Florencia McGorty

Not giving up. It's so easy to give up and be like, I can't do this anymore. I took time off because at one point I was like, oh my goodness, I can't do this anymore. Maybe if I just take a year off, I will be able to kind of get the that I need. But I missed it. So I had ended last year, and I missed it, so I already started with tutoring. Not giving up is definitely very easy to be like, I can't anymore.

You will always learn more once you start. You can read as many books as you want, and you can study as hard as you want, but until, for example, with education, until you're in that classroom. There is only so much that book can teach you. Studying in college is all great when it comes to teaching. When it comes to learning, like, the acronyms, there's so many acronyms. But then actually, like, learning how to teach, student teaching is the best thing ever.

Set boundaries early. Teaching is like a calling. If you feel that it's something that you want to truly do, and you feel like it's right for you, do it. But set boundaries very, very early. So, with the parents, with the kids. You know, that first day you meet those parents, make sure that they understand your boundaries, because if you don't have them strong in the beginning, they will push and push and push and push. And, you know, don't let yourself go. Because of it, take those weekends. Do what you like to do on the weekend. Take those breaks that are given to you. And don't feel like, well, I need to get… I need to go in during break because I need to do this. Try to get as much as done… much of it done as you can before break, and take your time, because you're going to need it. Mental health is 100%.

The support, for sure. Funding gets cut, and so teachers are getting cut. I wouldn't say there's so much a teacher shortage, I would say it's more of a support shortage, and so teachers kind of leave, because they're like, this is… this is a lot. I have 26 kids that I need to keep safe. Also, there's so many other parts to it, like, just so many moving parts. The biggest challenge right now is just finding your support. Trying to find a school that you know administration is going to be helpful. Teachers get 3 months off is a big argument, but we don't. We get one. The pay is definitely pushing people away as well. You spend a lot of your own money.

Patience is definitely number one, and that goes for both. When it comes to teaching, you just they're not gonna always not every student is gonna get it every single first try. And so and being patient, showing them that you're not going to give up on them, is number one. And then it also goes into personal life as well, because I can have a bad day. And then or, like, a rough day, you know. the day after Halloween is always gonna be really hard, and so, like, I can come home and my kids can be, you know, have had the same day as the kids I had in my class, and so if I come home and I'm not patient with them, then I'm failing somewhere. And so patience is certainly number one in every aspect of life.