I can really only express my first week in one sentence.
"Dive in head first."
Wow, you're still reading this blog? I said I could only describe it in one sentence….
Seriously, stop reading!
(Just kidding keep reading!)
I feel a little humor is always a good way to end a week that has thrown you into a new classroom, apartment, and life to say the least. A way of life that is completely opposite of what I've always known.
I could have had all of the training in the world, but that first day in the classroom is something no one can TRULY explain it or teach you how to handle it. I only say truly because their can be scenarios and teaching labs done, but it really is not a true first day. Everyone has their own experiences and stories, and very few are similar. Like I said in my one sentence description earlier, I dove in head first to student teaching. I was given the task of taking on the full course load of classes that I would be teaching in my formal high school setting. This only happened because of my split semester completing half of the time in a formal setting, while the other half in a non formal setting. I had no time to think, just react and teach.
Overall, my first week was exhausting, but only because I had never done this before. I had some good classes who seemed interested, but had others whom I knew were going to be a tough time. I realized how much teachers, well at least caring teachers, have to do during the day just to keep their students on task, get others caught up, and a million other things that happen during a school day. In one of my classes, I got interrupted by the phone
5 TIMES! I was almost at the point of unplugging it, but I kept calm and just tried to keep the lesson going. We all face challenges the first week, and I know some of mine were keeping students engaged and producing lessons that could be handled by students of multiple levels of intelligence. These practices only come with experience and repetition, but right now its still hasn't hit me on what I am currently doing and how to fix it.
I was able to get some great feedback from my cooperating teachers throughout the week, and they said many of my feelings and emotions were normal. There was no way I was going to come into the classroom and be a stellar teacher. They saw that I was doing my best, and produced advice to further help in the coming weeks.
Hopefully, this experience will allow me to change in certain ways, developing my future career goals and producing something I will never forget. I have many family members who speak about their student teaching experience, so I decided to create a journal with a log of all my days just to capture some memories. This will be a great addition to look back on and maybe laugh, or just say "wow."
I look forward to what is going to come about in the future weeks of teaching, and what my outlook will be when I reach the final week of this experience.
It was a pleasure to write for you.
