The Start of MyAstroBrightLife

Hi there, I’m Mary Fran and this is My Astro Bright Life! I’ve been dreaming about this day for, what feels like, centuries… But the day has finally come and I’m so excited to share this journey with you. I hope that we have connected through Instagram or Teachers Pay Teachers by now but if not, hello! I wanted this blog to be a place for me to share parts of my life because it’s so easy to get caught up in the glitz and glam of the “perfect” teachers on social media. Well, I’m here to say I’m NOT one of them and it’s ok if you aren’t either! 🙂 
I’m in, what I love to call, “limbo”. Let me break it down for ya! Like many graduates, I had a plan. It was a very nice plan and it didn’t seem completely out of reach. Then, suddenly, like an asteroid falling from the sky, I realized my plan’s complete and utter DOOM as real life came closer and closer. And BAM! As the asteroid hit, the plan went up in flames and the next thing I know, everything is on fire and all I can do is laugh my butt off. Sound familiar? It should because that’s teaching in a nutshell as well as life in general. Haha! 
In other words, I graduated in an off trimester so I couldn’t get my own classroom right away. I tried substituting and long-term substituting the rest of that year hoping that a classroom would open up at the school I was working in. By the end of the school year, things were not looking promising so I had to look elsewhere. Application after application, nothing was happening for weeks. That’s when I reached out for advice and realized I had to take the biggest, scariest and just straight up terrifying leap of faith EVER. There were offers on the table for my own classroom eventually but I knew that it was going to limit my path which wouldn’t allow me to grow as a person or teacher nor would it help provide for a family that I know I want in the VERY DISTANT future. 😉 I realized that I’m young, I have no kids, I’m not married, so why not take this INSANE leap into the unknown?! Well I did it! I went for it and it’s the best decision I ever made.
Currently, I am working in a huge public school in a very diverse neighborhood in Chicago. I was born and raised here so I’m not completely out of my comfort zone which definitely helped make this scary decision. (I tried living on the East coast and I’m just just a Midwest girl through and through.) I decided to become a day-to-day substitute due to the advice I received. After a couple months, administration asked if I would be interested in trying out a long-term position in 2nd grade. That was a great ray of hope because that showed me that admin took note of me and people were saying great things! After I took over the 2nd grade classroom for a couple months, I was offered another position which showed me AGAIN that I’m making a great impression and they want me to stick around. So this is where I am now. I’m currently an EL Push-In for kindergarten, first, fourth and fifth grade students who primarily speak a different language! It’s not my own classroom, and it (like everything else) has it’s advantages and disadvantages. Overall, I love my students, I love my school and I love that I get to teach. I knew that I took a giant step completely blind folded and it’s so easy to doubt everything and believe that this move could lead to nothing. But I had to constantly remind myself that I AM a great teacher and I know that I would be a great addition to the school. Heck, I STILL have to do that everyday! And I’m sure there are moments where you want to break down after an insane day and all you can do is laugh it off and just remind yourself how freaking awesome you are! April was the start of My Astro Bright Life! I’ve wanted to create a Teachers Pay Teachers store for a really long time. I’ve used the site myself for years and have always been so obsessed with the teacher authors on there! (It’s such an awesome community so if you haven’t heard of it or used any of the resources, YOU HAVEN’T LIVED!! Haha!) Now even though there are a million amazing resources, sometimes I can’t find exactly what I need. So that’s when I would use resources as inspiration and create exactly what I needed for myself. I didn’t realize that I was good at it until my cooperating teacher during student teaching was completely floored with my ability to create a resource 10 minutes before school started. Her compliments and other’s comments sparked the passion for me. It took me 2 years to finally build the courage to just DO IT! I kept asking myself what is the worst that can happen?! No one buys a resource… No one finds my page… WHO CARES!?! Life will go on and it will just be another experience to learn from! I was so afraid of making this blog because I wasn’t sure if people would be interested, or relate, or care but ultimately I figured there would be ONE person that would get a laugh, relate, or just get lost for a couple minutes reading my blog after a really long day. I’m so glad I’m here taking this journey with you. :)So that’s a bird’s eye view of My Astro Bright Life! I’m just another teacher trying to do her best for her students, a teacher author trying to help other teachers by creating awesome resources, and most importantly, a 24 year old trying to figure out life. I would love to leave you with a quote that I say to my students, “let your magic dance!”Until next time, MABL