 

Sorry this post is a little shorter than usual but, I've been crazy busy lately and it's been hard to find time to  sit and write a proper post. 

✏ Teacher chit chat #6: Teaching online

Being totally honest with you guys, I didn't think this situation could last this long but, I've been working from home for 3 months now and I'm not gonna lie, it's being hard.

As much as I enjoy doing what I do, teaching through online platforms has been a challenging experience, first of all, because it is not for everyone. And I don't mean people can't learn online but not everyone has access to online resourses and that is something we didn't take in consideration when we had to plan a new way to teach our students. It is true this whole situation brought out our most creative side, trying to find ways for our students to learn without becoming something flat and boring but all that effort couldn't reach all our the students for many different and personal situations.

Still, we are doing our best.

I don't think of myself as a super creative person, especially when I'm out of my comfort zone. When this thing started I strongly refused to teach stuff through videos and I hated the idea of doing online classes because I thought it'd be awkward, and yeah, it was awkward at the beginning but I ended up enjoying it because it was the only way to keep in touch with my students. Plus, there are so many online tools and resourses you can use to teach now, it's amazing! In the end I've learned a lot and also stepped out of my comfy zone.

It's funny how some people think I have more free time now that I work from home because, it is a lot more work! Especially paperwork. It's not like we didn't plan our lessons before but the amount of work increased. My coworkers agree with me.

The goverment took the decision to end the school year on June 05th. Not every school ended classes that day but our school decided to do it. It was super sudden and we had to rush everything. Sadly, we didn't have a closure ceremony or graduation celebrations. It was sad to say goodbye through a computer, knowing it could be the last time we meet some of our students. We shared happy memories and a couple of tears on our last day~ It couldn't be helped. I hope I get to see my graduates again to give them a big hug.

This pandemic doesn't seem to be getting any better here where I live, it's worrisome to see how some people don't take it seriously.
Working from home could go on for months and months and even tho my adult students seem to be coping with it just fine, I don't think it'll be the same case for children.

It's uncertain what will happen, I'm really keeping my fingers crossed, hoping we will be able to go back when it's planned.
Of course it won't be the same, and of course we will have to continue finding new ways to work but, I've realized that is just part of life, we need to adapt to whatever comes our way~

✏ Teacher chit chat #5: Things have changed! / working from home

Hi guys!

It's been a long time since my last teacher chit chat. I remember I was pretty much saying goodbye to the school year and... a lot has changed after that.

Where to begin? That Summer, during my break, I got the chance to start another teaching job in an after school languages club for a couple of hours a week, including Saturdays. So yeah, I started juggling 2 jobs. It was crazy at the beginning but I slowly began to organize my schedules, lesson plans and timing. I was happy. Tired but, happy. Hehe.

At school things were going great with my students. I could tell they were improving and their first evaluation came with great results. At the same time, so many unpleasant things happened and I decided to quit my job. It was hard but it had to be done. Lucky me, I had a job interview the next week and, I got a job!  So I pretty much said goodbye to 2019 with a new job and my afternoon classes.

I'm constantly reminding myself that changes are always for the best, no matter how much I hate the process. I do miss the good friends I had in my previous job and my students but, I'm happy where I am at right now. It was an adapting process of course because now I have a busier schedule and I'm running all the time. I'm working with the Montessori system which I'm still not too familar with and I don't only have 3 elementary school groups, I'm also teaching jr. high. Surprisingly I just love to work with them, they make me laugh so much!!
In the afternoon I took less hours but I still have to wake up early on Saturdays to teach adults.
And it's funny how much I refused to work with teenagers and adults and how much I love it now.

That's pretty much the short version of my working journey since late 2019 until now.

Moving on to this whole coronavirus thing... I know things have been crazy and hard for many people around the world and even tho it hasn't gotten as bad over here yet. It is scary and it's already affecting us.
I'm lucky to say I can still work from home (I need to keep myself busy!), planning and sending daily activities for my students and even using different platforms and video calls to continue my work with them. It's been a big change, yeah but I still consider myself lucky to have this chances.
Hopefully this thing will be over soon, we gotta stay safe and take care of ourselves and people around us as much as possible.

All in all, and to keep this post short-ish, this year has been a very good one working wise, it has already taught me so much about so many things I thought I'd never do. I'm even learning from this whole virus situation.
Not long ago, I was told that I am a bit of a workaholic and you know what? maybe I am. But this time is for the right reasons. Work is not my priority because I need to fill in empty spaces like I did years ago. Right now, working it's one of my priorities because I enjoy it and because it is one of the most rewarding things I have. There are a few things I still need to work on like organization because, I'm still all over the place all the time, finishing tasks last minute but... I guess some things will never change. Right?

✏ Teacher chit chat #4: Bye bye to another school year~

Hello everyone!
Welcome back to another Teacher chit chat. I was planning to do some of these posts every couple of months but clearly, I haven't. My bad.

Sometimes I feel like I have a lot to say, share my struggles but then I don't want it to make it sound like a rant. Some other times I want to share my activities with my students but, I just have no time.

Anyway, this school year was such a challenging and stressful one. Lots of things changed throughout the year, and I have to admit, I felt like giving up at some point but, I didn't! Cuz I knew my students deserved better.

But even with all the ups and downs, I enjoyed my time with my students, and I'm so proud of how much they've grown in just one year. It's crazy!!
I also made so many fun memories with the kids and my coworkers, got to make some great friends too, learned so many lessons and got to challenge myself to try different things and overcome some personal "fears."

One of those, as some of you know, were the "open classes", they always stress me so much. But this time I tried something different, something that the parents, my kids and even I would enjoy. We played, worked together and I got some really good feedback from their parents. That helped me a lot to feel more confident and believe in myself a little more, which is always such a struggle.
Now I can also say that I don't let other's words or actions get to me as bad as I used to. I think I'm better at dealing with "problems" now.
Adult life sucks at times but I think I can handle it a little better now.

And well, now that the school year is over, is always hard to say goodbye to some of the students (cuz they just graduated from elementary school), who knows if we'll see each other again! But then I know once we start the new year, I'll see new and familiar faces again.

As for the graduates, 6th grade was a group I'll never forget. Not only because they were my first 6th grade but also because we got along so well, we had fun working and learning together and we had a million things to share in and out of class.
I still remember how scared I was to work with them because I never worked with kids their age before. Who would've thought they would end up being one of my favs ever.
I'm so proud of them and I hope they know it. They are capable of doing great, great things.

small graduation pressie for my students

All in all, I'm glad that I got to experience it all (good and bad) because it made me a better teacher, it opened my eyes to so many things and it made me a stronger person.

A new school year is always an adventure, can't wait to see what will happen on the next one!!
x

✏ Teacher chit chat #3: New year, new challenges. Will I survive?

Hi guys!
I realized that I haven't posted a teacher chit chat in a long, long time. A LOT has happened since my last one so, now that I'm having some time, let's have a little chat~

Last year, when I started working in elementary school I thought it was a big change and I knew I had to learn new things to work with older kids. I was only working for 2 hours everyday with the younger groups and I eventually got used to that. It wasn't that hard after a month. But! I got the offer to have all 6 groups this new school year and guess what? I took it.

I was already aware that it was going to be a lot more work. 6 classes a day, 6 times more work and of course, a lot of stress. But I also felt like if I said no to this opportunity, I was going to regret it later. It was a chance for me to grow a lot as a teacher and as a person. I kinda want to prove myself I can do it.
Do I regret doing it? Not really, but I do admit that I sometimes wonder if I'll be able to make it work through the whole year~

Some people think having a teaching job it's easy, but they don't really see all the work behind it. It's not only about standing in front of a group and do a random activity. There is a lot of prepping and planning behind one class. It can be exhausting!! Don't get me wrong, I love what I do but, it can get crazy sometimes, especially now that I have to take care of 6 completely different plans and try to make them all interesting and creative.

We started the school year on Aug. 20th and it's been already challenging, no group is the same. I've had some ups and downs and even felt desperate at a certain point with some situations. Older kids have a stronger temper and not all of them are easy to handle, I'm surprised to admit I enjoy working with 6° a lot more than I thought I would tho.
I'm starting to deal with situations I never experienced before, and I'm trying hard not to get all apprehensive about it.
But, I've also been called a "Kawaii teacher", got a chocolate with a note on the second day because a first grader thought I was the most amazing thing she saw on her first day.
I've been running up and down the stairs to get to my classes, I've got to use my "mommy voice" way too many times now and, 6th graders say I'm always high on coffee because apparently, I talk too much and too fast all the time. So yeah, it's been a roller coaster... Can't wait to see what will happen next~

To me, teaching is also a learning process for the teacher, not only from my coworkers but also from my students. No day is the same and even tho I'm tired all the time and I don't go out as much as I used to during the week, I think it's worth it.
I feel like I'm finally in a good place work wise. It was a big step for me and I'm glad I took this opportunity.
This is it for now, I'll work hard(er) to make this school year, a great one and deal with the pressure.

Until next time~!!