An End to Two Long Weeks... Thank Goodness!

To sum up the past two weeks in two words, I would say “stressful” and “hectic.” I was unable to write last week due the craziness of my schedule. After school each day, I had some event to attend or an activity planned. When I finally made it home, filling out applications took over my night. When Friday rolled around, I judged the Big District tournament for Speech and Debate. The competition began at four o’clock, and the students did not leave that night until eleven. Saturday morning’s alarm came incredibly early. Everyone reported to Copley High School at 7:30 am. The students competed all day, and some accepted the big award: National Qualifier. Both Perry and Jackson did a phenomenal job at the tournament. Congratulations.

Late Sunday night I received a phone call from another English teacher in the building. She explained to me that Mrs. Mann, my cooperating teacher, would be out of school all week. She shared with me Leslie’s situation and relayed the message that she wanted me to take over all her classes. When I heard this, my heart dropped. What was I going to do without her? She is seriously my lifeline at school. My biggest concern was taking over her accelerated sophomore class. I never taught that class before, and did not have any materials to help them prepare for the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT). When tears began to form in my eyes, I knew I needed advice. A few years ago I would never have said this, but I ran to my parents. I knew they would know what to do. They explained to me that this might by helpful for me. Next year I’m going to be teaching all day by myself; this will give me an idea of what the future will hold. Their words definitely sunk in, but what was I going to teach? I over-prepare for the classes I teach now. Talking in front of a class without knowing what I was doing is one of my biggest nightmares.

I woke up early Monday morning and drove to school. As I walked into class my body shook, hands began to sweat, and heart pounded so hard I think it broke out of my body. I was more nervous Monday than the first day of teaching. I didn’t have my biggest supporter, and that scared me. The other English teachers came to my rescue. They gave me materials and checked in to see if I needed any help. This calmed me down immensely. If you’ve read my blog prior to this entry, you know I tend to get extremely nervous, but I end the blog with everything turned out fine. When am I going to realize this? Everything this week did turn out to be OK. Now that doesn’t mean it went smoothly or it wasn’t stressful, it means I made it through the week. All I can say is I am so happy Leslie will be back on Monday.

One-Third of My Student Teaching Experience is Completed!

This week was nothing special! I do feel as if the workload was lightened. Monday, Mrs. Mann went over their tests they took before I started teaching. Tuesday they went to the computer lab to schedule next year’s classes. Wednesday and Thursday turned out to be workshop days for the students. I decided to have them teach the remaining vocabulary words to see how they would run the classroom if they were in charge.

I learned that through all my planning, I will need to make adjustments. Thursday at the beginning of second period, some student pulled the fire alarm. It cut our class time down to about twenty minutes. Therefore, instead of starting their teaching on Tuesday, I pushed everything back a day. This pushed the day I’ll be giving them the test back, and the day we’re starting the research paper back a day. Even though it was a bit upsetting at first, I knew unseen obstacles would come into play. Now that I have a four-day weekend ahead of me, I can redo my plans for the next few weeks. The funny aspect of that is, my new plans might need to be changed again. I’m learning that to be a teacher you need to be very flexible.

I also took part in my first parent/teacher conference this week. I loved the way Mrs. Mann worded her answers and took charge of the meeting. I know I have the best cooperating teacher. She highlighted the student’s best qualities, while mentioning the student’s “needs improvement” areas. As you can tell by that last sentence, I need to work on my wording of sentences.

Well week three is completed. I have nine more left. I’m sure it will go fast; I can’t believe I finished one-third of my student teaching experience.

Week 2: The Worst!

This week was definitely a tough week. To explain it the best, I’ll just walk you through each day.

Monday- I’m deeming this day…the worst! I spent all day Sunday perfecting Monday’s lesson plan. Down to the last minute I planned what I wanted the students to achieve. Of course, not everything goes to plan. My lesson finished 15 minutes before the bell. I experienced a lot of behavioral issues too. I tried to revamp my lesson before 6th period. Again… finished early! After fighting back tears, I finally broke. I poured out my heart to Mrs. Mann. “I don’t think I’m suppose to be a teacher. I can’t plan lessons. I can’t handle the class. I can’t do this, period.” I started crying, and crying, and crying. I tried so hard to keep it in and wait till I could cry it off to my mom, but for some reason it proved to be too much. One of the high school’s assistant principles walked into the room, and my embarrassment continued. After a pep talk and wonderful encouragement, I finished the day.

Tuesday- After a meltdown on Monday, I tried to keep my head high Tuesday. When I arrived at the school, Mr. Hamm (the assistant principle) gave me a wonderful classroom management book with a card saying “take on the challenge!” I knew I needed to put it behind me and keep going. Some problems occurred, but the day at school went much better than Monday. After teaching, I drove to Kent for senior seminar. I met with the others in my cohort. Almost all of them were stressed out and ready to break. Even though this is horrible to say, I was relieved. I thought it was just me, but it’s nice to know I’m not the only one. *To those who will student teach soon… you will be stressed! I’m not sugar coating it! Trust me though, with good support and the will to go forward, you can do it!

Wednesday- The day at school went well, but I worked after school. We were told not to work while student teaching… I agree! Unfortunately I need money for gas; therefore I only work a few hours a week.

Thursday- Parent/teacher conference night! We didn’t have any conferences- only an IEP (Individual Education Plan) meeting. I thought the meeting went very well. I was interested in everything mentioned and excited to be involved in the meeting.

Friday- O finally Friday! After one long week, today finally came! I went to school, gave out quizzes, went to a pep rally, and ended the day at work.

This is the cliff notes version of the week. There was more drama, more tears, and less sleep than ever. To add to the pile, I was mistaken for a student at least twice everyday. Either I was stopped in the hall, the lunch line, or teachers’ lounge (yes, even the teachers’ lounge). The lunch lady asked “when did you graduate? Last week?” Although it’s funny, for once I wish I looked older than a seventeen year old. So as I try to look my age, next week brings new experiences.