Breathe.

Rome was not built in a day. Remember this.

Being a middle school special education teacher in a turnaround school (one which ranked in the top ten worst elementary schools in the whole state of Pennsylvania last year) in a neighborhood listed as one of the top 25 most dangerous neighborhoods in the country is challenging for a plethora of reasons.

As a brand new adult I have made it a priority to become solutions oriented. Thus, with this mindset, I constantly think about what I can do to fight/combat the forces that have worked and currently work against my students. It has been four months and I am still asking myself this question.

Today, in the midst of a mental and emotional breakdown (as a result of receiving some pretty tragic test scores), a very good friend looks at me and says "breathe. Rome was not built in a day."

thankyou.