Brugar, KristyPearcy, Sarah2023-05-032023-05-032023-05https://shareok.org/handle/11244/337521This autoethnography discusses the ways in which I, a veteran and ambitious social studies teacher, can evolve as a teacher and learner to meet all the needs of her students. The literature shows that being a social studies teacher today, is not an easy task. An ambitious social studies teacher must know their subject matter, create a classroom that balances rigor and higher order thinking with kindness, know their students well, both inside and outside the classroom, and give their students a sense of belonging and value. I will address the need for teachers both veteran and novice to grow and evolve as teachers and learners. To illustrate this, I use three poignant instances from my classroom to discuss the challenges and rewards of embedding the competencies necessary to be an ambitious social studies teacher into everyday classroom practice.Social StudiesVeteran TeacherAutoethnography