With my degree in education and an internship in a high school under my belt, I felt ready for my first real job teaching fourth graders. I prepared clear lesson objectives and plans for how to meet them. I broke down complicated ideas into concepts kids at this level could understand. Then I got into the classroom, and it all fell apart. Why isn’t this working? I thought at the end of another discouraging day.
Many of my students were living in poverty, which could make every aspect of their lives more difficult. I knew that going in, but I thought I had the tools to reach any child. I didn’t. I failed to keep
