A Fresh Start

I obtained a eureka moment this week: Life is too short to stress. Gosh, why did it take me this long to comprehend that statement? I am slowly starting to learn the importance of self-preservation. In the past, I’ve been go, go, go and not taking anytime to enjoy anything. I demolished what I loved, my hobbies, because I was too busy stressing. This week, I tried something knew. I would spend three hours completing tasks and take an hour for myself. In the hour, I would eat my favorite snack, watch a fun TV show, and take a minute to breathe. This system worked wonderfully. I accomplished numerous tasks/homework and did not have any “freak-out” moments. This is very helpful and I suggest others who have the same problem to try it. Student teaching can be a very stressful time, just ask my classmates, but it doesn’t need to be.

Also this week I met with Mrs. Mann to discuss my ten-day unit plan. INLA (Integrated Language Arts) majors teach ten days in the fall before going full time in the spring. I will be teaching four short stories: The Sniper, Thank You, M’am, The Gift of the Magi, The Scarlet Ibis. Each short story focuses on a different literature term. The terms I hope the students will understand by the end of the unit are symbols, character analysis, satire, and surprise ending. Today I began creating imaginative lesson plans to go along with these topics. I want the students to like me as a teacher and think my lesson plans are, in their words, “cool.” My professor and student teaching supervisor will be observing me during this time. I know their constructive criticisms will stab me in the heart. I put hours of hard work into these lessons and any criticism, even positive, hurts. The nerves, mixed with the excitement are an incredible feeling. I know this is what I’m suppose to be doing. This is my calling. (Hopefully it won’t change after I begin teaching, ha-ha!)