Teaching…I love it. I’ve been doing this for 26 years now. What I love most is when that light bulb finally cuts on for students. In September, you’re getting adjusted. It’s about December, really in January, the light bulb comes on – it’s starting to connect. Recently there was an aha moment for one of my students. We were working on subtraction and he uses base 10 blocks a lot. He said, ‘Mrs. Pitts, I don’t need to use the blocks anymore. I know how to do this.’ I told him to keep them near in case he needed to use them. And he showed me: ‘Look! I learned how to do it!’ And he was just beaming. That’s the part I love most, when that light bulb comes on and they have that confidence that I can do this by myself.
I also love seeing the growth. There are a lot of positives. And then with their home life, they bring a lot to you. You just have to be that person – because they might not have that person in their life, to give them that hug in the morning to start off their day.
If you weren’t teaching what would you be doing?
I started off in nursing and when they presented a cat to dissect, I quickly ran and changed my major. I wanted to do pediatric nursing or neonatal nursing. When they brought me that cat I said I can’t do this. Children have always been my passion – maybe it’s coming from a family of five. I’ve always been around kids. I have three of my own, three girls: one who will graduate this year, one in middle school and a second-grader. I work in children’s church in church. I’m just always around children.
#WeAreVBSchools
