Teacher Interview Day and Praxis II

This past week was very busy. To begin the week, two hours of proctoring the Ohio Graduation Test filled my morning. The sophomores spent all week in testing- probably not their idea of a fun week. The other grades did not arrive at school until 10. It made teaching this week a bit awkward. Three of my classes only had eighteen minute class periods, and one class had the full fifty minutes. Needless-to-say one class gets more help on the research paper.

On Wednesday, numerous student teachers crowded Kent State’s ballroom for Teacher Interview Day. While others had four to six interviews, I only had one. When I went to sign-up for the schools that accepted my application the scheduled was filled. The only school I could sign-up for was Baltimore County Schools. We started the morning with a meet and greet and then waited upstairs until our slotted interview times. I waited patiently until noon, and went down to meet with Interviewer C. She was a principal and made my first teaching-job interview go very smoothly. I felt very comfortable talking with her. She was very enthusiastic about wanting me on their staff. It made my one interview seem worthwhile. I am in the process of completing my application and sending it in for review.

Yesterday I took the Praxis II exam. I passed the PLT last semester. I took the English Content Knowledge test yesterday. I’ve studied for three months for this it. I felt very prepared walking into the testing room. After answering a few questions that mental state of mind completely shifted. The test made my mind brain feel like Jello. I don’t know how I did. I don’t think I completely bombed the test, but I don’t think I received a perfect. I guess we’ll see in a month.

Pictures from Teacher Interview Day.

One Normal Week

Nothing special happened this week. No freak-out moments, no stress filled days, or tears fell from my eyes. This week was average. In the 9th grade classes, I introduced the research paper assignment. With a big project brought numerous complaints. The students’ motto this week turned to “This is too hard.” Fortunately for them, they have a student teacher who knows all of them are capable and smart enough to write a well written paper. I literally pray every night that they put in the work and time to complete the task. Reading and grading over fifty poorly written research papers does not sound like fun to me.

This week did have an extremely high point. Earlier this week, after a day filled with complaining from the students, one student approached me with a card. It was handwritten and decorated very well. I opened up the paper, and read one of the sweetest notes ever written. The student explained to me that she enjoyed my class and loved my sense of humor. The last line finished with “I hope you accomplish all your dreams Miss Chambers.” After reading her card and even thinking about it now, makes my eyes begin to water. After all the hard work and stressful days, the long hours filled with complaining and blank stares, this small card from one student made everything worthwhile.

Now that I’ve done a recap of the week, let me share a little heart to heart moment. This may be a bit cheesy and cliché, but it needs to be said. If or when you begin student teaching… really learn from it. I’ve lived through some pretty tough days this semester. Student teaching is really hard and very stressful. I hesitate every time I teach the students a new unit. I question all of my actions. My heart races when a student asks a question. I fear I won’t have all the answers. What I am slowly but surely realizing is to learn from every experience I have at Jackson. Times are demanding because I still have not learned the correct ways to approach every situation. Now that I’ve finished my little speal… learn from every experience student teaching. Enough said.