I had an anonymous comment on my last post that fits well
with this post. It stated: “… life is a
journey of twist and turns that mold who we are; however, it is not the twist
and turns which mold us, but rather, how we take and handle the twist and turns
thrown at us. It was not until life threw me flat on my face that I truly
discovered who I am and what I am. I am a perpetual work-in-progress. And you
know what? I am quite all right with progress........” (Thank you anon)
What a great comment! Isn’t that the truth though? A few
years ago (seems like yesterday) life threw me for a few loops. I landed flat
on my face, was confused, angry, hurt and completely alone. It took me a while
to get back up from that wipeout but after a long and understanding
conversation with my mom just last weekend, I feel as if I can stand up, dust
myself off, and finally live my life! It may be two years later but the point
is that I got up. What an amazing weight off the shoulders!
The past few weeks have been a rollercoaster, to say the
least, in the classroom. Two weeks ago I began introducing fractions to the
kids. This is a completely foreign concept to them and I found it difficult to
teach. Math is not a subject that I ever struggled in so I had no idea how to
teach such a crucial topic to struggling students. At the same time, my
evaluations were beginning. I felt like a crappy teacher all around and student
blow-ups only made the issue worse.
However, this week I have had the kids doing a lot of group
work and repetition, working with manipulatives and grouping objects. It has
made such a difference. The concept seems much easier to grasp for the students
now and I feel good about this past week. It’s hard for me to be a good teacher
when my confidence is waning.
Otherwise, the weeks have been the same as the previous take
over weeks. I have had ample behavior issues in the class but have managed to
avoid any major explosions from particular students. It’s exhausting putting
out fires all day but you gotta do what you gotta do.
Today my host class and our team teacher’s class took a
field trip to Eaglecrest. It’s a ski resort, for those who don’t know, and man
was it an amazing experience! I have never been skiing so I was learning right
along with the students. At one point I did the Chinese splits and will
probably be stuck in bed all day tomorrow because of it. Haha. Luckily, an
adorable student came to the rescue. By the end of the day I was feeling pretty
confident in my ability, as were the kids. We got in several runs! The hardest
part of the day was probably getting off the chair lift. My roommate and I both
did fine! We were worried we would attempt to get off and would roll over each
other, which could easily have happened and man what a display it would have
been for the students behind us. Which reminds me, the second hardest part of
the day was trying not to curse in front of the kids! Hahaha At the end of the
day we all met in the lodge, returned our gear, and prepared to head back to school,
returning with only 10 min left in the day. You know it’s a successful day when
1. Students pass out on the bus and 2. All students made it back alive.
After the end of the day bell rang, I noticed a student
seemingly having a blow up. These start with him throwing his head down on the
desk and refusing to move. I walked over to the boy and proceeded to ask what
was bothering him. No answer. I asked him if something happened on the bus
ride. No reply (very common). I moved closer and told him it was time to go and
that if he didn’t leave I would have to go get help to remove him (also
common). However, when I placed a hand on his back he jumped up, his face red
and eyes nearly shut. He had passed out for the last ten minutes of class! So
there I was having a conversation with a sleeping boy. Lol. Too funny.
Anyways, I guess the point of this post is that I am feeling
confident and successful in my ability to teach. I’m doing great over all,
placing applications all throughout Georgia. I also found out that I will be
sent to a small town outside of Nome, Alaska for my rural practicum. This is a
short week-long visit in a “bush” school where we learn how students in these
regions live and attend school. By the way, Nome is where the Iditarod (sled
dog) race ends. I’m pretty excited about it!
This weekend will consist of a little school work, a few
beers and some socializing (not mixed, of course!)
“Success is falling nine times and getting up ten.”
No comments:
Post a Comment