Teacher, Teacher

-
I have officially been a real teacher for a week and a half and it's everything I thought it would be, but it's also different than I ever could have expected.

My students are wonderful. They are kind and intelligent and funny! And they are also sneaky... Just last week they tricked me into telling them how old I was by asking how old I was when 9/11 happened. And then they did the math. And realized I'm not much older than they are, "Miss, your outfit makes you look older, but you still seem very young. Are you 17?"

For those who don't know, I am teaching 10th grade Composition and Ethics. I have two sections of Composition and three sections of Ethics this semester. My schedule is chaotic and different every day, but I get to spend the entire day working with 15 and 16 year olds and to be honest, it's pretty awesome. It's so fun to teach them about the world around them and hear what they have to say about life. 

I love teaching Composition because that's obviously what I went to school for, but Ethics is a bit tricker. Any anxiety I have had since I got here is mostly a result of teaching Ethics, but I'm hoping that it comes with time. 

Actually, the whole concept of being a teacher has me feeling pretty terrified. I don't feel qualified and it's tough because I don't have anyone holding my hand anymore. Fortunately, the staff is super supportive and I am constantly reminded that it's alright to not have it all together all the time. I'm a first year teacher and I have to make mistakes in order to learn. This is something that is difficult for me to come to terms with, but I'm working really hard on making it happen. One of my new teacher friends shared this video with me and it had me feeling loads better. It might not seem like anything important to you, but I think it serves as a good reminder that we can't possibly have it all figured out and that is OK. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miPYLJI247g&feature=youtu.be

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

See ya, 2016.

-
I should have just gone to bed the night before I flew back to Minnesota for Christmas Vacation. Instead, I read through my journal for 2016 and then I spent the whole night digesting every thought I had over the course of the year and got ZERO sleep. Sometimes it feels silly to have a journal. It feels like I'm reverting back to the 6th grade girl who writes about the boy she likes and the fight she had with her dad. But mostly, it's a great way to remind myself of my experiences and my feeling about those experiences. My journal is filled with memories, ideas, quotes from books, tidbits from conversations with the people I love the most, lists, and life plans. Much like running, writing things down helps me try to understand life. (Way cliche, but way true.) As I reflected on this year, I relived my feelings. My heart hurt thinking about my most recent heartbreak, but it also swelled with joy as I read the list of people who helped me through it. I remembered the incred...
Read more

Thoughts on Expectations

-
The world would be such a different place if there were no expectations. There would be so much less disappointment. When you think about it, most disappointment stems from some sort of expectation. We wouldn’t fail because we couldn’t expect something to be better than reality. I know that this is fairly negative thinking and there is a completely different side to the idea of expectations but I challenge you to look at things in a different light. Imagine life as a child who knows nothing, expects nothing of the world. They live their lives in constant wonder. Life is a one big surprise to them. How cool is that? If we expect nothing from a day, then waking up is a miracle in itself. If you don’t expect anything, then every moment is a wonderful surprise and we can’t help but to be filled with joy. “Instead of filling with expectations, the joy-filled expect nothing and are filled.” If we learn to control how much we expect from the world, then every good thi...
Read more

Adventure Time

-
As I sit in the airport, by myself, after a few weeks of relaxing at home, I’m pretty excited to take off on my next adventure-- excited and also incredibly terrified. On one hand, this is a great opportunity and I’m sure it is an experience I will cherish forever. I get to take a break from the norm. I get to spend a significant amount of time across the country surrounded by people who are presumably fun and outgoing (I’m making this assumption based on the fact that we all want to spend our entire summer hanging out with kids). I get to try new things. I get to eat fresh lobster. I get to try logrolling. I get to hang out with kids and play volleyball on the beach of a gorgeous lake. Not only is Maine supposedly breathtakingly beautiful, but it’s different from everything I know. It’s outside of my comfort zone.   On the other hand, leaving your comfort zone is a terrifying thought. I’m leaving everything I have ever known. Although it is only for two months, this is tw...
Read more