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This is a guest post by Drew, who currently teaches 7th Grade Texas History in the San Antonio area, where he has taught since 2004.

Maybe this job doesn’t pay enough for those with heavy material needs. But, working here has helped me with the most important part of my life.

10. Family – My comfort level with my material for class has improved each and every year. I spent Friday nights, usually until the wee Saturday morning hours, setting up lesson plans for the next week. I was never able to get ahead on my work. I had two preps and no lesson plans from other teachers to guide me. By November of this school year, I had stopped bringing…

This is a guest post by Drew, who currently teaches 7th Grade Texas History in the San Antonio area, where he has taught since 2004.

Shout out to my college roommates for always giving me a hard time about being cultured.  Was I full of myself, or what?  Nothing goes together better than Austin and music.

8. Music – I actually played Ted Nugent’s ‘Great White Buffalo’ in class because the song tells the story of buffalo from the Native American perspective.  I didn’t think much of it until our 3-on-3 basketball tournament yesterday at TAKS celebration.  One of the teams, 3 girls from one of my classes, made t-shirts at home and their team name was….White Buffaloes. I wonder if they’ll…

This is a guest post by Drew, who currently teaches 7th Grade Texas History in the San Antonio area, where he has taught since 2004.

A wise investment is just that. Find ways to invest in your school and yourself.

6. Next year – To complement our emphasis on relationships at school, I will be leading a field trip to Washington, D.C. in 2011. This requires advance planning and nothing matches the looks I get from the students who will be attending. You can just see the excitement in their eyes. In others there is dread because their parents and siblings will be joining them.

7. Professional Development – My personal fav. I did the first-ever book study with ATPE at www.atpe.org. I…

This is a guest post by Drew, who currently teaches 7th Grade Texas History in the San Antonio area, where he has taught since 2004.

Here I discovered the proper use of multimedia and how proper procedures can help ensure mental well-being.

3. Movies – I have used movies in the past, but mostly to kill time.  This year, I wrote some great questions for the movies I used.  I suppose I set my expectations higher as far as how I used movies like ‘The Alamo’ or ‘National Treasure 2’.  My students compared the information from our textbook to how Hollywood presents historical facts.  Kudos to Nicolas Cage for the ‘hysterical’ side of the facts.

4. Procedures – I have…

This is a guest post by Drew, who currently teaches 7th Grade Texas History in the San Antonio area, where he has taught since 2004.

At the end of this, my sixth year, I have a few moments to reflect on the road taken.

While I am looking at this year with the rose-colored glasses all teachers wear on the last day of school, I urge one and all to take whatever time necessary to enjoy all that you have accomplished this year. But do so as objectively as possible. All teachers have growing pains every year, but don’t let those get in the way of what you did right. In no particular order, here is what I did right this…