Monday, August 20, 2012

Student Teaching


Seems like a pattern is emerging. I only update the blog on first and last days of the semester. Weird.

Anyway, today was my first Student Teaching seminar. I found out that I will be student teaching at Foothill High School with a 12th grade English Honors class. If I thought I was scared before, I'm even more terrified now.

When I introduced myself during seminar, I was nervous for reasons I still don't know. I mispronounced my own last name after telling the professor that she had pronounced it correctly after calling on me to stand to introduce myself. The class laughed of course, after I quickly corrected myself. I made a joke afterward, and admitted to the entire class that I'm scared and excited about student teaching. The majority of the class nodded in agreement.

After we were dismissed, I went up to the front of the room to grab my student teaching handbook, and one of the two professors running the seminar touched my arm and said, “You have a wonderful personality. You're going to do great.” I'm not sure what she meant by this, (but I thanked her anyway) but I didn't see or hear her tell anybody else anything like this.

Many people have told me how great of a teacher they think I will be. This is a wonderful boost in confidence, and definitely strokes my ego...but it is also a lot of pressure. I know the reason I'm scared of student teaching is because I do not want to let anybody down: my previous professors, my new dean of education, my administrators, my supervisor, my family, my husband, my friends. I want to do well because I've always had the drive to try my best no matter the circumstances. But part of this drive is due to wanting to make all of the previously mentioned people proud. I know I'm technically still a student and shouldn't be afraid to make mistakes during student teaching, but I am. The idea of having to teach 12th grade content is intimidating as well. I have a feeling I will be spending as much time with the actual material as I will planning a lesson for it. I was told that this worry, nervousness, and fear is normal and will actually make me a better teacher somehow. We shall see. I will be keeping a journal for seminar and some of it might end up on here if anybody is interested to know just how overwhelmed, intimidated, excited, and exhausted I am over the next 3 months.

Here goes nothing.  

No comments:

Post a Comment